The RAC is cautioning learners to all the time use the official Authorities web site and to avoid web sites that supply to ebook or notify them of obtainable take a look at dates, because the common wait time for a sensible driving take a look at in England and Wales after the epidemic remains to be roughly 4 and a half months.
The driving take a look at’s governing physique, the Driver and Car Requirements Company (DVSA), has closed 689 companies, suspended 746, and issued 283 warnings for abusing its reserving system since January 2023.
Sadly, nonetheless, the RAC has found that some unlicensed web sites proceed to try to reap the benefits of college students who’re having issue changing into licensed drivers.
A ‘black market’ that utilises bots to order take a look at areas extra rapidly than any particular person may is regularly attractive learners who’re determined to beat the take a look at backlog.
As soon as obtainable, these slots are subsequently resold at exorbitant costs or by way of paid companies that notify prospects of take a look at cancellations of their neighbourhood.
In keeping with RAC analysis, some web sites are reselling driving checks for as much as £195, which is greater than 3 times the official value, though the take a look at itself prices £62.
The RAC has found that many driving take a look at dates should be bought on-line by way of third events since they’re provided by way of encrypted WhatsApp chats, regardless of the DVSA’s swift efforts to crack down on the black market.
The ‘disappearing message’ characteristic is regularly utilized by distributors on these channels to make conversations untraceable.
By ‘cancellation alert’ functions and schemes, which cost customers a one-time price to obtain alerts each time a slot turns into obtainable sooner than their unique take a look at, different third events are getting cash off of the backlog.
Even when some web sites demand legitimate documentation of a DVSA take a look at, drivers should should pay practically twice as a lot for sign-up charges as for a real take a look at; ‘VIP packages’ can price as much as £117.
The RAC has additionally found that college students must be frightened about dropping not solely cash but in addition their private info. One such sufferer is freelance journalist Lara Olszowska, with whom the RAC has had conversations.
Lara mentioned: “I purchased into the driving take a look at black market at £169 for a take a look at price £62, simply to keep away from having to retake my idea and delay my sensible examination. I gave them my driving licence quantity, my idea certificates quantity, and my residence deal with with out batting an eyelid.
“After failing that take a look at, I went on-line to attempt to ebook my subsequent try, however the DVSA web site saved popping up with an ‘error’ message.
“That led to a fateful cellphone name with the DVSA the place I discovered my account was blocked for having ‘too many’ checks booked utilizing my particulars – though I used to be blissfully unaware for the years it was occurring.
“An organization had used my particulars to repeatedly ebook checks underneath my identify 52 instances and swap them with different candidates who wished the slots for triple the value.
“My recommendation to different drivers is all the time to ebook by way of the DVSA on-line or over the cellphone and, when you have months of ready time, plan backwards from there together with your teacher so you might be greater than able to go by the point your take a look at date comes.
“You don’t need to find yourself spending tons of on sooner take a look at dates, just for a 3rd get together to run off together with your particulars to ebook a number of checks so your particulars get blocked, and you discover out when it’s too late.”
To be clear, the RAC is recommending that drivers make their reservations immediately by way of the Authorities web site as an alternative of utilizing a third-party ‘black market’ web site, which regularly gives inaccurate info just like the frequency of driving take a look at bookings.
Learner drivers are expressing their dissatisfaction with the reserving course of on Reddit and Mumsnet boards, and scammers are even endorsing their web sites there.
RAC head of coverage Simon Williams mentioned: “It’s horrible that ‘brokers’ utilizing software program to order checks quicker than a human probably may are making it so laborious for learners to ebook take a look at slots. It appears as if expertise is continually getting used to cheat the system as we’ve been instructed somebody’s driving licence quantity was used to ebook a number of checks.
“Definitive motion must be taken to forestall ‘bots’ reserving checks after which promoting them on to determined learners for loopy quantities of cash. This results in real slots being wasted and learners, who’re able to take their checks, lacking out and having to attend months for an opportunity to turn out to be a certified driver. It’s no surprise some learners find yourself reserving take a look at slots earlier than they’re prepared.
“It’s additionally very fallacious that actual people who find themselves genuinely attempting to ebook their checks are being handled as if they’re ‘bots’ as a result of their information has been stolen by fraudsters.
“The very best plan of action earlier than the DVSA finds an answer to this drawback as soon as and for all is to ebook solely through the official Authorities web site and never pay properly over the chances through the use of a so-called dealer’s website.”
