Driving tests cancelled by examiners cost taxpayers £1.5m

Payouts for learner drivers whose driving tests were cancelled at the last minute have increased by almost 50 per cent since the Covid-19 pandemic, new figures have revealed.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) paid out almost £1.5m in compensation to drivers for driving test cancellations by test providers over the past three financial years, an analysis of the agency’s annual accounts has revealed.

Drivers whose driving tests are cancelled less than three working days may be eligible to apply for reimbursement for travel expenses and loss of earnings.

More than 17,000 people in the UK have claimed these payments since the 2021-22 tax year, according to analysis by the TaxPayers’ Alliance (TPA), seen exclusively by The Telegraph.

In the three tax years before the pandemic, just £1 million was paid to fewer than 14,000 people.

While the rise could be partly explained by the cancellation of driving tests at the end of the pandemic, campaigners said the increase in payments showed the current chaos at driving test centres, which have been struggling with backlogs since the lockdown. Figures released this week by the TPA also show that Britons are waiting an average of four months for their driving tests.

Ellen Pasternack, of End the Backlog, which campaigns to make it easier to book driving tests, said: “It is disappointing that the cost of cancelling a test has risen by 50 per cent, but that is just the tip of the iceberg.

“Our analysis has shown that we currently have a backlog of around one million tests left over from the pandemic, meaning hundreds of thousands of people are still unable to book their driving tests.

“It is clear that DVSA is not equipped to handle the levels of demand we have seen since Covid. It is long past time for the Government to step in to introduce additional capacity and deal with the backlog.”