Motability contracts: Deputies now recognised as agents, not hirers

On 18^th July 2025, the Court of Protection clarified the legal position for Deputies and Attorneys when entering contracts through the Motability Scheme.

What is the Motability Scheme?

The Motability Scheme offers disabled people the ability to use their Motability Allowance to lease a new car, Wheelchair Accessible Vehicle (WAV), scooter or powered wheelchair.

The role of Deputies in the Motability Scheme

Before this update, Deputies were named as the ‘hirer’ on the agreement, rather than recognising that the Deputy is acting on behalf of the Protected Person (‘P’).

This blurred the lines when it came to potential liability claims, as, rather than the liability resting with P, it was argued that Deputies may find themselves held personally liable.

Potential liabilities for Deputies

This potential liability for Deputies extended from damage to the car, to traffic or motoring offences made by carers or family members. This opened the Deputy up to claims, which could impact them personally in connection with their own insurance policies or professional indemnity insurance.

This shortcoming was due to Motability’s and the Department for Work and Pensions’ (DWP) IT systems not having a function whereby they could record the deputyship. Therefore, by default, it would insert the Deputy’s details as the hirer, which does not accurately reflect their position as P’s agent, leaving the Deputy legally exposed where they should not be.

Clarification from the Court of Protection

As part of the update on 18^th July 2025, the Court of Protection confirmed that a Deputy for property and affairs must be treated as an agent for P, not the contracted party. As such, Motability has confirmed that it will, going forward, manually revise the contract to show the hirer as ‘P acting by his/her Deputy’. It also advised that it is committed to recognising deputyship status, as well as that of Attorneys.

The Court also confirmed that this update will be passed to insurance providers, the DVLA and other relevant parties.

Further information

This is a great example of why Deputies (lay and professional) and Attorneys need to be very mindful of the wording used in the contracts they sign on P’s behalf.

If this applies to any deputyships or attorneyships you manage, you can contact Motability to request the update:

Motability Operations
22 Bishopsgate, 6^th Floor
London EC2N 4BQ
Tel. 0300 456 4566

Contact our Court of Protection solicitors

To speak to a member of our Court of Protection team about your responsibilities as a Deputy, call us on 0117 325 2929 or fill out our online enquiry form.