DVLA is aware of problems with third party websites which appear to be legitimate government services, e.g. when customers are applying for a driving licence or taxing their car. Some sites exaggerate the nature of the services they provide or deliberately underplay the services that people can get for free or at a lower cost from official sources on GOV.UK.

These websites will claim to offer value-added services to ensure your application is correct before you send it to DVLA. However, using this service will mean you can end up paying as much as 3 times the normal price for your driving licence, and all you will receive is a paper application form that has been completed for you. DVLA carefully checks all driving licence applications received.

DVLA takes this problem very seriously as these website operators are in no way affiliated with DVLA, despite some using the DVLA trademark and the term ‘DVLA’ in their domain name. You may come across these websites in the sponsored links or paid-for results section when using online search engines.

The Department for Transport is working with the Government Digital Service, other government departments and a number of organisations that have a role in preventing websites making misleading claims. This includes working with the Advertising Standards Authority, National Trading Standards Body (NTSB), Nominet (the internet registry services provider for all .uk domain names), ‘Which?’ and search engine providers including Google, to raise awareness of this issue and to ensure enforcement action is taken where appropriate. The e-crime unit, at NTSB have, on behalf of government, closed down several sites found to be acting fraudulently.

Use DVLA’s online driving licence or vehicle tax transaction on GOV.UK

You should always #StartAtGOVUK when using DVLA’s online driving licence or vehicle tax services. You can then be sure that you are dealing directly with DVLA and you will not be charged any additional fees. Your driving licence or vehicle tax application will be completed online without the need for a paper application in the majority of cases.

Misleading Websites

You can find the online driving licence and vehicle tax services in the driving licence and vehicle tax sections of GOV.UK.