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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…
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My initial advice would have been to keep the Motability car, but its not practical, if you want your daughter to still drive. Returning the car ASAP, so you aren’t throwing money away on something thats not practicable.
The next best route, I guess would to buy a used car for her, as leasing may pose insurance problems and may not be adapted to your daughters needs.
There are a couple of possible ways of getting adaptions, depending on her requirements:
1: New from adaptions installer (no VAT)
2: Used or ex demo from adaptions installer, though you may not get what you want.
3: Ebay is worth a look, as there are always a good selection of used adaptions available, as well as some new and ex demo. Depending on the adaption, the cheapest way to install is by youeself or family member or local mechanic / adaptions installer, if they are prepared to do so.
4: No harm asking Motability if you or adaptions installer can take the adaptions of the car prior to returning. This maybe possible without asking, but I’m not the one to ask on that.
@kezo Your point 4 is an interesting one. When I spoke to Motability about our early termination they mentioned things that had to be returned and they didn’t mention adaptations. As it wasn’t mentioned, my thoughts are that as Motability don’t sell or provide second hand adaptations, and we paid a chunk of money towards them, they wouldn’t be that bothered if we retained the bits that we can and, if they are bothered, we wouldn’t be due any good condition bonus for them to deduct it from anyway 🤔
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.
The laws changed June/July last year, but prior to that, I think it was at the courts discretion/length of ban/points awarded or just ban
4: No harm asking Motability if you or adaptions installer can take the adaptions of the car prior to returning. This maybe possible without asking, but I’m not the one to ask on that.
I’m always moaning at MB about having to pay for new adaption every 3 years but from memory from many years ago they did tell me I could pay the installers to take them out for private use but you can’t have them put in another MB car because the, then RSA insurance, think its an unknown risk because they don’t know how much wear and tear they have had.
This of course is for adaption that control the car and not for things like hoist and such.
@kezo Your point 4 is an interesting one. When I spoke to Motability about our early termination they mentioned things that had to be returned and they didn’t mention adaptations. As it wasn’t mentioned, my thoughts are that as Motability don’t sell or provide second hand adaptations, and we paid a chunk of money towards them, they wouldn’t be that bothered if we retained the bits that we can and, if they are bothered, we wouldn’t be due any good condition bonus for them to deduct it from anyway
I’m always moaning at MB about having to pay for new adaption every 3 years but from memory from many years ago they did tell me I could pay the installers to take them out for private use but you can’t have them put in another MB car because the, then RSA insurance, think its an unknown risk because they don’t know how much wear and tear they have had. This of course is for adaption that control the car and not for things like hoist and such.
On Ebay (last time I looked), there were so many adaptions of various sorts, but mainly hoists, my impression in the main, was they could only have come from 2 places:
A: Somebody removing them, when their lease cars were returned to Motability, as a back hander or;
B: The lease customer removed them prior to returning the car.
@Glos-Guy you could leave the chasis fixing plate and just take the hoist out yourself, it will be cheaper😂😁@Glos Guy
Adaptation removal is a grey area for sure and as kezo has said there’s many a hoist on E-Bay, in fact I’ve got one in my loft though I haven’t got the fixing plate as removing that from the car could cause problems with getting the GCB and would not fit in a different model car.
Why its a grey area is if you read the terms of the MB agreement we sign on delivery if you have adaption to the car it says and I quote what it says for my next car “Advance Adaptation Rental Payment £1,070 This is payable on or before the commencement of the hire term”.
The thing with it saying “Adaptation Rental” would sort of suggest your only lending them but as noted with the hoist in the loft I have also removed the steering ball with the remote control, but again not the part that’s connected to the car, simply because I think its mine, I’ve paid for it. I don’t always do it but sometime I do simply because I get annoyed having to pay for them time and time again.
I’ve never done it but I have often thought about ringing the adaption installers to ask how much they’d give me for the other half of the system so they can resale it.
I already have a cunning plan @kezo 😉😂
Glos Guy 🤭 all what if’s at the moment,
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
definitely nothing mentioned at the time of her ban & not aware of any indication as such on the D27 form from dvla.
But waiting on her license being re-issued before any commitment just in case.
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
Definitely wasn’t aware of the 5 years exclusion, something that I hope DLM & motability will make more of an effort to communicate to there customers if circumstances dictate.
We have been Motability customers for many years, yet unaware of this stipulation.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.
Buying a used car had been top of the list of possibilities anyway, but looks like a private lease might be off the table.
All that is confirmed at present, is that our daughter’s ban is over in a couple of weeks & she wants to get back driving again.
She won’t be able to drive any Motability vehicle for a further 4 years,
meaning due to changes in her circumstances, our current vehicle doesn’t meet her needs & will probably mean terminating our lease early.We won’t commit to anything until the daughter has her license back in her hand, just incase dvla impose any extra conditions.
I do hope to have an understanding of what is achievable & ready to move forward, once things become confirmed over the next couple of weeks.
Tom…
@TomThumb I do agree with you that the 5 year rule should have been made clear at the time that the ban was declared to the insurer. It’s not right to suddenly discover that when you think that things are about to return to normal.
I think you would know if she had to take her test/s again, espcially if a court imposed punishment.
Hope all goes well and do keep us updated 🙂
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.
That isn’t the same thing.
Gaining 6 points as a new driver revokes your license and purely means you start from scratch and have to retake your driving tests as soon as you like
That is not a driving ban. A driving ban is given for an offence and as a new driver if the offence includes sufficient points to also revoke your license then you have to complete the ban then retake your tests.
A revoked license due to points is not a ban.
I was lead to believe If someone is caught within the first 2 years in which they have accumulated 6 points or more, then their licence will be revoked requiring them to reapply for a provisional license and retake both the theory and practical tests.
Basically back to the beginning but the 6 points will be carried over on to new full license.
I think you would know if she had to take her test/s again, espcially if a court imposed punishment. Hope all goes well and do keep us updated
I would think so too, but the courts role is to endorse licences, impose points & fines and determine the length of a disqualification period. Statutory requirements for having to retake a test fall to the DVLA. Whilst a Magistrate or their Legal Advisor might mention a re-test requirement, this is based on their knowledge and it’s not part of the sentencing, so many will steer clear for fear of giving inaccurate information.
I would assume that the DVLA inform of this requirement at the outset but, given that the rules change, I guess it’s not inconceivable that they might not, especially as you cannot sit a re-test before your disqualification period ends. However, with the long delays in securing driving test slots, I’d be pretty hacked off if I wasn’t told this until the end of any ban!
This site is worth reading:-
Cheers for the info guys, much appreciated.
Hopefully got to the bottom of the legalities now.
The latest legal standpoint from .gov I could find states:
Disqualified for 56 days or more
If you’re disqualified for 56 days or more you must apply for a new licence before driving again.You might also have to retake your driving test or take an extended driving test before getting your full licence. The court will tell you if you have to do this.
Definitely not mentioned during the proceedings or in any paperwork, so no having to do any re-test 🙏
On a slightly more positive note, our original adaptation installers say they can source & fit the required kit on a 13 yr old runabout that’s currently owned by a relative, so a possible car share of sorts.
I didn’t think the kit would still be available for something that age, but happy to have been proved wrong on this occasion.Tom…
Disqualified for 56 days or more If you’re disqualified for 56 days or more you must apply for a new licence before driving again. You might also have to retake your driving test or take an extended driving test before getting your full licence. The court will tell you if you have to do this.
If when she was summons to court, it would be in writing if she needed to take her test again.
You can check more here and reply for her driving licence before your disqualification period ends:
https://www.gov.uk/reapply-licence-revoked
Just a little bit of confirmation about removing adaptions from a MB car. My car is going back under end of lease next week and had a letter from MB today and one subject is the removal of adaptions and this is word by word what they say…
“If you have adaptations fitted you do not need to remove them. If you want to, please arrange it with a Motability Scheme adaption installer.”
So if Tom does want to go down the private car route its fine to remove the adaption from there current MB car.
That’s good to know @ChrisK although “you don’t need to remove it” isn’t quite the same as “you can retain it”! However, I’m going to leave the bracket (which is unique to the car) and electrics for Motability to remove prior to resale, but retain the hoist as we can re-use it in our new private car. Thankfully, as the hoist is the major cost, this reduces the cost versus buying all new kit by 80%. We paid a chunk of change towards it and they didn’t mention it when they rattled off the things we had to return (keys etc) so I don’t feel bad about it and as it’s an early termination there’s no good condition bonus for anything to be deducted from!
@TomThumb @kezo I’ve done some digging on this today with a legal advisor who advises magistrates in court on all sentencing matters, including traffic. The advise that I gave in post #338422 was correct. It is not the sentencing courts responsibility to advise on whether or not a re-test is required, although they may choose to do so. This is supported in the document posted in post #338423 which also states that it is not the courts responsibility.
I mentioned that there was some suggestion on the .gov website that courts should inform of this requirement, so they consulted their legal volumes and these also do not state that it is the responsibility of the court to advise on DVLA policy, or inform people about retest requirements.
So, in summary, whilst Magistrates or their legal advisors might mention re-test requirements, you cannot assume that just because they didn’t there is no requirement. You have to get confirmation on this from DVLA, although my understanding is that a new driver who accumulates 6 points within their first 2 years will be reissued with a provisional licence only and therefore has to take both the theory and practical driving tests again, although that aspect is not an area of my expertise, so is worth double checking with DVLA.
I agree with @Glos Guy that you should check with the DVLA for full legal clarification on the driver’s licence status of your daughter. I wouldn’t just go off the court’s lack of information. Only the DVLA will give you the correct answer.
Last thing you’ll want is for her to be driving around without a valid licence.
I have ASD and thus have difficulty with social and understanding information, written and verbal. I process information in logical blocks, before I reply. Sometimes I'm right and sometimes I'm wrong.
I also have a corneal visual condition, which makes me visually impaired without daytime, or daytime bulbs, among other disabilities/conditions.Cheers guys.
Not having to re-sit the theory & test again by all accounts is not as clear cut as we were hoping by the sounds of it.
The daughter had all ready applied for her license a few weeks ago, so just waiting on what type of license dvla issue, especially as her 3 year medical license should run out in 7ish months time anyway.
Trying to plan for the worst & hope for the best.
Tom…
Personally I’m expecting the daughter will have to start from scratch again, having to do a theory & driving test, with possible points showing on what ever licence she gets issued.
Although at the time of the ban, nothing regarding a re-test or penalty points had been documented & the daughter does recall that the court mentioned that no re-test will be required.
But the way my memory is, I have trouble remembering last week never mind last year lol.
Either way, we’re not committing to anything until she has her license in back & in her hand (just in case)
Tom…
Well let’s hope that your daughter is correct and she won’t need to take her test again. The comment that your daughter recalls from court is exactly why Magistrates should focus on penalty points, endorsements, fines and disqualifications only. What she was told about not needing a re-test might be correct – but it might not be! Any decision on re-tests is not the decision of the court, but the DVLA based on the rules that apply at the time of the offence.
If there is a mandatory requirement for a re-test, a court cannot overrule that. This is why only the DVLA can provide a definitive answer to this question. Fingers crossed! Do let us know what the final outcome is when she receives her licence – in other words whether she receives a full or provisional licence.
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