Number of dealers offering powerchairs and scooters through Motability doubled since 2010
Since the launch of its Powered Wheelchair and Scooter Scheme in July 2010, the number of Motability customers using the scheme has tripled and the number of mobility dealers working with Motability has doubled.
Founded in 1978, the Motability Scheme leases cars, powered wheelchairs & mobility scooters to recipients of qualifying mobility allowances across the UK. The scheme is operated by two organisations: Motability (the Charity), responsible for the strategic oversight of the Scheme and Motability Operations, a private company that operates the Scheme on behalf of the Charity.
Originally, Motability offered cars and WAVs, however, in July 2010, Motability Operations introduced the Powered Wheelchair and Scooter Scheme – significantly changing the mobility landscape.
Celebrating the scheme’s 10-year anniversary, Motability announced that the number of customers leasing powered mobility vehicles through the scheme has more than tripled from 5,000 to over 16,500.
The announcement follows data released by the organisation in January 2020, where it confirmed: “The number of customers leasing a powered wheelchair or scooter has also grown and is currently at 17,000.”
Dave Bushby, Account Manager for the Powered Wheelchair and Scooter Scheme, commented: “We’ve not only grown from 5,000 to over 16,000 customers we’ve also doubled the number of Motability Scheme dealers we work with and have a wider choice of products than ever before!
“In the last ten years we’ve increased choice for customers and improved the levels of service they receive. We’ve done this by helping dealers to improve their customer service and understand the needs of Motability Scheme customers, improving their processes and efficiency.
“I’m delighted to say that we continue to get excellent feedback from our powered wheelchair and scooter customers, in fact, today our customer satisfaction scores are better than ever, the consistently high customer satisfaction scores are the main highlight for me.”
The anniversary follows the end of a controversial saga for Motability and Motability Operations, which saw the organisations’ finances, governance and executive bonuses called into question by various MPs.
The saga was concluded in July 2019 when Motability Operations announced it would redistribute its reserves and revise its executive bonus policies. In addition, then CEO CEO’s Mike Betts resigned from the role.
