Driving Lessons Policies, Terms & Conditions

About Us

Bill Plant Driving School operates one of the largest driving schools in the UK, with a nationwide network of DVSA-registered driving instructors based across England, Scotland, and Wales.

You can purchase driving lessons with our self-employed, franchised driving instructors via our website (billplant.co.uk), The Bill Plant App or through our Head Office Call Centre between 9 am-6 pm, 7 days per week.

Additionally, we offer digital driver training products, services, and the option to purchase vouchers or to crowdfund your lessons.

 

Terms and Conditions

In this document:

• Section 1 details the terms and conditions that apply if you purchase driving lessons from one of our self-employed, franchised driving instructors through the Bill Plant Driving School website or over the phone via our Head Office Call Centre, or by booking lessons via the Bill Plant App
• Section 2 details the terms and conditions that apply if you purchase vouchers.
• Section 3 details the terms and conditions that apply if you purchase any of our digital products.
• Section 4 details the terms and conditions that apply to all products or services that you purchase from us or through us.
• Section 5 provides information about our Customer Services Team Contact Details and Availability.
• Section 6 provides information about our complaints process.
• Section 7 explains our Sexual Harassment or Safeguarding Policy
• Section 8 explains our Refunds, Reallocations & Test covers policy
• Section 9 provides information about our Privacy Policy

Interpretation

In the terms and conditions in this document, the following terms have the meanings set out below.

‘Bill Plant Driving School, BPDS, we, us or our’	means Bill Plant Driving School Limited;
Bill Plant App	means the Bill Plant Driving School app;
‘Consumer’	means an individual acting for purposes which are wholly or mainly outside that individual’s trade, business, craft or profession;
‘Distance Contract’	means a contract concluded between us or an Instructor and a Consumer under an organised distance sales or service-provision scheme without the simultaneous physical presence of us (or an Instructor) and the Consumer and with the exclusive use of one or more means of distance communication up to and including the time at which the contract is concluded;
‘Distance Sales Rules’	means the Distance Sales Rules detailed in Section 4;
‘Digital Products’	means the online or other digital products accessible through the Bill Plant App;
‘Instructors’	means the Bill Plant Driving School franchisee driving instructors;
‘Services’	means the services that you purchase from us or an Instructor, including vouchers, Digital Products and driving lessons;
‘Student(s)’	means the person or people that will be receiving the Services;
‘You, your’	means the person that is purchasing the Services.

 

Section 1 – Driving Lesson Terms & Conditions

Bill Plant Driving School’s (‘BPDS’) Instructors are self-employed franchisees of BPDS whose lesson prices are set independently at the discretion of the individual Instructors.

The terms and conditions in this Section 1 are terms and conditions that form part of the contract between you and the Instructor. BPDS is not a party to this contract.

1. BPDS is not liable for any payments made by you or any Student directly to the Instructor, as these monies are not paid to BPDS.
2. We shall notify you (or the Student) of the name of your Instructor that we propose to allocate to the Student, upon your submission of your request for driving lessons and making payment. You can do this on the Bill Plant website, the Bill Plant App or by telephoning us.
3. We shall then make contact with the proposed Instructor, or if that Instructor is not available, we shall seek an alternative Instructor.
4. The contract between you and the Instructor is concluded when the Instructor, who is able to provide lessons to the Student, has contacted the Student and provided a confirmation of the booking.
5. In most cases, Students must be aged 17 years or older to be able to take driving lessons in accordance with UK laws.
6. Students must certify that they hold a valid driving licence to drive Bill Plant Driving School’s tuition vehicles. Students must inform their Instructor immediately if they receive any endorsements on their driving licence, prior to commencement or during the period they are receiving tuition.
7. Students must provide their Instructors with a minimum of 48 hours’ notice to cancel a driving lesson. Subject to the Distance Sales Rules, should the Student fail to give the Instructor adequate notice, the full driving lesson fee is payable.
8. You must make payment for each lesson of instruction to the instructor directly or through BPDS before the driving lesson(s) take place.
9. Instructors reserve the right to change the hourly lesson rate at any time for new driving lesson bookings.
10. Students and their Instructors must pre-agree on the duration of any driving lesson(s). If, for any reason outside the Instructor’s control, it is not possible to deliver the full duration of a driving lesson, any remaining time will be added to a later driving lesson.
11. Instructors reserve the right to rearrange lessons at short notice in the event of mechanical breakdown or other difficulty outside their control.
12. Students must pass the DVSA eyesight check before starting their driving lessons. Instructors are required to cancel driving lessons if Students fail this assessment, and the lesson will be deemed as non-refundable.
13. Instructors are at liberty to refuse to proceed with a driving lesson if they have reason to believe that a Student is in any way under the influence of drink or drugs, and the lesson will be deemed as non-refundable.
14. Instructors will endeavour to teach their Students the correct driving skills according to the recommended syllabus issued by the DVSA within the minimum number of driving lessons required.
15. Students should be aware that their Instructor’s primary objective is to promote road safety, and in doing so, they may be required to take control of the vehicle. Instructors will make every effort to instruct Students to the highest standard but can in no way be held liable for any errors that Students may make whilst driving unaccompanied by their Instructor, either before or after passing their driving test.
16. Neither BPDS nor the Instructor shall be liable for accidents, injury or damage to any third party caused by the Student’s recklessness or negligence during a lesson.
17. Driving tests may only be arranged with the prior agreement of both the Instructor and the Student.
18. Instructors reserve the full right to withhold the use of their tuition vehicle for a driving test.
19. Students must make a payment to their Instructor directly (or via the Bill Plant App) for the use of their tuition vehicle and time spent travelling to and from the test centre for a driving test. Payment for sitting a practical driving test is paid directly to the DVSA; however, this does not include the use of a tuition vehicle.
20. If the Student consents, the Instructor may take photographs/videos of the Student after their Driving Test and request a Customer Review. The Student will receive the review request via SMS or email sent by either the Instructor, BPDS, or Third-Party Review companies such as Trustpilot.
21. Instructors may set their own driving lesson terms and conditions, different to those stated here. Your Instructor will contact you should they wish to agree on any different terms with you.

 

Driving Lesson payments made via Bill Plant Driving School

22. You are able to prepay for driving lesson(s) through the Bill Plant website, the Bill Plant App or by telephoning us. You are reminded, however, that BPDS is not contracting with you but is simply facilitating payment for services to be provided to the Student by the Instructor. The payment facilitation process operates as follows:
23. If a buy one, get one free or similar promotion is used, no refund will be issued once the first lesson has been completed.
24. Driving lesson packages purchased under a “special offer” are available to first-time purchasers only. If a student makes a repeat purchase of a package advertised as a “special offer”, Bill Plant Driving School reserves the right, at its discretion, to either:

(a) issue a full refund for the purchase, or

(b) provide lessons equivalent to the standard number of hours, excluding any additional hours included as part of the offer.

For example, a repeat purchase of a “3 for 2” offer will entitle the student to either a refund or a maximum of 2 hours of tuition.

1.     Payment is made by you or a Student to BPDS. 2.     Funds are held in a ‘Student’ bank account separate from BPDS’s daily banking activities. 3.     BPDS notifies the Instructor of the booking at the time it is processed. 4.     The Instructor confirms with BPDS that the booking has been arranged with the Student. 5.     Student payments will be transferred to the Instructor within 3-5 working days.

 

Distance sales

23. If you are contracting as a Consumer and you order driving lessons under a Distance Contract, you have a right to cancel such Services within 14 days from the date that you book or pre-pay for the driving lessons (‘Cooling Off Period’).
24. If you wish to cancel Driving Lessons, your contract is with the Instructor, and you should contact them; otherwise, please contact us.
25. You may cancel formally by email or post. You may use the model cancellation form set out below, but it is not obligatory.
26. If you request the driving lessons to start during the Cooling Off Period, you shall pay for the driving lessons that have been provided until you have communicated your cancellation.
27. If you are entitled to a refund of driving lessons under the 14-day statutory cooling off period, you will be refunded by your Instructor. Refunds will be processed within 14

 

Model cancellation form (Driving Lesson)   To [Name of Instructor] [Address of Instructor] I/We [*] hereby give notice that I/We [*] cancel my/our [*] contract for the supply of the Services that I/We [*] have ordered. Ordered on [*] Name of consumer(s), Address of consumer(s), Signature of consumer(s) (only if this form is notified on paper), Date [*] Delete/amend as appropriate

 

Section 2 – Voucher Terms & Conditions

1. BPDS Gift Vouchers are applicable for a set number of driving lessons with their allocated Instructor, and thus cannot be redeemed for cash. Gift Vouchers can only be purchased via the Head Office Call Centre, or by the Bill plant Website.
2. Gift Vouchers must be redeemed within 12 months of purchase. Extensions are subject to the absolute discretion of BPDS.
3. Gift Vouchers are non-refundable, except if no BPDS instructor has been able to be allocated to the Student prior to the expiry date, upon request by the recipient within 7 days of the gift voucher’s expiry.
4. Driving Lessons must be taken within 12 months from the date the Gift Voucher was activated.
5. BPDS cannot guarantee the availability of its driving Instructors at any given time, including specific driving Instructors, tuition vehicles, or driving lesson times.
6. Individual Instructors are self-employed franchisees and, as such, are able to determine their own lesson prices. Any overspend relative to the instructor’s lesson price can be used towards the cost of future driving lessons subsequent to those obtained through the Gift Voucher.
7. Gift Vouchers should be kept safe, as they cannot be re-issued if lost or damaged, as the unique reference number is required for redemption.
8. Gift Vouchers are only redeemable for lessons purchased directly through BPDS. They cannot be transferred, redeemed for cash or used to pay for lessons with the instructor independently.
9. Gift Vouchers will be rendered void after the expiry date advised to the purchaser at the point of purchase and specified on the gift voucher itself. Extensions to the expiry date are agreed at the absolute discretion of BPDS.
10. Payments for gift vouchers incur a service fee and a packing and posting fee(if requested). The applicable fees are shown on our website.

Distance sales

11. If you are contracting as a Consumer and you order vouchers under a Distance Contract, you have a right to cancel such vouchers within 14 days from the date that you book or pre-pay for the vouchers (‘Cooling Off Period’).
12. If you wish to cancel vouchers, please get in touch with us.
13. You may cancel formally by email or post. You may use the model cancellation form set out below, but it is not obligatory.
14. If you wish to use the vouchers during the Cooling Off Period, you shall pay for the services that have been provided until you have communicated your cancellation.
15. If you are entitled to a refund of any vouchers under the 14-day statutory cooling off period, you will be refunded by us. You will be refunded using the same method you used for payment. Refunds will be processed within 10 working days.

 

Model cancellation form (Vouchers)   To Bill Plant Driving School LTD, 7 Charter Road, Ripon, North Yorkshire, HG4 1A or by email to: [email protected]: I/We [*] hereby give notice that I/We [*] cancel my/our [*] contract for the supply of the Services that I/We [*] have ordered. Ordered on [*] Name of consumer(s), Address of consumer(s), Signature of consumer(s) (only if this form is notified on paper), Date [*] Delete/amend as appropriate

 

 

Section 3 – Digital Product Terms & Conditions

1. Upon purchase, BPDS will provide the Student with access to be redeemed against a 6-month subscription to the selected Digital Product. The Digital Product will be accessible to the Student in the Bill Plant App.
2. The Services are provided in the same form to all our users. It is your responsibility to make sure the Digital Products meet the Student’s individual needs, whether or not these have been discussed with us, and to ensure that the Digital Products will be compatible with any other software or service or any hardware or equipment.
3. When you buy the digital content and it is accessed, you will not own it. Instead, we give you permission to use it (also known as a ‘licence’) for the purpose of you using and enjoying it according to these terms.
4. The Digital Product:
   • is personal to the Student;
   • is non-exclusive to the Student;
   • may not be:
     • copied or shared;
     • changed by you or the Student (which means, in particular, that you are not allowed to adapt, reverse-engineer or decompile it, or try to extract the source code from it);
     • combined or merged with, or used in, any other computer program; or
     • distributed or sold to any third party;

Distance sales

5. When you or a Student places an order for a Digital Product, you or the Student will have the Digital Product available immediately in the Bill Plant App and you acknowledge that this means that the right to cancel is lost.
6. This means that there is no right to cancel the contract for the Digital Product once it is available to the Student, and you are not entitled to a refund unless the digital content is faulty.

Section 4 –Terms & Conditions applicable to all products and services.

 

Booking fees.

1. Booking fees are payable to BPDS  in relation to any payment made on the BPDS website (billplant.co.uk), the Bill plant app, or via the Bill Plant Bookings Team, including but not limited to driving lessons, digital products and gift vouchers.  The fee is charged for administering the booking process on behalf of the Student and their Instructor, for administering the funds in the separate ‘Student’ bank account, and for transferring funds to the Instructor. Details of the booking fees are available on our website.

Liability

2. If we (or an Instructor) breach a contract with you or are negligent, the maximum liability to you is the foreseeable loss or damage that you suffer as a result. By ‘foreseeable’ we mean that, at the time you accepted the contract with us (or the Instructor), either it was clear that such loss or damage would occur or it was known to all parties that it might reasonably occur, as a result of something that was done (or failed to be done).
3. We (or the Instructor) are not liable to you for any loss or damage that was not foreseeable, any loss or damage not caused by our (or the Instructor’s) breach or negligence, or any business loss or damage, for example, loss of business opportunity, business interruption, or loss of profits.
4. To the maximum extent permitted by law, neither we nor the Instructor shall be liable (under any legal theory, including negligence) for any breach, delay or default in the performance of any contract to the extent the same (or the circumstances giving rise to the same) arises or was contributed to by:
   1. a breach of a contract by you (or a Student); or
   2. an event or sequence of events beyond a party’s reasonable control preventing or delaying it from performing its obligations under a contract (not including an inability to pay).
5. Nothing in these terms excludes or limits liability for any death or personal injury caused by our, or any of our employees’, agents’, subcontractors’ or Instructors’, negligence, liability for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, or any other liability that the law does not allow to be excluded or limited.
6. Nothing in these Terms and Conditions will affect any statutory rights you may have as a consumer.

General

7. Third parties
   1. No one other than us or you, or a Student (or you, the Student, us and the Instructor in relation to contracts for driving lessons) has any right to enforce any term of this contract.
8. Entire agreement
   1. This contract sets out the complete agreement between you and us (or you and the Instructor for contracts concerning driving lessons) and supersedes any previous agreements, understandings or arrangements, whether these were in writing or discussed.
   2. You agree that you have not entered into any contract with us or an Instructor in reliance on (and shall have no remedies in respect of) any representation or warranty that is not written in this contract.
9. Changes to the Terms and Conditions.
   1. BPDS reserves the right to change and amend these terms and conditions at any time without prior notice. In the event that any changes are made, the revised terms and conditions shall be posted on billplant.co.uk and in the Bill Plant App.
10. Severance
    1. If any of the clauses in this contract are found to be unlawful, this will not affect the validity and effectiveness of the remaining terms and conditions of this contract. This means that if one clause or sub-clause is found to be unlawful, it will not apply, but the rest of the contract will continue to be in full force and effect.
11. Governing law and jurisdiction
    1. The laws of England and Wales apply to this contract, although if you are resident elsewhere, you will retain the benefit of any mandatory protections given to you by the laws of that country.
    2. Any disputes will be subject to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales. This means that you can choose whether to bring a claim in the courts of England and Wales or in the courts of another part of the UK in which you live.

 

Section 5 – Customer Services Team Contact Details and Availability

Bill Plant Driving School’s Customer Services Team can be reached via phone, email, social media, or via our Contact Us Form using the following details:

• Visit our help centre: Help Centre
• Phone line: 0330 555 2254, Option 2
• Email address: [email protected]
• Facebook: Bill Plant Driving School
• Instagram: @billplantdrivingschool
• Filling out our online Contact Us Form

• Postal address: Bill Plant Driving School, Canalside House, 7 Charter Road, Ripon, North Yorkshire, HG4 1AJ.

The team can be reached on the following times:

• Monday: 9am-3pm
• Tuesday: 9am-3pm
• Wednesday: 9am-3pm
• Thursday: 9am-3pm
• Friday: 9am-3pm

 

Section 6 – Complaints

If you wish to make a complaint, please contact the Bill Plant Driving School Customer Services Team via email or through one of the other channels listed above.

If you are a Bill Plant Driving School Student, you will first need to provide us with the postcode or phone number given at the time of your initial booking, so the team are able to locate your record on our systems.

If you have never booked your lessons via Bill Plant Driving School and have only ever made payments directly to your driving instructor, Bill Plant will in the first instance, request you liaise with your instructor on this matter. If escalation is required, then the Bill Plant team will require further details regarding your lessons and driving instructor.

If you are not a Bill Plant Driving School Student but wish to raise a complaint about one of our instructors, the team will ask you for some information, such as the car registration plate number, to help us identify the instructor in question.

The details and nature of all complaints are noted and raised internally for review. If the complaint requires further investigation, the team will aim to get back in touch with you with an update or outcome within 7 days.

Should you not be satisfied with the proposed resolution given to you by the Bill Plant Driving School Customer Services Team, we will provide you with the contact details for the relevant external body for you to escalate your complaint to if appropriate. We may provide you with a form of compensation in exceptional circumstances at our absolute discretion.

Any complaints are to be dealt with in accordance with the ADI (Approved Driving Instructor) Code of Practice.

Appeals Policy & Procedure

Introduction

This policy is aimed at learners who are enrolled on or have taken lessons delivered by Bill Plant Driving School. It sets out the process you should follow when submitting appeals to us and the process we will follow when responding to enquiries and appeals.

It is also for use by our staff to ensure they deal with all appeals in a consistent manner.

Bill Plant Driving School Responsibilities

Bill Plant Driving School will ensure that its staff and learners are aware of the contents of the policy.

If an individual wishes to appeal against a decision taken by Bill Plant Driving School, they must first of all go through our appeals process. If you are still unhappy with the decision, you may contact the relevant awarding organisation.

Appeals Process

The following procedure has been developed in order to assist candidates in appealing against any decisions made by Bill Plant Driving School.

1. A learner should contact Bill Plant Driving School in writing to place an appeal, within 10 working days of notification of a decision.
2. The written appeal should state details of the decision to which the learner is appealing and the reasons for disagreeing with the decision.
3. Bill Plant Driving School will review the details of the appeal and discuss the grounds for the original decision with relevant staff.  Guidance may be sourced from external parties if necessary.
4. Following the review, Bill Plant Driving School will write to the learner to either.

• amend our original decision in light of the new rationale/evidence being put forward and which has now been reviewed.

OR

• to confirm we stand by our original decision and in doing so the rationale for these decisions.

5. Should the learner still disagree with the decision; arrangements will be made for the appeal to be reviewed by a Senior Manager or external party. Details will be supplied in writing to the learner.
6. Following a review, if the learner is still unhappy with the decision, they may contact the relevant awarding organisation if applicable.

 

Section 7 – Sexual Harassment or Safeguarding Policy

Our Safeguarding Policy can be found here: Safeguarding Policy

We have a duty of care to all our employees, franchisees and Students to ensure they are able to work and learn in a safe, comfortable environment, free from inappropriate behaviour including harassment, or any verbal or physical misconduct.

Our commitment to providing a safe environment, particularly in relation to Students taking lessons with our franchisees is underpinned by our rigidly enforced processes as follows:

1. All of our franchisees are subject to an enhanced DBS check (required by the DVSA) to ensure they are a fit and proper person before they are able to become a Bill Plant Driving School franchisee.
2. All franchisees are required to declare to Bill Plant Driving School immediately any new or pending criminal or driving convictions. Failure to do so could result in immediate termination of their franchise agreement with Bill Plant Driving School.
3. All franchisees are required to declare to Bill Plant Driving School immediately if they become aware that they are the subject of any allegations which could be interpreted as sexual harassment or inappropriate behaviour. This includes any allegations made against the franchisee when not on driving lesson duties. Failure to do so could result in the immediate termination of their franchise agreement with Bill Plant Driving School.
4. The complainant should be advised that Bill Plant Driving School will investigate their complaint and request the provision of any supporting evidence that substantiates their allegations. Bill Plant Driving School, dependent on the evidence received, may be able to take direct action at this point in time.
5. In all eventualities, the complainant should be advised to report the matter to the DVSA and the police. Bill Plant Driving School will cooperate with the DVSA and the Police in their investigation.
   1. The DVSA contact details are:[email protected]|
      DVSA
      PO Box 349
      Newcastle-Upon-Tyne
      NE12 2GN

6. Should the complaint be upheld by the Police or the DVSA, or Bill Plant Driving School deems that the balance of probability is such, the franchise agreement will be terminated with immediate effect, and the outcome shared with the Police or the DVSA as appropriate.
7. Where a complaint is upheld, the relevant franchisee will be required to disclose to Bill Plant Driving School the names and contact details of all of their current Students in order that they can be contacted by Bill Plant Driving School to make them aware that the franchisee no longer represents or is affiliated with Bill Plant Driving School.

 

Section 8 – Refunds Policy, Reallocations & Test covers

Nothing in this section will affect your statutory rights including your rights under the Distance sales rules.

Refunds may be issued if you have made a payment for driving lessons with Bill Plant Driving School and no longer wish to continue or if your instructor is unable to continue teaching you and there are outstanding lessons that you have paid for.

Refunds are processed differently for payments made via the Bill Plant Driving School Bookings Team and for payments made directly to our self-employed franchised driving Instructors.

Payments made via the BPDS Bookings Team

If you purchase driving lessons through the Bill Plant Driving School Bookings Team or via the Bill Plant Driving School website (or the Bill Plant App), your contact details will be sent on to your local driving instructor who will be in touch with you directly to schedule your driving lessons.

Payments made via this method are thereafter transferred to your driving instructor from Bill Plant Driving School once your instructor has verified that they have both received the booking details and that your lesson(s) have been booked in with you.

If your instructor has not verified the lesson(s) that you are wanting to be refunded, Bill Plant Driving School will advise you of this and process your refund when you first contact us with your request, as the money will not have been transferred to your driving instructor. The refunded amount should be returned to you within 14 days to the same card that you originally paid with.

If your instructor has verified the lesson(s) that you are wanting to be refunded, or if some lessons from a block booking originally paid to Bill Plant Driving School are outstanding, the Bill Plant Driving School Customer Services Team will advise you that we will first need to retrieve these sums, as the money will have already been transferred to your driving instructor.

Please note that if you cancel your block-booking payment part way through, your instructor is entitled to charge their full hourly rate for the lessons that have gone ahead. As the discounted lessons are based on purchasing a larger number of lessons, your refunded amount may be lowered to reflect this.

The Bill Plant Driving School Customer Services Team will request that you provide any evidence that shows the lesson(s) in question have not taken place. This could take the form of screenshots of correspondence between you and your instructor. At the same time, the team will contact your driving instructor to confirm that a refund is due.

Upon receipt of your evidence, and/or your driving instructor confirming that a refund is due, your refund will be processed within 14 days of Bill Plant Driving School having retrieved the funds from your driving instructor. We will aim to reclaim these funds as soon as possible, keep you updated if there are any delays, and advise you once the refund has been received and is on its way back to you.

In the event of a dispute, the team would request that your instructor provide evidence that the lesson(s) had taken place. If no evidence can be provided within 7 days, and the booking was facilitated via our bookings team, website or the Bill Plant app,  we will look to issue a refund on their behalf.

Payments made directly to your driving instructor

For driving lessons purchased through your instructor, it is important to note that as all our driving Instructors are self-employed franchisees, any payments, made directly to them will have been retained by them personally and not transferred to Bill Plant Driving School.

While we cannot accept any responsibility for any payments you make directly to your instructor, we will do our utmost to assist you as required. As a first port of call, you should contact your driving instructor directly with your refund request, as they should be able to personally refund you.

If your instructor does not return your contact for any reason, or if a dispute or delay arises, please do let the Bill Plant Driving School Customer Services Team know. We will aim to contact your instructor to request that they either arrange a refund as soon as possible or provide you with the reasoning as to why they feel a refund is not due.

If this does not resolve the issue, please get back in contact with the Bill Plant Driving School Customer Services Team and we will look to escalate your refund request at the earliest opportunity.

Reallocations

In the event that you wish to switch to a different driving instructor, the Bill Plant Driving School Customer Services Team will endeavour to arrange this for you, provided we can accommodate your preferred transmission and location. If the instructor we have allocated you upon initial booking via Bill Plant Driving School cannot take you on, we will send your details on to another local instructor on your behalf. If the other local instructors offer a different rate to what was originally purchased, we will get in touch with you to discuss the options available. In the event you do not wish to switch your booking to a different rate, we will be able to issue a full refund.

If you are looking to switch instructors part way through a block booking purchased directly via Bill Plant Driving School, your original instructor must first issue a refund for any outstanding lesson(s). The Bill Plant Driving School Customer Services Team will request that you provide any evidence that shows the lesson(s) in question have not taken place, such as screenshots of correspondence between you and your instructor. At the same time, the team will contact your driving instructor to confirm that a refund is due.

Upon receipt of your evidence, and/or your driving instructor confirming that a refund is due, we will aim to retrieve these funds as soon as possible and allocate them towards future lessons with your new instructor. The team will get back in touch with you to discuss the reallocation options available to you, or to advise that a refund is on its way back to you if no other instructors are available.

Should you wish to change instructors after the lessons purchased with your initial booking have gone ahead, please note that any payments made to your original instructor directly cannot be transferred. We will still endeavour to find a new instructor to continue lessons, but you will be required to pay for the first lesson(s) with them upfront. Provided you did originally book through Bill Plant Driving School, the booking fee would not be charged.

Please note that if you cancel a block booking payment part way through, your instructor is entitled to charge their full hourly rate for the lessons that have gone ahead. This may result in the refund amount being lower than expected.

If your driving instructor has left Bill Plant Driving School, we will have requested that they send us a list of current Students who will be needing a new instructor to take over for their lessons. We also ask that the departing instructor make us aware of any driving tests these Students may have booked. Once the Customer Services Team receive this list, we will contact each Student, prioritising those with tests, to advise on the instructors available.

Bill Plant Driving School cannot guarantee the ability to find a new instructor for a Student under any circumstance.

Test Covers

Test covers enable existing Bill Plant Driving School Students to find an alternative driving instructor to take them for their driving test if their original instructor cannot take them. Bill Plant Driving School reserves the right to refuse searching for test cover if the Student’s original instructor informs us that the Student is not safe on the roads or that proceeding with the test could be dangerous in any way.

Requests should be made via the Bill Plant Driving School Customer Service Team. If a non-Bill Plant Driving School student contacts us requesting a test cover, they will be directed to the Bill Plant Driving School Bookings Team instead.

Students should always look to book their driving tests after checking with their instructor first that they are available, however we also understand that requiring a test cover is sometimes unavoidable due to unforeseen circumstances.

In all cases, we will ask for your driving test details and thereafter contact potential instructors, providing them with this information. If an alternative instructor is found who can accommodate your driving test, the Customer Service team will pass along your given contact details to them, so they are able to make arrangements with you directly. The Customer Services team will also advise you that they have done this.

Bill Plant Driving School cannot guarantee the ability to find test cover under any circumstance. We are also unable to offer compensation for test fees paid, as payment is made to the DVSA and not Bill Plant Driving School or your Instructor.

We require a minimum of 31 days’ notice prior to a driving test, to be able to provide driving lessons. If you purchase driving lessons, with a practical driving test that falls within 31 days of the booking being made, Bill Plant Driving School reserves the right to process a full refund.

Section 9 – Privacy Policy

Our Privacy Policy is available at www.billplant.co.uk/privacy-policy/

Your privacy and personal information are important to us. Any personal information that you provide to us will be dealt with in line with our Privacy Policy, which explains what personal information we collect from you, how and why we collect, store, use and share such information, your rights in relation to your personal information and how to contact us and supervisory authorities if you have a query or complaint about the use of your personal information.

Last Updated: [30/09/2025]