Clampdown on loophole forcing up price of driving tests

Clampdown on loophole forcing up the price of driving tests after some learners had to pay £200 – three times the normal price

• Tests were banned during pandemic, which led to a backlog of almost 500,000

Driving test bosses are cracking down on companies that exploit loopholes in the booking system to profit from the huge demand for scarce appointments.

Some learners have been forced to pay as much as £200 – three times the normal price – because of driving schools bulk-buying test slots, while other companies are using computer ‘bots’ to snap them up as soon as they are made publicly available.

Driving tests were banned during the pandemic, which has led to a backlog of almost 500,000. 

As a result, learners trying to book one face having to wait at least three months, with some areas fully booked for up to ten months.

This has led to many who are desperate to get on the road to pay far above the usual £62 cost for daytime weekday tests and £75 for evenings and weekends.

Some learners have been forced to pay as much as £200 – three times the normal price

One major loophole has been in a part of the booking system that is for instructors, which allows driving schools to block-book dozens of slots at once.

But because there were no checks on who signed up for the service, third parties spotted the money-making opportunity.

Having signed up as instructors and bulk-booked test slots all over the country, they then used websites and apps to resell them at inflated prices.

Labour MP Afzal Khan, who has been campaigning for Government action after complaints about the system from his Manchester constituents, wrote to Ministers demanding to know what action was being taken.

In response, Transport Minister Richard Holden revealed that the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency has stopped allowing new companies to block-book tests. 

Driving tests were banned during the pandemic, which has led to a backlog of almost 500,000

All applications to do so, along with existing registrations, will now be ‘thoroughly checked’, and any firms that don’t employ driving instructors will be blocked.

The DVSA is also clamping down on bots that can scoop up test cancellations as they become available, although it is still battling computer experts who work out ways to get around any measures that are put in place.

Loveday Ryder, DVSA chief executive, said last night: ‘We will continue to work tirelessly to crack down on companies exploiting learner drivers.’

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