Please help - scam?

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Morning mumsnetters. I’m hoping someone here may have had the same experience and can advise…. I moved house in December and contacted the DVLA to change the address on my licence. I have email confirmation from them. I realised yesterday that a company called ‘British drive’ have been taking £39 a month from my credit card ever since. I called them - the man was aggressive and said I’d signed up to their subscription service and should have read it more thoroughly. He said I hadn’t changed my address with the DVLA but with them. I had never heard of them before seeing them on my statement. They have sent me an email ‘proving’ that I ticked some box apparently saying I’d signed up. I informed my bank and the DVLA about it. I see on trust pilot than others have been caught out by this. Is there anything I can do to get my money back? Actually, it’s the principle more than the money which I realise is a privileged position. I’m so angry!

I've never hard of them before OP so have just had a look on their website. It's absolutely shocking that they can charge £39 a month for those 'services'.
I can totally understand your anger but I would guess there's no way of you getting a refund, just cancel from now on

What have your bank said about it?

Thank you. I agree it is a disgrace. It’s the unfairness of it that gets me - I don’t want to give up, I’m going to try and fight it!

It’s not a scam, you’ve signed up with a third party company.
Cancel it with them, contact your credit card company.

Look at this:
forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6545035/uk-drive-com

Thank you. It is a scam. It’s not at all clear that you’re signing up to something - it just looks like you’re making a one off payment to the dvla:

uk.trustpilot.com/review/britishdrive.com

Contact martins money program, the scam show and the one that has Gloria hunniford…at least try and disrupt the sneaky cheating curs. My husband paid I think it was seventy five pounds or some amount almost the same as passport renewal fee.he thought it was the passport office online.He then sent his old passport in. Passport office returned it saying he hadn’t paid the fee. Luckily there was still time to pay and get the new passport before we went on holiday. The passport office said they were always getting the fake site taken down but it just came up again. It was cleverly designed to look like the passport office and just offered if you read really carefully to send off a form online. It was to all intents a scam. Sorry you got caught out.

Thank you I appreciate that. Good idea - I will do. They get round it I think with technicalities and loopholes. Yes to all intents they are scams.

Appreciate the website may have looked differently a few months ago, but as soon as you click on their website it’s obvious it’s not a government website and they tell you that too. How did you end up there?

Each page as you go through the process also tells you there’s a fee of £39 a month.

This is the thing - I never clicked on their website. I had never heard of them until their name appeared on my bank statement.

I know you didn’t mean to sign up, but I literally can’t navigate that website to get to a screen to put my personal details in without clicking “Apply Now” in a box that has £39.99 per month in big blue letters.

If they’ve updated you licence, it’s not a scam - you just weren’t paying enough attention when you entered your details. There’s plenty of expensive services I’d never buy because I can do it myself cheaper (eg cleaner, decorator, budgeting apps, travel agents) - it doesn’t mean they’re a scam.

What website did you use to update the DVLA then?

I didn’t go on their website. I went on the government dvla one. I had never been on their website until yesterday.

The dvla gov.uk one

Have a look at the original confirmation email you received. Is that definitely from the DVLA?

I've just searched for "change address on driving licence" on Google and the first three hits are third party companies.

They're sneaky gits but presumably, you didn't contact the DVLA, you likely clicked on a very professional looking website.

I have an email from the dvla confirming I had changed my details.

Did you get a new licence with your new address sent to you in the post?

Because this third-party website used the details which you provided to them to change your address with the DVLA. You said it wasn't clear that you were signing up to a subscription and that it looks like a one off payment so you obviously put your credit card details in. Did it not occur to you that if this was a legitimate site you wouldn't have to pay the DVLA £39 to change your address? What did you think you were paying for?

Yes because that is what you paid the other company to do.
Perhaps you googled dvla and then assumed you were on dvla website.
The other company would not have been able to take your money if you had not entered your details on their website.

But it doesn't cost anything to change your address with the DVLA - so you can't have been on the official website

So you are saying, not that you were duped into using the wrong website, but your card has been used without your knowledge on a website you have never visited?

That needs to be raised with your bank as card fraud rather than a scam.

yes

Yes I have raised it with them

And what have they said?

My friend got caught out with something similar on renewing her child’s passport.
Apparently these service companies are the ad listings that come up first on Google. People are in a hurry so click the first one thinking it’s the official passport or dvla site.
Don’t know if you can get your money back but Trading Standards or similar should make them put a red banner on their site saying they’re a commercial outlet.

Edit to say I’ve just looked at their site. Does make it clear they’re an agency type company but all the things they offer are free elsewhere. There’s no charge to change your licence , car registration address or even get an MOT reminder.