licencesecure.co.uk

I applied on 29/3/21 and am still waiting 19/4/21 - I e mailed them and they suggested contacting DVLA to see where it is - If you pay £79 for a service - why ask the customer to call DVLA - you need to get me my licence quick - BAD SERVICE AND A TOTAL SCAM AVOID

False five star reviews. Avoid at all costs.

Do NOT use this company - they charged me £73 for renewing my driving license whereas I would only have paid £14 on the gov.Site - BIG SCAM

It is a massive scam. Now they also give fake reviews to get the rating back. People please don't fall to this. I have reported it to the police, the bank and I will make a small claim form too. This company is fake with fake address, no phone call and automatic emails. I wish I could give 0 star for this.

When I landed on their website I was sure I was on the DVLA site.  Their site is made to look like DVLA, I was rushing and obviously not paying enought attention. I feel I was dupped into applying via Licence Safe.

I did not relaise they were not the DVLA, till i checked my online banking this morning. I was horrified to learn I had been scammed by them to the tune of £93. No where in the online process to did you say the cost, as I would instatantly have known it was a con. 

I have reported them to my bank as fraud and I am contacting the DVLA and Trading Standards now to report them.

I am very concerned now about the information I supplied such as passport details and National Insurance number. Obviously I was under the impression I was giving this information to a government body, not a scam company. So gutted to have been conned like this.

When I noticed this scam I informed my bank immediately. I didn't notice on the day, as the £93 was not withdraw until 24hours after the application was completed. My bank held back the difference between the £93 and £14 that I should of originally been charged, (i.e. £79). I was eventually offered a refund of £59, which I excepted, but after many emails they still forced the bank to pay £79 rather than take £20 leaving me with the refund £59 in my account. These people and it's employees are disgraceful, I've finally had to take legal action against them. If this is what happened to you or something similar, get in touch with the Citizens Advice Bureau, they should be able to recommend a lawyer, and if you're retired or out of work, you may, like me, get legal aid, which means you pay nothing for their services and guidance.

Don't believe all the fake 5 star reviews!
If you're reading this you've probably been mislead and robbed of your money like so many others.
What you need to do: email your cancellation to them straight away so you have proof of doing so (bank may ask for this later).
Report to Action Fraud - don't forget to include the URL of the website you went to. These scammers run more than one. It's highly likely you clicked on licence-onlinesupport.co.uk which is the one that comes up on top of the google search. They also run licensecure.co.uk. If you used a tablet or phone you had no chance of seeing the small print on the landing page, which is why you probably didn't question it and went ahead and filled in your details. They're scammers.
Report to your bank and raise a dispute. Let your bank handle it or you'll be in for a long, pointless exchange of ridiculous emails from them where they will offer you £20, then £30, then £50 and so on. Refuse anything but a full refund. They will rely on you believing what they say but they are breaking all sorts of legislations so stand your ground. Ask for their cancellation policy in writing/company name/names of directors/registered address etc. They won't cause they're scammers.

Also report them to trading standards via the citizens advice (these scammers are already known). Your other choice is to fill out a small claims form. Their company name on website was Electronic Check Ltd, however you'll see on the Companies House register that they have just last week changed their company name and address. Probably to distance themselves from all the claims. The more people report them, the more chance you'll have of getting your money back.
You can also report to ASA as no Ad charging fees for government services that are free (over 70s licence for example) should appear at the top of a search.
Lastly, don't feel bad. They're in the wrong. Good Luck!!

THIS IS A SCAM - all positive reviews are fake.

Disgusting criminal behaviour faking the DVLA website.
Stealing £79 for no service at all. No response to emails, not refunding or professional as the fake reviews say. Steer clear and warn friends and family.

Like many others, I've fallen for this scam, I thought I was going through the DVLA, didn't realize till I checked my bank and the £73 fee had Been included, is there anyway I can get my money back or has anyone managed to get theirs back, any help would be appreciated

It is a scam. It is stressful to sort out. There is no phone number to call and is difficult to get hold of them on the email. When I try to ask for a refund within 24hrs, they do not respond to my email. Don't fall to this.

Avoid at all costs! Be persistent as other reviews say, keep emailing them. I have been offered nothing in my first email, then £20.00, then £30.00 and i'm persisting saying i want a full refund and nothing else. Mentioned as others have said that by law i have a 14 day cooling off period, they display no company reg information etc. Just keep at them.

This 'company' is to be avoided at all costs. They charge £99 for a service which is entirely free of charge from the DVLA. Quite simply, there is no need for their existence from a consumer's point of view, but Licencesafe exist to gather all your personally identifiable information including passport numbers, and your cash too. Rather than go on about how dodgy they are, here is how to get a refund from them if you get tricked into handing over your money to these crooks. Send copious emails to their Compliance Officer and mention consumer contracts (information, cancellation and additional charges) regulations 2013-they are an online seller so you are entitled to a 14 day cooling off (cancellation) period when you buy online. Also, try to email straight away, preferably before the payment is taken (whilst pending), so you are within their termination clause in their terms and conditions. Send emails mentioning data access request, trading standards, point out that their website and emails do not display their company registration information, and are therefore illegal ( company, limited liability partnership and business, names and trading disclosures regulations 2015). The breaches of law are reportable to trading standards and the subject access request can be reported to the information commissioner's office. Also, some banks have the option to open a retail dispute with them, so contact your bank. Keep on at them with emails daily and you will get a full refund eventually. It took us about 10 days of harassment with more and more descriptions of how they are breaking the law. It would be nice to put these con artists out of business.

Like many here, we mistakenly clicked into what we now know as one of the Licence Secure websites (there are a few separate web addresses, some of which look less 'official' than the one we used). We thought it was the DVLA from a Google search and processed a driving licence renewal before realising it wasn't them. We have no idea if / when we may ever get the licence or any of the money back, but more importantly are concerned what may now be done with our data and believe we are one of many victims of a major scam.

We tried to stop the payment (by debit card) immediately but sadly could not as the payment later went through, but the bank did cancel the card for us. We have reported to Citizens Advice and may follow through with the ICO, Action Fraud and Trading Standards. There are worrying reports online (eg. here on Trustpilot) of affected ‘customers’ saying they have been subject to identity theft and/or being unable to get a driving licence at all now, which is our main worry.

As at Saturday 10 April, they presented as though the DVLA site, with their T&Cs hidden out of view down the page and a claim of £14 cost for the renewal, unless full detail in the small print was read, where we later found a £79 admin fee was referenced.

Their T&Cs claim cancellation is allowed in 24 hours, but as we found despite contacting them within minutes after suddenly realising our mistake, they rejected that, saying they had already processed the application (see copious similar reviews here). Telephone contact is not an option - only email or web form.

Pressing them for cancellation and a refund by email then gets standard wording emails explaining the ‘great service’ they provide, but offering small gesture rebates that gradually increase each time we challenge.

Worryingly, they ignore all requests to clarify their full company details, respond to Subject Access Requests, etc, and all emails to us come from a claimed ‘J**’ (Compliance Officer) as others have referenced too. Emails can also be sent at bizarre times – e.g. 10.30 pm on a weekend evening, so they could well be operating overseas. The wording of each email is clearly pasted from stock replies and doesn’t properly address (if at all) any specifics put to them.

From research today, we believe their trading names include Licence Safe, Licence Secure and Licence Safe (Licence Secure). Based on their recent claim to us of their company being formally called ‘Caparika Ltd’ (seemingly non-existent at Companies House), we think they are actually operating currently as ‘Licence Assistance Online Ltd’ (12715587).

This company has changed registered office 3 times and also their name once (from ‘Electronic Caparika Ltd’) since first incorporated in July 2020. Their current claimed trading address is 20-22 Wenlock Road, London N1 7GU & their registered address is shown on Companies House as 61a West Ham Lane, Office 4, London, England, E15 4PH with a director F** H**. Other registered addresses they have used in the last 2 years alone are 9 Queen's Yard White Post Lane London E9 5EN and 97 Viewpoint Consett Business Park Villa Real Consett DH8 6BN.

We believe they also present an almost identical operation as ‘Applications Online Ltd’ (12357601), previously named ‘Electronic Check Ltd’, with a different named director (B** C**), using the several of the same mix of addresses above, plus The Panorama 130 Park Street Ashford TN24 8EZ.

Their method of operation, contacts, pricing, etc, appear identical. The individual directors of these supposedly separate companies are also currently recorded in Companies House as both being resident currently at 27 Old Gloucester Street, London, United Kingdom, WC1N 3AX.

Our current position is that we most recently replied to J** at ‘Licence Safe’ to advise we do not believe they are a legitimate business and demanding a full refund, to which they have most recently offered £50 instead. They have ignored our repeated demand for a Subject Access Request and so we will keep pressing and will take further steps / legal action with the relevant bodies as needed.

Update:
I did get £20 refund, but still no licence!! Application was submitted 12th April 2021 and now its 1st June 2021.

Went to DVLA site, got redirected to licencesafe.co.uk
Ended up paying £113 for a £34 application. Be very careful.

I went to the dvla Web sit which I thought, to renew my licence because I received a letter, so I filled in the form it got to payment and paid, next thing my bank sent a notification saying I just paid £93 POUND I CALLED my bank and got it stopped, next thing I sent these people a email saying I don't need a license any more, these people tryed again today for the money know my bank is soughtlng it out please don't go with these people.

After I got caught last week, they have stopped responding to me, heard nothing since last Wednesday. I have emailed 3 times since last reply from a 'Daniel', but no response. Does anyone know, do they take the money EVERY year for the next 10 years? I spoke to my bank twice but they said they could not cancel the transaciton (money had not been taken at that time). I had emailed Licence Staff according their conditions and requested termination of the contract, and had 2 emails, then they stopped, and since then they HAVE taken my money. Does anyone know if I will actually get a driving licence? I have spoken with DVLA who advised I do not apply direct with them, as I could end up with two licences, and in be in 'some trouble' As I am about to leave country in May this company can't help me anyway, as its UK citizens only. This company are absolute scum, and it infuriates me that they are actually allowed to behave like this, and laugh as they take thousands and thousands of pounds from people. Dear BORIS, WHY IS THIS allowed !!!!!

Was scanned while being on the gov.website I was on there filling out all my details I didn't even see the site change then my online banking said this company took 113 out my bank and sent me an email !!!
Disgusting

These people have just taken 113.00 out of my husbands account for a driving license for our daughter, now worried as they have all our details

I’m just going to reinforce what other people have been saying. Only my online application failed, they did send an email to acknowledge this and I would get a refund if I replied back. However there was no reply link on the email! I’ve now sent several emails requesting my refund and no response! I won’t be letting this drop! It’s a deceitful way to get money from customers as I didn’t realise it was a 3rd party site until payment was taken of £93 instead of £14. AVOID AT ALL COSTS THEY ARE A SCAM!

This company has just taken £113 of my money! They have caused me and my partner to have a row an now he don’t trust me! This has put me off leaning now bunch of F***ing scammers I never thought I would be duped but this sit is soo cunning don’t even realise the charge till after you have given your bank details fuckked off!!!