Two prominent driving schools must reimburse £760,000 to over 80,000 students. The AA Driving School and BSM Driving School, both under the ownership of AA, have been fined £4.2 million by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) for employing drip pricing strategies.
Drip pricing involves advertising a low initial price for a product or service and then adding mandatory fees later in the booking process. The CMA discovered that from April to December 2025, both schools failed to display the total price upfront for online bookings, omitting a mandatory £3 booking fee.
New customers only saw the full price at checkout after selecting lessons, times, and entering personal details. Returning customers had the booking fee shown separately from the initial price and included in the total price at checkout.
Individual refunds will vary based on the number of lesson packages purchased, with an average reimbursement of approximately £9. Affected customers will receive automatic refunds as the schools will contact each customer directly.
The CMA initiated the investigation into AA Driving School and BSM Driving School last year. The AA admitted to breaching consumer laws and settled early with the CMA, resulting in a 40% reduction in its financial penalty.
Sarah Cardell, the CMA’s Chief Executive, emphasized the importance of including mandatory fees in the upfront price to ensure transparency for consumers. She stated that deceptive drip fees could impact consumers, especially in significant expenses like driving lessons.
A spokesperson for AA driving schools acknowledged the oversight in not prominently displaying the £3 booking fee at the start of the online booking process. Immediate website changes were made, and all relevant customers are being refunded.
In a separate study by the Department for Business and Trade in 2023, it was found that nearly half of online businesses utilize hidden or drip fees, causing consumers to spend an estimated extra £3.5 billion annually online due to such practices. Service fees like booking or processing charges were identified as problematic, being mandatory and disclosed late in the checkout process.
