In the UK, one out of every seven new cars is paid for by the government to give to someone with a disability.

Posted by Real Time with Bill Maher, Oct 24, 2026Checked Nov 2, 2026

Polygraph verdictTrue

Sources: 5 support3 context
Said: 1 time·
Confidence: 70%

Real Time with Bill MaherOct 24, 2026

Sources from around the claim's date (October 2026) support the figure: the Motability scheme accounted for about 14.7% of UK new-car registrations in the six months to September 2026, roughly one in seven, and the government funds the leases through disability benefits.

This claim is about the present, so it is judged as of the day it was checked.

What was said

… That's the part boomers have to own up to, but the younger generations, they have to own up to because the other reason there's not enough money is there's a lot of faking and idling and grifting. Yes, did you know that in the UK, one out of every seven new cars, until recently, including luxury brands like BMW, is paid for by the government to give to someone with a disability, and disability now counts for 10% of the population because it includes mental health conditions, which we used to call life, but now, now you can get government money if you have A d h d, anxiety, depression, wheat intolerance, tennis elbow, acne. Really? …

Real Time with Bill Maher · Oct 24, 2026· from the transcriptPost →

What we found

Supports. Motability Operations states the scheme accounted for 14.7% of UK new-car registrations in the six months to September 2026, described as around 1 in 7 new vehicles.[3]

Supports. Reporting citing the WSJ and government figures says one in seven new cars sold in the UK is paid for through a disability benefit, and news.com.au reports the same one-in-seven share of new car sales.[4][5][6]

Supports. Full Fact explains that some or all of the disability benefit is paid directly from government to Motability each month to cover the car lease, so the government does pay for these cars.[1]

Context. Earlier figures were lower: a 2025 Fleet News report cited 18.8% of new vehicles in 2024 and RAC cited about one in five in 2024, so the share is a rising trend rather than a contradiction of the present-day figure.[7][8]

Context. The post said 'until recently' and luxury models were removed from the qualifying list after 2025 scrutiny, but the sources still show the scheme funding roughly one in seven new cars at the claim's date, so the dropped qualifier does not change the verdict.[2]