£50 charge to check licence form

Tilly12

I feel very foolish about this but would really like money saving expert's take on it. I recently applied for a replacement for a lost provisional driving licence for my son. I was charged £50 by what I thought was the DVLA. I then discovered it should have cost me £20 so I contacted who I thought was the DVLA. In fact, I had paid £50 to a company drivinglicenceuk.com for checking my form and sending me a SAE addressed to DVLA with which I had to enclose the usual £20 fee. I am absolutely gutted it has cost me £70 altogether. I had no idea I was not paying the DVLA for the licence and it took me a while to realise what had happened as the site looks like the DVLA one. Needless to say, the company won't refund me as they have carried out the form checking service. Has anybody else fallen for this and shouldn't the general public be warned, or was I just totally brain dead on this occasion?

grumbler

Some MSE articles on this matter:

Avoid the copycat websites that charge for free services

US travellers warned over Esta sites after Boris Johnson aide stung by £50 copycat

Gromitt

I assume you mean drivinglicence.uk.com, which is a company designed to trick people who search for the official website, but they do clearly state on their website that applying direct to DVLA will not incur any charges and that you are only paying an application checking fee.

So yes, you were tricked.

The public was warned in May by the several tabloids, one such example is here:

http://blogs.mirror.co.uk/investigations/2013/05/this-driving-licence-renewal-s.html

GDVS

While I think they are lowlifes hoping for people to make this mistake their website looks nothing like the DVLA site and says in large prominently placed text

We are not affiliated with DVLA, the UK government or any official body. The checking service we provide can be obtained from a DVLA office directly at a reduced fee or you can apply without a checking service where there will be no checking fee payable.

Bottom feeders, but not dodgy.

Dovah_diva

Tilly12 wrote: »

I feel very foolish about this but would really like money saving expert's take on it. I recently applied for a replacement for a lost provisional driving licence for my son. I was charged £50 by what I thought was the DVLA. I then discovered it should have cost me £20 so I contacted who I thought was the DVLA. In fact, I had paid £50 to a company drivinglicenceuk.com for checking my form and sending me a SAE addressed to DVLA with which I had to enclose the usual £20 fee. I am absolutely gutted it has cost me £70 altogether. I had no idea I was not paying the DVLA for the licence and it took me a while to realise what had happened as the site looks like the DVLA one. Needless to say, the company won't refund me as they have carried out the form checking service. Has anybody else fallen for this and shouldn't the general public be warned, or was I just totally brain dead on this occasion?

Oh come on! I'm sorry, but this site is so clearly not the DVLA. It even says, in massive writing on the front page:

"We are not affiliated with DVLA, the UK government or any official body. The checking service we provide can be obtained from a DVLA office directly at a reduced fee or you can apply without a checking service where there will be no checking fee payable"

You weren't tricked - you did not fully read the website before eagerly writing out your cheque. Honestly, while people don't take some responsibility for their actions and READ and RESEARCH before they part with their hard earned cash, there will always be someone willing to part them from it, using morally dubious methods. It is up to you to stop this happening.

Abbafan1972

My husband has just replaced his driving licence for the photocard one, as he still hadn't updated from the paper one.

He used the official DVLA and paid the £20, the application was fine. We didn't need an expensive checking service. As I helped him do it, I was here to check it for him.

The licence came through on Friday, no problem.

I agree the website drivinglicence.uk.com looks nothing like the official DVLA one and don't know how people can mistake it for it.

Tilly12

Whilst I am very grateful for the replies, I am not so enamoured by some of the more scathing ones. This is the first time I have used a forum, it will be the last, it is so easy to be unkind on the internet and again, I should have known better.

sicker

Tilly12, don't cut off your nose to spite you face . Ignore these Divas who appear to take pleasure disparaging others and take heart from those who try to give helpful advise and cotributions, they are in the majority.

Hominu

So if someone in real life says something you don't like do you sulk? Or do you ignore them or come back with a witty remark as appropriate?

bigadaj

Tilly12 wrote: »

Whilst I am very grateful for the replies, I am not so enamoured by some of the more scathing ones. This is the first time I have used a forum, it will be the last, it is so easy to be unkind on the internet and again, I should have known better.

Forums are anonymous. No one knows who they or others are, which makes it easier to help and be objective but can also mean many opinions are harsh and abrupt.

You did something moderately silly which has cost you some money, no one else has lost out. You've sensibly come on here for clarification and received a range of responses, all good but some short. Learn from this experience and unfortunately cynicism is a valuable trait in the modern world, be suspicious of anything on the Internet and its best checking before you complete a transaction.

Official government websites almost always end in .gov so this is also something to be mindful of.

ermine

Tilly12 wrote: »

Whilst I am very grateful for the replies, I am not so enamoured by some of the more scathing ones. This is the first time I have used a forum, it will be the last, it is so easy to be unkind on the internet and again, I should have known better.

Crikey. You didn't get hit too hard Largely because you didn't holler it's so unfair and accepted the possibility that you might have been

shouldn't the general public be warned, or was I just totally brain dead on this occasion?

to which the answer is yes, and, er, yes, but don't beat yourself up about it. You've learned something valubable in that there are a lot of bottom-feeders out there who will try and create opportinities to make honset mistakes from which they can extract a fast buck.

The general principle to be learned is always only pay money to the government department itself, none of which make you pay a checking fee. Ensure thet the website ends in .gov.uk

The onluy expection I know of is there's a case to be made for eating the Post Office checking fee when renewing a passport, particularly if you want to travel in the next month because the rules on photo size and placement are tiresome and easy to screw up. If you have time, however, there's no problem going through the loop a couple of times for free!