The Short Answer
The Motability Scheme exchanges the enhanced PIP mobility rate for a leased car, wheelchair accessible vehicle, scooter or powered wheelchair. It requires the enhanced rate with at least 12 months of the award remaining. The whole mobility component is exchanged — £80.00 a week at 2026/27 rates — and the lease includes insurance, servicing and breakdown cover.
Who Qualifies
The enhanced mobility rate, and at least 12 months of award left. Motability states the requirement as "a qualifying mobility allowance with at least 12 months left and have a valid UK driving licence".
GOV.UK lists the Scheme among the entitlements that follow a mobility award, available "if you get the higher mobility rate of PIP". The standard rate does not qualify.
| Requirement | Detail |
|---|---|
| Award rate | Enhanced mobility component |
| Award remaining | At least 12 months |
| Licence | A valid UK driving licence for a car or WAV |
| Drivers | Up to three can be added to the insurance |
Last checked: 7 August 2026
The last row is why the Scheme works for people who do not drive. The allowance holder does not have to be a driver, and family or carers can be named instead.
What Is Exchanged
The whole mobility component, and only that. At 2026/27 rates the enhanced mobility rate is £80.00 a week, and all of it goes to Motability for the duration of the lease. The daily living component is untouched and continues to be paid to you as normal.
Last checked: 6 August 2026
That is the trade to weigh. Keeping the allowance means £320.00 every four weeks in cash; exchanging it means a car with insurance, servicing and breakdown cover included but no cash. Which is better depends entirely on whether the money would otherwise go on transport.
What the Lease Includes
Motability states that the Scheme arranges insurance, covers servicing and routine repairs, and provides breakdown cover. Up to three drivers can be added to the insurance.
Mileage allowances apply, and the current allowance depends on the lease length and the date the order is placed. Motability publishes it with each vehicle, on a price list it updates every 3 months.
Last checked: 7 August 2026
Fuel and charging are not included. What is included around charging an electric car depends on the arrangement offered at the time of ordering.
Advance Payments
A one-off sum on vehicles the allowance does not fully cover. Motability's current list shows bands running from £0 through under £500 and under £1,500 to £6,049 on premium models.
Last checked: 7 August 2026
Because the weekly cost is the same for every vehicle, the Advance Payment is the only financial difference between one car and another. The current bands are set out on the Motability Car List page — the price list is updated every 3 months and the next one is released on 1 October 2026, so a payment quoted this quarter is not a payment quoted next.
Reaching the Enhanced Rate
Twelve points in the mobility component. With only two activities feeding it, single descriptors reach that threshold: being unable to follow the route of a familiar journey without another person, an assistance dog or an orientation aid scores 12, and being able to stand and move no more than 20 metres scores 12.
That makes the 20-metre boundary and the familiar-journey descriptor the two most consequential findings in any claim where a vehicle matters. Score both activities in the mobility points calculator, which uses the verbatim descriptors.
If the Award Changes
The lease depends on the award continuing. A review that reduces the mobility component to the standard rate, or removes it, affects the Scheme as well as the money.
A drop from enhanced to standard takes the weekly mobility allowance from £80.00 to £30.30, and the Scheme requires the enhanced rate.
Last checked: 6 August 2026
Contacting Motability as soon as a decision changes is the practical step, and it is worth doing before the challenge is decided rather than after. Where a decision is being challenged, the timing of any lease decision is something to discuss with the Scheme directly.
What Else a Mobility Award Covers
A mobility award opens more than the Scheme, and the others read the award differently. Vehicle tax relief is a 100% exemption at the enhanced rate and a 50% reduction at the standard rate, and the automatic Blue Badge route in England turns on 8 points or more on moving around.
Last checked: 7 August 2026
The full list, including vehicle tax and the Blue Badge, is on What Your PIP Award Unlocks.