The DSA has warned would-be professional drivers not to book driving tests via anything other that its official website, as there are copycat websites charging a premium for test bookings.
“It’s unacceptable that some of these websites try to trick learner drivers into paying an extra fee to book their driving test,” said Alastair Peoples, DSA chief executive.
“We’ve already taken action with Trading Standards and the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) to make sure that they don’t use official logos, trademarks or make misleading claims. We continue to monitor these sites and explore new ways to counteract activities,” he added.
According to the DSA, some copycat websites charge up to £30 for just booking a test, on top of the driving test fee itself, while some also charge for ‘pass protection’ with the promise of a free re-test that very few customers would ever qualify to use.
In response to complaints from the DSA, the ASA has ordered a number of websites to remove wording that could mislead consumers into thinking they were using the official booking service.
Last month, the website book-theory-test-online.co.uk was fined £85,000 by premium rate phone regulator PhonepayPlus for ‘”very serious” breaches of its code.
“Gov.uk is the only official driving test booking website for both theory and practical tests,” said the DSA.
- If you’ve used an unofficial booking website, the Citizens' Advice Bureau can tell you about any course of redress open to you in your case.
