Learner drivers in the UK may be eligible for refunds after the country’s largest driving school was penalized for using a deceptive pricing strategy known as drip pricing. The AA, one of the most well-known motoring services, has been ordered to return nearly £760,000 to over 80,000 learners who were not shown the full price of their lessons upfront when booking online.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has mandated that both AA Driving School and BSM Driving School provide refunds to affected customers. This decision comes after the CMA found that the schools had engaged in an illegal practice by hiding a mandatory £3 booking fee until the final stage of the booking process.
Who is Eligible for the Refund?
Customers who booked lessons on the AA or BSM websites between April and December 2025 are eligible for a refund. New customers were only shown the total price, including the £3 booking fee, at checkout—after they had already selected their lessons and entered personal details.
On average, affected learners will receive around £9, though the exact amount depends on how many packages they purchased separately. In addition to the refunds, the AA must also pay a £4.2 million fine for its actions.
What Do Affected Customers Need to Do?
The good news is that no action is required from affected customers. The AA Driving School and BSM Driving School will automatically issue refunds to those who qualify. The money will be returned to the payment card used for the original transaction. If this is not possible, the AA will send a cheque instead.
Why Was the Driving School Fined?
The AA and BSM were fined because they used a pricing tactic known as drip pricing. This involves not disclosing a mandatory fee, such as the £3 booking fee, upfront. Instead, the fee is revealed just before payment, which is against consumer protection laws.
Drip pricing was a widespread issue that cost consumers billions of pounds each year before it was made illegal by the Conservative government. The CMA emphasized that if a fee is mandatory, it must be included in the initial price, not added at checkout.
AA’s Response
The AA expressed disappointment with the outcome of the CMA investigation but stated that it would proceed with the refunds. A spokesperson for the AA said: “Although the £3 booking fee was made clear to customers prior to their purchase, we acknowledge it should have also been displayed at the start of the online booking journey. Having listened to the regulator, we made immediate changes to our website to make the £3 booking fee more prominent. We are now refunding all relevant customers.”
The AA also highlighted its long-standing commitment to protecting consumer rights, stating that it has prioritized this for over 120 years.
CMA’s Statement
Sarah Cardell, chief executive of the CMA, said: “If a fee is mandatory, the law is clear: it must be included in the price from the very start – not added at checkout – so consumers always know what they need to pay. At a time when people are watching every pound, dripped fees can tip the balance. And when it comes to something as important – and costly – as learning to drive, people deserve clarity.”
Ongoing Challenges in the Driving Industry
The driving industry continues to face challenges, particularly due to a backlog of driving tests that resulted from the pandemic. The average wait time for a test is now around 22 weeks, compared to five weeks before the pandemic. This has led some learners to take extreme measures, such as booking distant test slots just to secure a date.
Additionally, bots and third-party websites have been exploiting available slots by reselling them at a premium. To address this issue, the government announced measures last year, including releasing 10,000 extra driving tests each month and using military driving examiners to help ease the backlog.
