Motability users have been warned of new rules coming into effect today, which will see thousands slapped with tougher driving restrictions.
From today, Monday, April 13, certain drivers will be subject to mandatory black boxes in their vehicles as part of the Drive Smart scheme aimed at improving road safety.
The changes will impact drivers who are currently leasing their first car or Wheelchair Accessible Vehicle through the Motability scheme.
The black box monitors will assess driving behaviour, including speed, braking and smoothness, generating weekly scores of green, amber or red through a companion app called Drive Smart.
This marks a clear change in the company policy, which previously only applied black boxes to drivers under 30, although the new update will impact all drivers, regardless of age, as long as they are leasing a new vehicle.
However, if the driver accumulates more than four red ratings within 12 months, they could find themselves expelled from the scheme entirely.
Motability shared: "Drive Smart encourages safer driving and helps build confidence behind the wheel. It’s something commonly used across the insurance industry."
The policy will initially apply to 139,500 customers on new leases, with a review to follow before any wider rollout.
From today, drivers who lease a new vehicle with Motability will be subject to mandatory black boxes
|MOTABILITY
Critics have argued that the UK-wide change will undermine disabled people's freedom and employment prospects.
Motability schemes have faced tougher rules in the past year, with the Government removing a significant tax break on car insurance at last year's Autumn Budget, meaning drivers of the vehicles will soon have to cover 12 per cent Insurance Premium Tax.
Andrew Miller, CEO of Motability Operations, shared: "It was clear to me that simply passing all these costs on to customers was not an option.
"We had to carefully consider how to reduce the tax impact as much as possible, while also focusing on changes that reflect how most customers already use their vehicles."
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From July 1, Motability drivers will be subject to new insurance premium VAT payments | GETTYCombined with new VAT requirements on some vehicles, the scheme faces an additional £300million in costs from July 1.
Nigel Fletcher, chief executive of the Motability Foundation, explained that this change equated to a price increase of £1,100 for every driver on the scheme.
"A lot of disabled people won't be able to afford that, so we're now having to try and work out how we can make changes to the scheme that protect pricing as much as we possibly can," Mr Fletcher said.
Additional data from the organisation showed how younger drivers posed the highest risk on roads, with one case finding a driver travelling at 117mph in a 30mph zone.
A number of key Motability changes were unveiled last year
| MOTABILITY"This is a serious safety issue, not just for that individual, but for everyone else in that community," Mr Fletcher said.
A subsequent pilot scheme launched in Northern Ireland in September and has already resulted in 300 drivers being removed from Motability.
The reason for Drive Smart being rolled out to all customers follows the increase in insurance costs, which have risen by 62 per cent, on average, since 2022.
This increase has been driven by higher repair and claims costs by Motability users as well as wider market inflation, and a growing number of new-to-Scheme customers and younger drivers, who may have higher accident rates.