- This topic has 68 replies, 18 voices, and was last updated 1 week, 2 days ago by
.
- Topic
Not impressed with DLM in the slightest.
After an accident in 2024 where an at-fault accident wrote off our motability car, DLM fell short on customer care & failed to look after us as a customer, both after the accident & the run up to the court appearance that led to the ban, but that’s another story.
In 2025, our disabled daughter ended up with a 12mth driving ban due to the previous accident.
Roll on to 2026 & the daughter is counting down the days (2 weeks) until her ban is over & she can get behind the wheel again
Now having only found out by chance today, DLM state
Yes, any driver who’s been disqualified from driving for more than 30 days within the last five years cannot drive on a Direct Line Motability (DLM) policy.
They’ll become eligible when five years have passed from the conviction date shown on their driving licence.
Is this a somewhat new addition to dlm’s t&c’s?
The kicker is this was not mentioned at anytime previously by DLM.
we now have an adapted motability vehicle that the customer won’t be able to drive.
As we currently have 15 mth left on our car, the thoughts are we will likely have to terminate the lease early,
but where to next?
We’re not in a position to purchase a brand new vehicle privately, so with adaptions needed,
possibly looking at a used vehicle! if adaptions are still available?
or
a private lease! If adaptions are allowed to be fitted?Adaptations at cost price,
a 6k insurance quote for a used car.
Or is there anything else you guys n gals can suggest.?.?.?
TIA
Tom…
- Replies
Not impressed with DLM in the slightest
any more clues
Just a stab in the dark but could be wrong
https://motabilityscheme.directline.com/contact-us
Perhaps expand a little as very vague
Shocking…took 5 months and the wrong courtesy car ( can’t drive a manual) to sort a scrape along the side of the car that I’m paying the excess for .
@TomThumb why whats happened?
My bad, unknowingly ended up pushing it out to the forum before I’d finished, oop’s
Edit: an after thought,
Are there any dealers that specialise in used adapted vehicles?
If we ended up terminating our motability lease early, how easy would it be to track down our current car at auction / dealer?
Tom…
My bad, unknowingly ended up pushing it out to the forum before I’d finished, oop’s Edit: an after thought, Are there any dealers that specialise in used adapted vehicles? If we ended up terminating our motability lease early, how easy would it be to track down our current car at auction / dealer? Tom…
The problem you will have is that adaptations are removed by the Motability Operations prep team before the vehicle goes to auction. If you do get kicked off the scheme they might make an exception and let you buy the car, but the prices that they used to ask were way over the top for a car sold as seen with no warranty. If the adaptations are very expensive it might be worth asking though.
Not impressed with DLM in the slightest. After an accident in 2024 where an at-fault accident wrote off our motability car, DLM fell short on customer care & failed to look after us as a customer, both after the accident & the run up to the court appearance that led to the ban, but that’s another story. In 2025, our disabled daughter ended up with a 12mth driving ban due to the previous accident. Roll on to 2026 & the daughter is counting down the days (2 weeks) until her ban is over & she can get behind the wheel again Now having only found out by chance today, DLM state Yes, any driver who’s been disqualified from driving for more than 30 days within the last five years cannot drive on a Direct Line Motability (DLM) policy. They’ll become eligible when five years have passed from the conviction date shown on their driving licence. Is this a somewhat new addition to dlm’s t&c’s? The kicker is this was not mentioned at anytime previously by DLM. we now have an adapted motability vehicle that the customer won’t be able to drive. As we currently have 15 mth left on our car, the thoughts are we will likely have to terminate the lease early, but where to next? We’re not in a position to purchase a brand new vehicle privately, so with adaptions needed, possibly looking at a used vehicle! if adaptions are still available? or a private lease! If adaptions are allowed to be fitted? Adaptations at cost price, a 6k insurance quote for a used car. Or is there anything else you guys n gals can suggest.?.?.? TIA Tom…
Tell me if I am wrong, my understanding is you still have the Mobility adapted vehicle is that correct, if so for the past 12 month the vehicle has been without valid insurance and at present is still uninsured.
If the above is correct you should have contact Mobility immediately, the situation is you responsible and liable for the vehicle, if it is damaged or stolen the liability sits with you. Secondly you have failed to sorn the vehicle off road and insurance which attracts a fine.
My advice contact Mobility this morning.
Unfortunately I have suffered a brain injury and occasionally I get confused and often say the wrong thing.
Now having only found out by chance today, DLM state Yes, any driver who’s been disqualified from driving for more than 30 days within the last five years cannot drive on a Direct Line Motability (DLM) policy. They’ll become eligible when five years have passed from the conviction date shown on their driving licence. Is this a somewhat new addition to dlm’s t&c’s? The kicker is this was not mentioned at anytime previously by DLM. we now have an adapted motability vehicle that the customer won’t be able to drive. As we currently have 15 mth left on our car, the thoughts are we will likely have to terminate the lease early, but where to next?
Firstly, if the vehicle on your drive can’t be diven by anybody, is it even insured, as @Oscarmax says. Secondly, if car is just sitting there and not been driven, its costing you £4,000 in sacrified benefits + % pro rata refund of the AP you paid, more importantly money you could have put to a used car!
I don’t understand how Motability/DLM have left (forgot?) a vehicle at someones address when no one has been eligable to drive it for the past year?
DLM’s 30 day rule, also posses significant implications to those with medical licences and who voluntary give their licence up for a short period or have lost their licence for a period on medicical grounds are now disqualified from the scheme for 5 years if over 30 days @Oscarmax?
@TomThumb I’m a bit confused (not difficult), but who has been driving the Motability car during the period of your daughter’s ban? Assuming that it’s yourself, or another family member, rather than have all the worry of trying to buy and adapt a private car, could that arrangement not continue?
Unfortunately, a driving ban, especially for things like dangerous driving, drink or drug driving, is usually only the start of the persons issues. As you have discovered, some insurers won’t touch drivers with those convictions and those that do will charge thousands for the privilege as the risk profile is so high.
@Oscarmax @Glos Guy I have always been a named driver on the vehicle & it is still being used, albeit without our daughter behind the wheel. So all good there.
But all that changes when the daughter regains her license in a couple of weeks,
as the vehicle & the Motability Scheme then becomes unsuitable because circumstances have changed,
that being DLM won’t allow the daughter to be added to the insurance for another 4 years so she won’t be able to drive her own motability adapted vehicle.
Tom…
Now having only found out by chance today, DLM state Yes, any driver who’s been disqualified from driving for more than 30 days within the last five years cannot drive on a Direct Line Motability (DLM) policy. They’ll become eligible when five years have passed from the conviction date shown on their driving licence. Is this a somewhat new addition to dlm’s t&c’s? The kicker is this was not mentioned at anytime previously by DLM. we now have an adapted motability vehicle that the customer won’t be able to drive. As we currently have 15 mth left on our car, the thoughts are we will likely have to terminate the lease early, but where to next?
Firstly, if the vehicle on your drive can’t be diven by anybody, is it even insured, as @Oscarmax says. Secondly, if car is just sitting there and not been driven, its costing you £4,000 in sacrified benefits + % pro rata refund of the AP you paid, more importantly money you could have put to a used car! I don’t understand how Motability/DLM have left (forgot?) a vehicle at someones address when no one has been eligable to drive it for the past year? DLM’s 30 day rule, also posses significant implications to those with medical licences and who voluntary give their licence up for a short period or have lost their licence for a period on medicical grounds are now disqualified from the scheme for 5 years if over 30 days @Oscarmax?
I think the word is disqualified rather than suspended, I could be wrong but only DLM can answer that
Unfortunately I have suffered a brain injury and occasionally I get confused and often say the wrong thing.
I think the word is disqualified rather than suspended, I could be wrong but only DLM can answer that
You are right mate
“To rejoin the Direct Line Motability scheme after a voluntary license suspension, you must first ensure that your suspension has ended. You can check the date your suspension ends by contacting Direct Line Motability directly. If your suspension has not ended, you cannot rejoin the scheme until it has.”
@Oscarmax @Glos Guy I have always been a named driver on the vehicle & it is still being used, albeit without our daughter behind the wheel. So all good there. But all that changes when the daughter regains her license in a couple of weeks, as the vehicle & the Motability Scheme then becomes unsuitable because circumstances have changed, that being DLM won’t allow the daughter to be added to the insurance for another 4 years so she won’t be able to drive her own motability adapted vehicle. Tom…
Can you not continue to be the named driver or have your households private circumstances changed, you can no longer be a named driver for you daughter?
@TomThumb As you are the designated driver, it sounds as though your best and most cost effective solution is for that arrangement to continue. As your daughter cannot drive (due to the refusal of the insurer to cover her) you will be able to continue the existing arrangement without contravening Motability’s policies. Many of us are in a similar position. My wife cannot drive any more, so I am the sole driver of our Motability car
At the time of the accident, the daughter was a newly qualified driver (3 mth ) & she received a 12 mth ban with a dvla CD?? Code.
Although I had been thinking that DLM would impose a ££ surcharge when rejoining the policy because of the previous accident, I never imagined a further 4 years term imposed before she would be able to rejoin.
If we had been aware of this upcoming additional 4 year exclusion from DLM, we would have evaluated things sooner & possibly made a judgement call 12 months back to relinquish our ties to motability.
Tom…
Careless driving (CD)
Codes CD10 to CD30 must stay on a driving licence for 4 years from the date of the offence. Codes CD40 to CD70 must stay on a driving licence for 11 years from the date of the conviction. Codes CD80 and CD90 must stay on a driving licence for 4 years from the date of the conviction.
Presumably, before your daughter gained her license she was being driven about by yourself?
As stated, if you keep on the scheme, it is your preferred option. Go back to how it was before?
If you leave the scheme and get a 2nd hand car, the insurance (£6k) is obscene. Then the vehicle adaptions over and above that
Even if there is a company that leases vehicles suitable for adaption, they would not take the lease on with the conviction.
Maybe someone on here has been in a similar situation and found a solution.
MB & DLM, I’d say, are stricter than most. Over 30 days. I guess it’s down to the terms of the fleet insurance.
It’s pretty standard practice in the industry that. If you were disqualified for 12 months or over for serious offences. You’ll likely not be able to lease or hire a car until the conviction is spent, often 5 years after the ban ends. If you drive as a career, then the odds are you won’t find any employment as a driver, until they actually spent.
If it’s under 12 months, you might find some companies will and others won’t
Private Insurance is likely also to be very costly. Some companies may not offer cover till after 5 years or until the convictions are actually spent. Which can be up to 10/11 years for the most serious convictions.
EX30 SMER Ultra
Not impressed with DLM in the slightest. . Is this a somewhat new addition to dlm’s t&c’s? The kicker is this was not mentioned at anytime previously by DLM. …
Not a new thing on DLM.
Was exactly the same when RSAM was scheme insurance. Have my old RSAM scheme policy booklet from 2021 in front of me. Same as DLM now.
5 year scheme exclusion from date of driving ban.
Unfortunately, because Toms daughter was newly qualified (3mths) and with just 6 penalty points within 2 years of passing her test her licence would be automatic revoked for the stated period.
I do own & run my own vehicle, so for the past 12 months, there has always been 1 motor sitting idle on a daily basis, but as the motability car is fully electric, for economy, this is my preferred choice for anything local, so it dose more mileage than I do in mine.
(To add my vehicle is not suitable to be adapted for the daughter’s needs.)
For any sort of independence, our daughter wants & needs to be able to drive once again,
unfortunately a past accident & imposed conditions from DLM dictate that this will not be possible through motability for a further 4 years.
We know there were going to be consequences following her accident, but had we known a blanket 5 year ban on her driving a motability vehicle, we would have had more time to evaluate our options & acted sooner.
Those options include a possible private lease, but having never leased away from the scheme, I don’t know if adaptions are even allowed? Any feedback welcome
Purchase a used vehicle & get it adapted?
Then once we have a proposed vehicle, I can obtain a more specific insurance quote & do all the sums.
While our expectations seemed justified in keeping our current motability vehicle in place for the last 12 months.
With 15 months remaining on our current lease, there is no benefit to our disabled daughter remaining on the scheme under the current set of circumstances.
Tom…
@TomThumb It’s a nightmare scenario but, with respect, that approach is the wrong way around. You don’t want to buy her a car only to find out that she can’t get insurance or the cost is prohibitive. By far the more sensible approach is to run the insurance quotes now and see what the options are. Simply go on the comparethemarket, enter all her details under an assumed car that she might buy, enter all her details (including the accident and disqualification) and you will know what you are dealing with. That will inform any decision to leave the scheme. I used this approach myself when deciding to leave the scheme. Sometimes you can get a pleasant surprise. I’m getting a group 50 high value and high performance car with just 3 years no claims bonus and I expected the premium to be thousands, and it was just £648. Admittedly I’m the wrong side of 60 with a clean licence and live in a low risk area, but the principle is the same. You don’t know what you are dealing with until you run the quotes.
Does your daughter have to re-take her driving test in order to get her driving licence back? If so, that’s another buggeration factor as there are 6-12 month waits for driving tests
EDIT – sorry Tom. I just realised that you said ‘proposed’ car, so I think you are doing what I suggested.
Unfortunately, because Toms daughter was newly qualified (3mths) and with just 6 penalty points within 2 years of passing her test her licence would be automatic revoked for the stated period.
I’m sure I’ve read, but not 100% sure, that if your banned within 12 months of passing your driving test you have to retake the test again.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.