We've put the word out, asking you to tell us about
the rip-offs that make you rage, and you didn't let us down.
Sharp practice, that's what it is.
There's not a story too small or an issue we feel we can't take up on your behalf.
Where do you go? Who can you rely on?
People out there believe they're being ripped off, and indeed they are. We are rip-off Britain.
You contacted us in your thousands, you've written to us, e-mailed in, and even stopped us in the street.
It's a blatant rip-off.
I feel aggrieved by it.
Somehow, somebody is making a very lot of money on this.
I think somebody should take that up.
Our team has travelled the length and breadth of the UK to hear your stories.
Now it's time for us to investigate on your behalf.
This is Rip-off Britain.
Hello and welcome to Rip-Off Britain.
We've been listening to your stories about why you feel you're being taken for a ride.
And as there are charges associated with transport,
that's one of the major areas of concern for many of you.
With up to 32 million vehicles on the roads these days, there's a lot of money at stake.
And indeed, judging from your letters, there are rather more
than a few car-related issues that are simply driving you mad!
Also on the programme today, the small print clauses that consumers ignore at their peril.
Plus the train fares that can really derail your finances.
It's unreasonable, indefensible, and frankly mad.
And the insurance add-ons that come at a cost.
The battle for our hard-earned cash is on, and when every penny counts,
you need to make sure you're getting the best deals possible.
You've certainly given us plenty to work with.
Recently, the AA announced the biggest jump in the cost of
car insurance since it started tracking the market.
The average quote for comprehensive cover now stands at more than
£1,000, and that's causing many of you some concern.
It's this kind of driving that gives young men a bad name when
it comes to car insurance companies, and if this wasn't a go-karting track they might have a point.
Recent figures suggest that premiums for 17- 22-year-olds have risen by 47% in the past year alone.
So is that a fair price or a real rip-off?
Joe and Marie Glover don't think it's fair at all.
They contacted us about their grandson, Josh.
Sit down. Sit!
Good girl.
He's a good boy, never causes any problems, any trouble.
He's a wonderful grandson to have.
Joe and Marie live next door to Josh and his parents.
They all enjoy spending time together, and when Josh reached
his 17th birthday, grandad Joe was only too pleased to become his driving instructor.
OK, nice and steady.
As a driver, Josh seems to be a natural.
I think he'll fly through his driving test.
He's got that much intelligence and sense that I don't think he'll be a problem on the roads.
If you drive like that on your test, you should be fine.
I can't wait to pass, really, because then I can go where I want.
I don't have to rely on getting my mum or dad and getting a lift.
Josh has been desperate to hit the road for as long as he can remember.
He spent years saving up for his dream machine before settling on this one for £6,000.
But what's driving the family mad is the cost of his insurance, which is more than £3,000 a year.
I was raging a temper when they told me, I couldn't believe it.
I don't know how they think anybody can afford that. A 17-year-old boy!
And they won't even let him pay it back monthly on
instalments because obviously they don't trust him, I'd say,
so his mum and dad have had to pay the whole amount for him.
The cost is down to Josh's age and gender.
Young male drivers like him pay an average of £2,457 a year.
According to the AA, that's almost twice as much as similarly aged women.
Joe isn't happy.
They're charging this excessive amount for young boys
and girls the same, and to me, let's give them a chance.
Let's be fair.
The reluctance to insure younger drivers is based on accident statistics.
The Association of British Insurers says the average claim
of a younger driver is three times more than older drivers.
But Joe thinks labelling all teenagers the same is the pits.
After the young children of today are leaving school and have a car and
they don't have any accidents, why should they be penalised for the boys
who are roaring round the streets and causing the accidents?
Let's be fair about it. Don't class them all in the same society.
If they have a knock,
then OK it goes up.
If they have another knock, yeah, it goes up,
but not for the kiddies who are driving and they never have a claim.
They shouldn't be victimised, and they're being victimised.
And to make matters worse, when Josh and his friends actually pass
their tests, their insurance is likely to go up, not down.
When you become a qualified driver on the roads, why should the insurance double up
when you're qualified?
It should be the reverse, it should be coming down.
If the driving test is so good in the first place, he becomes
a worse driver after he's passed his test, according to them,
then when someone is with him.
To me, I think they're just trying to rip us off.
So how does all of this affect the rest of us?
High premiums for younger drivers are having a knock-on effect on other motorists.
It's thought that up to a quarter of male teenagers are driving on our roads without any insurance at all.
And when they have accidents, the rest of us fork out for the £500 million bill.
Marie and Joe aren't surprised.
No wonder that they're willing to take a risk, because it's costing them too much money.
In a way, I don't blame them because I think they're just being ripped off.
If I had got to get to a job of work,
and I said I can't afford this insurance, it's impossible, you know.
So I either give my job up
and stay at home,
or I take a risk.
So, instead of passing his test being a cause for celebration,
Josh thinks it's more likely to become a financial burden.
I'm paying more than the car is worth, which is ridiculous, really.
£3,000 is a lot of money, and to go up even more, I don't think I'll be able to afford so...
I don't know really what to do.
Now, here is a question for you. How many train journeys do you reckon we made in the UK last year?
Well, the answer is a staggering 1,258 million, costing us over £6 billion in fares.
Clearly, it's big business. And when it comes to setting the prices for
those fares, rail companies have to abide by government guidelines.
But, judging by the letters you've been sending us, you're not convinced they're stringent enough.
Overpriced, inconsistent and plain confusing.
Just some of the complaints you have about our rail industry.
The railways. Once the romantic way to travel.
But, over decades, it is fair to say things have changed.
And not always for the better.
Take Martin Evans, a professor at Durham University.
He had a brief encounter with the rail authorities which he is unlikely to forget.
I come from perhaps a family of modest means.
We didn't have a car until I was 17.
And so I've been travelling on trains since the age of none.
I'm a lifelong rail user and I love the railways.
In fact, I wouldn't choose voluntarily to go by any other route than on the rail. I love trains.
When they are well run, well-managed, and on time, clean, tidy,
not overcrowded, all the usual familiar problems.
But I still think, fundamentally, the railways are a wonderful way of getting around. I'm a fan.
But that love was tested earlier this year when Professor Evans
was returning from a conference in Birmingham with a colleague.
We spent most of the journey chatting about
what had gone on in the conference and matters to do with our work.
As we got towards Darlington, I thought, "It's Friday evening.
"I don't really need to go back to the university."
So I phoned my wife up, asked her to meet me at the station, cos I live nearer to Darlington than to Durham.
I got off the train.
But, as Professor Evans tried to leave the station, the barrier machine wouldn't accept his ticket.
He assumed it was a technical error, and so was stunned when staff informed him that wasn't the case.
She told me that I wasn't in possession of a valid ticket for the journey.
I said that I thought that I was.
And she said I wasn't because I got off one stop early at Darlington rather than at Durham.
And the conditions of that kind of advance ticket was such that I'd
invalidated it by not staying on the train until the final destination.
Well, I found this pretty incomprehensible.
I pointed out that if I'd stayed on
too long I could understand that that was wrong on my part, but I hadn't.
I'd not consumed all the product that I had paid for.
I'd voluntarily given some of it back to the train company.
But that didn't wash with the rail company.
Professor Evans was told he had three options.
Pay £155 then and there.
Be invoiced for the same amount later.
Or face the police.
As you might imagine, I was pretty upset but I think
I conducted myself as coolly as possible under the circumstances.
I stood my ground, argued my case, and, in the end, realised that of the three options facing me,
the least unpalatable was to accept
a bill for £155 and dispute it when I could finally get out of the station.
So, after a not entirely pleasant discussion, I took this form out of the station with me.
They finally let me out of the station. I met my wife
and was driven home.
It was a pretty sorry end to what had otherwise been a very good day.
So Professor Evans left the station owing the rail company £155.
And all because he had got off the train early.
I felt that I had been regarded in effect as a wrongdoer.
I found that extremely upsetting.
I did finally send off a letter of protest.
A pretty clear and firm letter of protest.
And he's not alone. Between April and June this year,
the rail regulator received more than 2,000 complaints from passengers.
People complain. They say they're going to improve services. They don't.
They want us to use public transport and get more cars off the road and
then they actually make rail fares cost prohibitive for most of us.
The train used to be a way of...
Saving money. Yeah. But now it's the same price as flying.
Over a week period, it's costing a person £100 just to get in.
I often take the train. I can't get a seat.
It's packed out. Trains are often delayed.
It's disgraceful, to be honest.
And it looks as if there could be more bumpy journeys ahead for rail passengers.
Under the government's recent spending review,
the cap on rail fares is to rise by 3% more than the rate of inflation.
And that means fares could increase by almost 8% a year for the next four years.
If you're a student or you're not earning much money, it's expensive.
Some people just won't be able to travel into work.
I'm concerned about long-distance commuters.
People with season tickets. I think that's going to be an astronomical increase for them.
Because I have to travel down here from the Midlands every day, I have to come down.
I'm basically trapped.
With the price hike, it's just going to take the mickey even more.
As for Professor Evans, he paid the £155 he was charged for getting off his train a stop too soon.
But he disputed it successfully and the money was refunded.
At last, a victory for good old-fashioned common sense.
Nobody can believe it when they hear it.
The reason they can't believe it is because it is unreasonable, indefensible and, frankly, mad.
Here we have got a condition which nobody knows about.
Well, I really think I'm no dafter or more careless than the next chap, but I got caught out.
So, if you're travelling by train, there are some key things you should know before
your journey to ensure you get the best possible value for money.
Transport commentator Christian Wolmar is here to explain all.
One of the real problems with the railway industry is that
the fare structure is completely incomprehensible.
There's such a variety of fares, off-peak fares, any time fares, day returns, season tickets and so on.
The poor ordinary passenger is just faced with a completely
incomprehensible array of prices and conditions.
It is very difficult to navigate your way around that.
One of the things about these terms and conditions is that they vary between different railway companies,
so, for example, one company might start its peak time fare at 3:00pm
and another one will let you on with off-peak tickets until 4:30pm.
Nobody is actually going to be able to check that out until they get on a train and then meet
a guard who's going to charge them up to maybe £50-£100 extra for making a simple mistake.
If you're a real railway buff, you know that the best time to book
a ticket is precisely two months in advance.
You can go online two months before you travel
and you'll probably have the best chance of getting a cheap ticket.
Go online and then probably, if you're lucky, that really cheap deal,
that £10-£15 ticket to get across the country, will be available.
But if you go one day late, it's probably gone.
One of the new ways that train operating companies have
found it to extract money from the passengers is to charge extra for booking a ticket with a credit card.
And that, again, seems to be a bit of a fiddle because they are encouraging
you to go online to buy these advance tickets but then they're slapping an extra fee on top of it.
You also need to be careful to make sure that that little box with an extra pound for insurance is
not ticked, because it's a completely daft idea to insure a particular train journey.
Still to come on Rip Off Britain - the driving theory tests that add up to twice the price.
And the small print clauses that continually catch consumers out.
Earlier, we heard from Jenny just how expensive car
insurance can be if, as a driver, you fall into certain categories.
And the money drain doesn't stop there.
Charges for making even the smallest changes to your insurance policy have rocketed in recent years.
And, you know something, they can really add up.
Financial journalist Lorna Burke thought she'd found the perfect birthday gift
for her 18-year-old daughter - a year's worth of car insurance.
I shopped around on the internet and found the best quote and it was £440 from Yes Insurance.
So, I bought it and forwarded her the documents.
Lorna paid for the policy in full last June.
So was more than a little surprised when the company's name popped up
on her bank statement some five months later.
I was checking my credit card statement and suddenly noticed there were two debits from Yes Insurance.
One for £39 and the other one for £15.
I couldn't think what they were at all so I rang up Yes and they said they were administrative charges
levied because the date of purchase that had been given to them for the purchase of the car was incorrect.
Well, since the car had been insured by another insurer before, it seemed to me that the date
of purchase was utterly irrelevant and I contested the charges, but they wouldn't remove them.
Lorna was less than impressed.
I wrote to them and said I wasn't happy with the situation at all.
It seemed to me that these were excessive charges but I wrote very firmly at the end that on no account
were they to make any more deductions from my credit card account, and I made that very, very plain.
Having made her wishes clear, Lorna resolved to accept the charges
but to change insurers at the next renewal date.
I was amazed when I got back from holiday at the beginning of July
of this year, 2010, to discover yet another £555,
an increase on the previous year's premium, had been deducted by Yes for my daughter's car insurance.
She is the policy holder and it was nothing to do with me.
I wrote to Yes again and I complained about this, pointing out that my daughter was the policy holder and it
was up to her to pay the renewal fee, and also pointing out that, in November of the previous year,
I told them on no account to make any more deductions from my credit card account.
And they then asked for a whole lot of documentation up to be sent
to them by my daughter, the new insurer etc.
All of which was complied with.
Since then, I've had a couple of acknowledgements from Yes Insurance, and the last letter
I received from them said this would all be sorted out by the end of August, I think it was.
And nothing has been sorted out at all.
Lorna wanted her money back but there was more trouble ahead.
I opened my credit card bill this month and there again are two more deductions from Yes Insurance,
which I assume to be some sort of administrative charge for ending the insurance.
When I queried it, they should have actually
refunded the money immediately and contacted my daughter, or at least discussed it with her.
But they didn't contact her. I had to reinsure her elsewhere, and now they
are deducting money to cancel insurance I hadn't even asked for.
The Consumers' Association, Which?, has recently been researching car insurance companies.
There are a huge range of insurance fees and more seem to come up all the time.
There are fees for changing your marital status, changing
your address, changing the date of when you bought a car, for example.
There are fees for cancelling the policy.
Or even fees for just making other minor adjustments.
They seem to just pile up and they are not made clear right at the start.
Which? recently discovered that seven in ten car insurance providers and one
in three home insurance providers charge customers administration fees for the simplest of policy changes.
It's really hard to justify and, on the surface, it looks like blatant profiteering.
These insurance companies seem to be charging extortionate fees that are not transparent and certainly not
fair for carrying out what are really basic admin tasks.
Now, we would want those insurance fees to actually be completely clear and transparent
right at the beginning when you take out your insurance.
Our advice to Lorna is to make sure she follows up that complaint,
but really she should also take her business elsewhere.
There are plenty of other insurance companies out there
that don't charge these exorbitant fees for basic admin changes.
We asked Lorna's insurance company, Yes, why she has had so many problems.
They told us it isn't company policy to discuss individual cases.
But they did say that:
As for Lorna, she has referred her case to the Financial Ombudsman.
I think that, at the very least, what they are doing is sharp practice and,
at worst, it really should be taken up by the authorities and stopped.
I mean, if this is widespread,
the regulator should do something about it.
You know, I remember my driving test as if it was yesterday.
I think so, too, does my driving instructor!
Now, at the time, it felt like the longest 40 minutes of my life, but I got off lightly.
Learner drivers today have to sit a theory test as well as a practical
one and this is where our next cause for consumer complaint comes in.
Now, the theory exam is supposed to cost just £31.
So why have some of our viewers had to hand over considerably more?
OK, when you're ready we will drive off.
When learner driver Gabrielle Harding wanted to book her driving theory test,
her instructor advised her to book online with the Driving Standards Agency or DSA, a government website.
I just clicked on booking a theory test and
then went through all the stages, picked the date and everything and ended up paying at the end.
I knew it was £31 something, or 35, I'm not sure.
But that's what all my friends had paid that had done it recently so I knew that was right.
When you're ready, we shall begin.
But Gabrielle failed her driving theory test first time around and
when she went online to book another test, she got a bit of a surprise.
I found that as soon as I typed it in there was loads more other websites rather than the DSA.
I just went through the same stages I did previously but once I got to the paying stage, instead of £30,
it was, like, £50 or £40, and that's when I thought something was wrong.
Gabrielle had unwittingly clicked on to an unofficial driving theory test website.
It books the test for you but charges you for the privilege.
Something that can be totally avoided by going directly to the government website.
I knew they weren't the same as the first one I'd used when booking my first test, but I
couldn't find the first one I'd used, so I went through, like, loads trying
to find it, but they all just looked like really unprofessional.
Gabrielle knew something wasn't quite right and eventually found
her way back to the official site and booked her test in with them.
Learner driver Emily wasn't so lucky.
I paid £47 for it. It should have been £31.
But I didn't know what price it was.
I hadn't discussed it with anyone, so I only got suspicious
when I got two confirmation letters from different companies.
That was the only time that I thought anything was wrong.
Driving instructor Chris Deverell believes these sites are a growing problem.
I've had five pupils that have booked their theory and practical
driving tests through websites that aren't via the official DSA website.
And, to be honest, they are paying booking fees which aren't necessary.
I'm really annoyed that some company got £16 off me for just
booking my test for me which I could have done myself for free.
I think they are just being really unfair on people, cos like when
you start to learn to drive and you want to do your theory as quickly as possible, and you're really excited
about it, then if you have to pay like £50 for it it's just not fair.
When we checked in with the Office of Fair Trading, we found that,
as ridiculous as it may seem, what are these websites are doing is perfectly legal.
So it really is a case of buyer beware!
I'd say to people, just use your common sense.
If the website looks professional and you're paying around £30, then I think you're doing it correctly.
But if it just seems like extortionate amount of money,
or the website doesn't look very professional, then avoid it.
So, if you or someone you know has been learning how to drive, what do
you need to be aware of to ensure that your finances stay on track?
Here are some very valuable advice from Directgov.
Directgov offers impartial government advice. There's
a wide range of information and a number of tools and transactions.
So, for example, you can
do your car tax online, you can book or manage your driving theory test.
We are aware there are
some organisations that offer services providing
access to government services,
but are charging exorbitant fees for very little additional benefit.
These organisations use search engine marketing
to ensure that their sites appear high on the search rankings.
The Office of Fair Trading and other consumer bodies
are working hard to make sure that such sites are closed down,
but they are a number of sites springing up all the time so consumers do need to be aware.
There is also a problem with premium phone lines.
Some phone lines charge premium rates for access to government information that is provided free on Directgov.
The government never uses 0900 a numbers or other premium rate numbers.
If you are a victim of a scam, I suggest you look on Consumer
Direct where there is advice as to what to do.
If you have a specific instance of a scam, I suggest you contact
your local trading standards officer or Office of Fair Trading.
For phone rate scams, you should contact Phonepay Plus.
We recommend that citizens always start their journey
with Directgov so you can either bookmark Directgov or search for it.
It's www.direct.gov.uk
or you can start with the Citizen's Advice Bureau or Consumer Direct when
you want to access government services.
The battle for our hard-earned cash is well and truly on and, with every
penny counting, we are sure to make sure you're not being ripped off.
And you've certainly been keeping us busy.
So far in this series, we've heard from a whole host of people who feel they've been left out of pocket,
thanks to those tiny clauses that are very often buried away in the dreaded small print of contracts.
It really can leave you feeling ripped off.
In many cases, if you had been aware of the issues in advance,
then you could have saved yourself both time and money.
So, what do you need to do to ensure that you're not caught out?
Paul Farrow, who's the personal finance editor at
the Daily Telegraph, has some priceless advice.
The purpose of the small print is
to protect firstly the provider, and also the consumer.
Unfortunately, the provider understands, they write
the small print, they know what's in the small print, and therefore
they're more protected than the consumer, who probably won't read all the small print.
I think the cynic would suggest it's there to catch you out.
Our agony aunt here at the Telegraph receives hundreds of letters a month on various complaints and grievances
against financial companies, and many of those are disputes about what's in the small print.
The exclusions on the insurance policies particularly one area where
people do get caught out, what is covered and what is not covered.
Policies such as critical illness and life insurance, it's disclosing pre-existing medical conditions.
A lot of people tend not to disclose everything they've had.
That's a reason for an insurer to throw out a claim.
The ombudsman has seen claims before or from a person who had cancer who forgot to disclose
that she had an ingrowing toenail, and that got thrown out for that particular reason.
I don't think there is a case of who's the worst offender.
I think all banks, all building societies, all insurance companies,
all financial services companies, even utility companies now, have small print.
It's up to the consumers to be aware of what's in it.
My top tip for signing a contract is don't sign it if you're unsure.
Obviously, you can read the small print yourself, but if you have any questions you should put those
questions to the person selling you the policy, be it an insurance policy or an investment product.
Get them to put you straight.
If you think you've been caught out, the first thing to do is go back to
the provider where you bought the policy or the account, or the investment product, and complain.
If you're not happy with what they say,
your best bet is to go to the Financial Ombudsman Service,
which is a free service, and they'll take your case up.
You know, for some people, learning to drive can be
a really stressful experience, and it's usually not a cheap one either!
When I was learning, I felt that I was in good hands.
I trusted my instructor, and I was fortunate enough to pass my test the first time.
But we've found out that one in 10 drivers in the United Kingdom
may not be so lucky, because they're being taught by trainee instructors.
It costs most of us around £1,500 in lessons before we're fully legal behind the wheel.
But are some of us being taken for a real ride?
Kate Fuller, a trainee teacher from Kent, certainly thinks so.
She signed up with a well-known driving school 18 months ago and couldn't wait to get going.
But it didn't take long for her to spot some warning signs...
The first 10 lessons really weren't good at all.
The driving instructor wasn't professional.
He didn't turn up at times and was on his mobile phone, and I really didn't learn much at all.
My confidence was very low.
I did tell the driving school that I didn't think the instructor was very
good, but they asked me to keep with him for a few more weeks and just see how things went.
Eventually, Kate found a new instructor.
I'd like you to take the next turn on your right, please.
Enter driving supremo, Simon Jenner.
He's been bringing learner drivers up to speed
for almost five years
and he knew there was a problem the moment Kate buckled up.
When I took over Kate's driving tuition
she'd very low confidence, very low self-esteem about her driving.
She literally said in the very first lesson that she didn't think she could actually drive a car.
Kate thought her inability to drive was all down to her, but Simon had another theory.
I discovered that Kate's previous instructor was actually a trainee,
by just asking her what colour badge he had.
She replied that he'd a pink badge and not a green badge, green badge
being fully qualified and pink badge being partly qualified.
Kate, like many other drivers in the UK, had been paying full
price to be taught by a trainee, and those lessons aren't cheap.
I'd have saved a lot of money, because
obviously the first 10 lessons that I'd had were a complete waste.
That's £470. It would have been a lot cheaper and a lot better, and
I'd have had a lot more confidence and passed more quickly, I think.
So, are driving schools aware that some instructors are charging
full price, despite not being completely qualified?
You bet they are!
Do they want you to know this?
Perhaps not.
This man used to work for one of the country's biggest driving schools.
He's happy to spill the beans to Rip-Off Britain, but doesn't want to be seen on camera.
About three years ago, I used to work with a larger driving school.
I was with them for about two years.
We were told not to mention the pink badge directly to the pupils.
The reason for that was, they were still paying full price, as they would for a full instructor.
So, they didn't need to know that they were getting trained by someone that wasn't unqualified.
As a trainee instructor, I don't know who was more nervous, me or the pupils at times.
I felt that the pupils should be getting the lesson prices cheaper than what they were paying.
They were paying full price, expecting fully qualified
instructors, whereas on the day, we were only half trained, if anything.
They should be paying half price for the instructors.
We asked three of the UK's biggest driving schools
if they charge full price for lessons with trainee instructors.
The AA told us...
And in fact they claim that you're...
Red said they...
But they also point out that by doing so, they're...
They also claim to...
And BSM told us that regardless of an instructor's status...
They also said...
I think it's the responsibility of the company to make the customer aware that it's a trainee instructor,
and then charge them appropriately for that, rather than the price of someone who's fully qualified.
If you went to a trainee hairdresser, you'd be made aware of that and you
wouldn't be paying the same price as you pay for a fully qualified hairdresser.
It should be the same with driving instructors.
We agree, so the next time you buckle up for a lesson, as well as keeping your eyes
on the road, you may also want to check out your instructor's badge.
If it's green, you're good to go.
But if it's pink, always remember, in many ways they're a learner too.
Steve, are you an approved driving instructor?
Yes, I am.
How would someone know that that's indeed what you are, an ADI?
Very simple, you ask anybody who you're going to employ as
a driving instructor, can I see your green badge?
The green badge is simply the green Octagon, clearly
signed by the Driving Standards Agency, who monitor the register.
It's got the expiry date on it, and on the reverse, a picture of ourselves and our number.
And within that, there's a gradation as to how good you are, isn't there?
You wouldn't know by looking at this, however, you can ask the driving instructor, what grade are you?
If they're a good grade, they'll be more than happy to tell you.
What's a good grade? A good grade would be five or six.
You represent the Driving Instructors Association.
Let me just ask you, absolutely plain and clear, do you approve of the fact there are major driving
schools in this country who use trainee instructors to train new drivers?
There's nothing wrong with a trainee licence holder
as such, because what people need to be reassured with is that they've
passed the first two parts of the qualifying process.
They've undergone a minimum of 40 hours' training.
Most importantly, they've passed the CRB, Criminal Records Bureau check.
That part of it's good.
Where it falls down is the trainee licence scheme is generally not
properly supervised, and that's what the Driving Instructors Association, our association, has a problem with.
We'd certainly like to see the end of the trainee licence scheme as it is.
Yes, have a probationary period, trainee teachers, everyone has to train and get their practice somehow.
But it needs to be properly supervised, and the people who
are engaging the services of those instructors, they do need to know.
Let's deal with the supervision first. How would that be supervised?
Are you saying that whenever a trainee instructor takes out a learner driver,
there should be a qualified driving instructor in the back monitoring his or her behaviour, and progress?
That's how it should happen at the moment, one in every five lessons, 20% should be supervised...
Or they could elect to have additional training.
The important thing is that a lot of the time the trainee licence holders are teaching, they're not supervised.
A common
saying, or a common comment that we often hear is,
people fail in their final attempt at part three, and they say, but when I'm with my learner I'm fine.
And you say, well, yes, but nobody supervised you, how do you know what you're doing is correct?
Certainly, the trainee doesn't know.
I mean, what you're referring to here is something like 70% of those people who take the final
part of the driving instructor's test actually fail, only about 30% on average pass, don't they?
Absolutely, yes. So, we've got 70% of trainees who are teaching learner drivers, who are never going to pass
that final part of the exam, and therefore, frankly, are not very good instructors?
That's where the whole system falls down, because we have too many trainee licence holders.
They're earning what could be a reasonable living, but the problem is the people
who have gone to great expense to do continual professional development
and develop their skills, and try and run a proper business, they're just blown out of the water sometimes.
You look in many areas where there used to be 11 or 12 instructors in town, I know for a fact there's about
50, 60 in some areas now, because everything's just flooded with trainees.
Let's talk about the amount of money that's charged, £25 normally for a manual
instruction, £27 if you have an automatic car.
Should trainees be allowed to charge the same amount as a fully qualified instructor?
It's not so much the trainee
charging, the driving school will put the charge on, because the trainee is
not allowed to advertise themselves as qualified, or not give the impression that they're qualified.
Certainly, the driving schools shouldn't be charging
as much for someone to take lessons with a trainee licence holder.
Do you feel that members of the public are, as a result of the rules
as they exist at the moment, are actually being ripped off?
They are likely to be ripped off if they don't ask the correct questions, and there's a lot of information
in the recommended reading, Learning To Drive, various publications that clearly do explain
about pink licence holders and green licence holders.
They need to do their homework, look at the recommended reading.
And your own website? And our own website, the DIA's website.
Our website will only have fully qualified instructors on the "find your nearest driving instructor".
That means rest assured that they've all signed a code of conduct, it's a
voluntary code of conduct, that again is on our website for people to see.
Any driving instructors should be able to supply the code of conduct,
which is also available from the Driving Standards Agency.
The message to those learning to drive, do your homework, and don't be afraid to ask the correct questions.
Thank you very much indeed.
My pleasure. Thank you.
Here at Rip-Off Britain, we're always ready to investigate more of your stories.
Perhaps your finances have been mismanaged, leaving you to face an uncertain future?
We're not asking for charity, we're not asking tax payers to pay for us.
This is our money, we invested.
Or it could be a case of charges that just don't add up...
I'm like, I want to pay it off, I'll pay this money each month,
I want to pay a certain amount and get rid of it!
I thought, this is loan shark territory, this is ridiculous.
You might even have a cautionary tale of your own.
Share mistakes you've made with us, so that others don't do the same.
Didn't read all the paperwork, the print was so tiny.
They actually said that because of this clause, we wouldn't be covered in this instance.
These are tough financial times, and with every penny counting, it's never been more important
to ensure that you're getting the deals you deserve.
You can write to us at...
Or send an e-mail to...
The Rip-Off Britain team is ready and waiting to investigate your stories.
From your stories
it's clear that when it comes to car insurance, there really are huge disparities in the cost of policies.
It pays to shop around and as always, seriously
scrutinise that small print before you make any final decisions.
And when it comes to parting with your precious money, whether it's for
a driving test or indeed a lesson, be very clear about what exactly you're expecting to get in return.
Absolutely. That's just about it from Rip-Off Britain for today.
I do hope you'll join us again, when we return
with even more investigations into your consumer complaints.
Until then, from three of us, bye-bye.
Thank you for being with us, bye-bye. Bye.
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