Driving Test Cancellation

eakb

Hi everyone, 

Sorry for the long post! 

I had been getting lessons from Red Driving School and had been waiting for my test date for over a year. My test was in early Dec, however, due to my driving instructor not wearing his mask, the examiner cancelled my test. 

DVSA is not refunding me for the test as it is not their mistake. At first, I thought I'd sort this out with the instructor, he offered to book me a last-minute test which costs around £150 but then he asked me to pay for half of it. I responded to him saying that DVSA won't even refund me, considering my test is cancelled because of you, it is not fair for me to pay any money. He then said he will talk to the Red Driving School to see if he can get them to pay for the original test fee. 

Following that, I raised a complaint with the Red Driving School and due to the festive period, they just got back to me more than a month later saying that they don't have any proof and they can't compensate me apart from the test fee and they made the instructor pay for the original test fee which is £62. They didn't offer to arrange a new test, additional lessons since I lost momentum, they simply just told me to arrange things with my instructor which is not fair. 

Now the instructor is saying he is super busy, there are no last-minute tests available and he will let me know if he sees any... It is clear that he is trying to avoid and get rid of the situation to not to spend more money to book me a test as Red made him pay for the original test.

Have anyone had a similar situation with their instructors/schools? Is there a way to get compensation? I have lost so much money and time. If you know how and where to escalate the matter, could you kindly let me know, please? 

(Removed by Forum Team)

Belenus

eakb said:.....

I had been getting lessons from Red Driving School and had been waiting for my test date for over a year. My test was in early Dec, however, due to my driving instructor not wearing his mask, the examiner cancelled my test......

I can't help with your questions but what was your instructor's involvement?

It is 46 years since I took my driving test. From memory, I drove to the test centre with the instructor in the passenger seat. We both got out of the car and I walked into the test centre to check in. The instructor did his own thing and was not involved in any way.

elsien

You say you’ve lost so much money - just to be clear, what money have you lost so far if your test fee has been refunded? 

TooManyPoints

Where was it that your instructor failed to wear his mask, that caused the examiner to cancel your test?

sheramber

 You can search yourself and book a driving test

https://www.gov.uk/change-driving-test

Use this service to:

• find an earlier driving test (sometimes called a ‘cancellation appointment’)

ArchLen

This situation is entirely your instructors fault. All instructors will have been made aware that it is law that they wear a face mask whilst conducting lessons, and whilst driving to and from a test centre. 

If you are having difficulty with your instructor’s unethical approach I would recommend you report their behaviour to the DVSA (Approved Driving Instructor registrar) and they can take action against him which may help you recover the costs he has been responsible for. 

eakb

Belenus said:

eakb said:.....

I had been getting lessons from Red Driving School and had been waiting for my test date for over a year. My test was in early Dec, however, due to my driving instructor not wearing his mask, the examiner cancelled my test......

I can't help with your questions but what was your instructor's involvement?

It is 46 years since I took my driving test. From memory, I drove to the test centre with the instructor in the passenger seat. We both got out of the car and I walked into the test centre to check in. The instructor did his own thing and was not involved in any way.

Hi, thank you for your reply. 

When we drove to the test centre, he was in the car with me without his mask on. He put the window down to say hi to the examiner and check-in and that's when the examiner saw him without his mask on and immediately decided to cancel the test. I wish he wasn't involved like in your case. 

eakb

elsien said:

You say you’ve lost so much money - just to be clear, what money have you lost so far if your test fee has been refunded? 

Hi, thank you for your reply. 

Yes, they might have refunded me for the cancelled test however, I can't even find a test date in June/July. It is fully booked in my area and I already waited for my previous test for over a year. If I can book a test in June/July somehow, it means I will need to take additional driving lessons as it will be a long time without driving a car and I will be lost momentum by then. Therefore, I will need to pay for more lessons. More than that, my theory test will expire by September so if I can't get a test booked before then, I will have to study and pass the theory test again which will cost me more time and money. 

Hope this clarifies. 

Thank you.

eakb

TooManyPoints said:

Where was it that your instructor failed to wear his mask, that caused the examiner to cancel your test?

Hi, thank you for your reply. 

He was in the passenger seat with me in the car. When we arrived at the test centre, he put his window down without his mask on and said "hi" to the examiner to check-in. 

eakb

sheramber said:

 You can search yourself and book a driving test

Use this service to:

• find an earlier driving test (sometimes called a ‘cancellation appointment’)

Hi, thank you for your reply. 

I can't even find a test date in June/July. It is fully booked in my area and I already waited for my previous test for over a year. If I can book a test in June/July somehow, it means I will need to take additional driving lessons as it will be a long time without driving a car and I will be lost momentum by then. Therefore, I will need to pay for more lessons. More than that, my theory test will expire by September so if I can't get a test booked before then, I will have to study and pass the theory test again which will cost me more time and money. 

eakb

ArchLen said:

This situation is entirely your instructors fault. All instructors will have been made aware that it is law that they wear a face mask whilst conducting lessons, and whilst driving to and from a test centre. 

If you are having difficulty with your instructor’s unethical approach I would recommend you report their behaviour to the DVSA (Approved Driving Instructor registrar) and they can take action against him which may help you recover the costs he has been responsible for. 

Hi, thank you for your reply. 

I considered getting in touch with DVSA but looks like they won't be much of a help here as the reasons for complaints are as below. 

• provides lessons that are shorter than agreed
• keeps cancelling or arriving late for lessons
• doesn’t provide lessons that you’ve already paid for

They also say that "DVSA can ask the instructor about the matter on your behalf, but they can’t help you get any money back.

"

I was wondering if there is a higher institution that I could report this to? 

I called RED today again to ask if they can at least provide me with some free lessons as I won't be able to get a test anytime soon and I will need to drive a car in the meantime to keep the momentum but they were actually pretty rude and unhelpful. They said, "you need to top up your account if you want lessons, instructors won't give you free lessons.".

I think they know that there is a loophole in the system and you can't report them anywhere to get anything more from them unless you decide to go to court.