Terms & Conditions
These terms apply to bookings made on or after 29 August 2026. If you booked before that date, the terms in force when you booked continue to apply to your booking.
By booking a driving course you agree to these terms. Please use the table of contents below to find what you need.
Your contract is with Primeoutcome Group Limited, trading as LPOD Academy. Throughout these terms, “LPOD Academy”, “we” and “us” mean Primeoutcome Group Limited, a company registered in England and Wales, company number 17176839, registered office 66 Paul Street, London, EC2A 4NA.
Booking a course puts you into two separate contracts. One with LPOD Academy to arrange your course and match you with a driving instructor. One directly with your instructor to deliver the hours you booked. Both are binding.
Under data protection law we can only discuss your course with you directly, unless you have told us that someone else may communicate on your behalf. Where a course has been booked and paid for by someone else, such as a parent, we can only deal with the person taking the course unless they have authorised otherwise.
An intensive driving course is a condensed, accelerated course designed to be completed in a shorter time than traditional weekly lessons. Courses typically span one to eight weeks depending on your availability, your learning pace, your instructor’s assessment, test availability and external factors. The exact duration is not fixed and is tailored to you.
LPOD Academy is a booking agency. We match you with a DVSA approved driving instructor, arrange your course start date, act as intermediary if a dispute arises, and handle the administration of your booking.
Our service to you is arranging your course and matching you with an instructor. That service is complete once an instructor has been allocated to you and has accepted your booking.
We are not responsible for the day to day delivery of your training. That is between you and your instructor. We do not book, change, swap, cancel, monitor or access your DVSA practical driving test or account at any time.
Booking a course puts you into two separate, binding contracts. One with LPOD Academy to arrange your course and match you with an instructor. One directly with your instructor to deliver the hours you booked.
Your instructor sets their own terms, including their cancellation policy and their policy on use of their car for the test. Your instructor’s terms take precedence and ours apply as secondary terms. Your instructor is required to tell you their terms before you pay your balance.
We aim to allocate an instructor within 14 days. That 14 day window begins only once both your deposit has been paid and your details form has been completed.
If we cannot allocate an instructor within that window we will tell you, offer you alternative dates, or refund your deposit in full if you ask us to.
There is no minimum notice period before a course can start. Your course can begin as soon as an instructor is allocated and you and they agree dates.
The start date you select is provisional and is not guaranteed. Your course is confirmed only once an instructor is allocated to you, you have agreed a start date with them, and we have sent you written confirmation.
Please do not book time off work or arrange accommodation until you have a confirmed start date.
Your deposit is paid to LPOD Academy and it pays for arranging your course and matching you with an instructor.
Once an instructor has been allocated and has accepted your booking, that service is complete and your deposit is non-refundable, subject to your cancellation rights in section 2. Changing your instructor, your location or your transmission type is a new booking and needs a new deposit.
Email customercare@lpodacademy.co.uk with your booking reference, what you want to change and why. We do not accept booking changes by phone, text, social media or in person. We will respond within one working day.
You have 14 days from booking to cancel, under the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013. Email customercare@lpodacademy.co.uk to do so.
If you asked us to begin arranging your course straight away rather than waiting out the 14 days, and confirmed you understood the consequence when you booked, then:
This does not affect your contract with your instructor, which is governed by their terms.
Once an instructor is allocated and your dates are confirmed, your deposit is not refundable. If you cancel within 4 weeks of your start date, the course fee owed to your instructor may still be payable to them under their terms. You must tell your instructor directly as well as telling us.
We will consider refunding your deposit where you provide either a medical certificate from a GP or hospital confirming severe illness, or official documentation of a bereavement. Email these to customercare@lpodacademy.co.uk.
Refunds in these circumstances are at our discretion. We will deduct the necessary costs of fulfilling your booking up to that point, we cannot recover money already paid to your instructor, and processing may take several weeks.
Holidays, travel plans, work commitments, family matters and minor illness are not grounds for cancellation or a refund. Speak to your instructor about rescheduling, or ask us about pausing your booking under clause 5.4.
A request to change your start date is treated as a cancellation. Rescheduling is at your instructor’s discretion. If they cannot accommodate a new date, standard cancellation terms apply.
We may cancel your course if you breach these terms, behave abusively, give false or incomplete information, or stop communicating for an extended period. In those cases fees are not refundable and any outstanding balance remains due.
A £350 administration charge may be applied to any refund, to a late balance payment, or to a course continuation. Where we have booked a theory test for you, the theory booking fee is not refundable once that test is cancelled.
Your course involves two payments.
Your balance is confirmed before training begins and does not change after that.
Your balance is due 7 days before your course start date. This applies to every learner and every course.
If your training is scheduled to start in less than 7 days’ time, your balance is due immediately, with a day’s grace to make arrangements.
If your balance is not paid by the deadline, your instructor may cancel your course, you remain liable for their fee under their terms, and a £350 administration charge may be applied. Your instructor may agree in writing to waive the deadline; that agreement is between you and them.
Your instructor may take payment for a maximum of 10 hours upfront, regardless of how many hours you have booked. Beyond that, any further prepayment is at your instructor’s discretion.
Your deposit is paid to us by card through the secure invoice link we send you. That is the only way to pay a deposit.
Your balance is paid directly to your instructor. Bank transfer is the most common method. Cash is permitted between you and your instructor. Whatever the method, your instructor must give you a receipt or a written acknowledgement that payment has been made. Please keep it. If you do not receive one within 48 hours, tell us.
Prices include VAT where applicable.
We aim to respond to emails within one working day. Anything urgent on the day should go to your instructor directly.
Your booking is valid for a set period running from the date your deposit is paid.
Within that period you should complete your training hours, pass your theory test, and sit your practical test.
The validity period sets how long we administer and oversee your booking. Once it ends, we close the booking and no longer administer it unless you extend it under clause 5.3.
Any training hours you have not used by then are a matter between you and your instructor under clause 12.4.
You can extend your validity period by paying a one-off course continuation fee of £350. This must be requested before your validity period expires. The extension runs for the same length as your original validity period.
Where allocation of your instructor was delayed by us, we will normally extend your validity period without charge.
If something significant interrupts your course, ask us about a pause. With our agreement and your instructor’s input we can pause your booking, which stops the validity clock until you are ready to restart. Please ask early rather than late.
You must tell us about any medical or health condition when you book. This includes, but is not limited to, heart conditions and cardiovascular disease, blood pressure conditions, diabetes, epilepsy or seizures, mental health conditions, sleep disorders or narcolepsy, vision loss, recent surgery or injury, reduced mobility, pregnancy, asthma, and alcohol or drug dependence.
You must also declare any medication you take. Some medication can impair your ability to drive.
Intensive courses are demanding. They involve sustained concentration for several hours at a time, fast paced learning, and taking direct feedback under time pressure. That format suits many people very well and suits some people less well.
If you have a condition, disability or learning difference that affects how you learn, including anxiety, depression, autism, ADHD, dyslexia, dyspraxia or a processing difference, please tell us when you book. We are not asking so that we can turn you away. We are asking so that your course can be planned properly.
We will consider reasonable adjustments with you and your instructor. Depending on what helps, that might mean shorter sessions spread across more days, a longer course with more hours, a slower build up, being matched with an instructor experienced in the way you learn, or extra breaks.
Our instructors are qualified driving instructors, not specialist educators or mental health professionals. There will be situations where an intensive format is not the right way for you to learn, and we would rather find that out with you early than late.
If the format is not working, please talk to us. Depending on the circumstances we may reallocate you to a different instructor, pause your booking under clause 5.4, or help you move to a longer course. We will not simply end your course and keep everything you have paid.
Your instructor has a duty of care to you and to other road users. They may end a lesson, or your course, if they believe you are not fit to drive, whether through illness, tiredness, medication, alcohol or drugs. This may be for the day or for longer. Where a lesson is ended on fitness grounds, whether that hour counts as delivered is at your instructor’s discretion.
If your instructor believes you are under the influence of alcohol or drugs, the course will be terminated with immediate effect and all fees remain due.
You must be able to read a number plate from 20 metres, or 20.5 metres for an old style number plate. If you cannot meet this standard your course cannot proceed.
Your course includes our online theory training, covering all fourteen topics, hazard perception and case studies.
Booking the theory test itself is a separate £60 add-on. That is all in: the DVSA’s £23 fee is included in the £60. If you prefer, you can book your theory test yourself directly with the DVSA for £23.
You do not need to have passed your theory test in order to book a course.
Failing your theory test does not entitle you to a refund. You will need to rebook and pass before your validity period ends. Please tell us as soon as you pass, with your certificate number and the date, so we can plan the rest of your course around it.
Since 12 May 2026, only the candidate may book, change, swap or cancel their own practical driving test with the DVSA. You are responsible for booking, managing and updating your own practical test.
LPOD Academy does not book, hold, change, swap, cancel, monitor or access your DVSA test or account at any time. We do not use cancellation checking services, we do not scan or automate the DVSA system, and we do not swap tests between candidates. Your DVSA account stays yours throughout.
What we do is help you choose a sensible test centre and timing, and schedule your final hours around the date you secure. Where your package includes Test Alerts, we let you know when earlier slots may have appeared so that you can check and book them yourself.
You can book your practical test at https://www.gov.uk/book-driving-test.
Practical test waiting times are set by the DVSA and vary by centre and by demand. LPOD Academy does not control, guarantee or estimate the date you will secure, and accepts no liability for any delay in, or inability of, the candidate securing a suitable test date.
Your instructor may decline to present you for test if they believe you are not at the required standard. No instructor is obliged to present a learner they judge unprepared. In that case you will not be able to use their car for the test, and you remain liable for any balance owed to them. Any DVSA fee you have paid is a matter between you and the DVSA.
The DVSA will contact you directly to reschedule, because the booking is in your name. Tell your instructor as soon as you hear and we will work your remaining hours around the new date. If the cancellation was the DVSA’s fault you can claim reasonable out of pocket expenses from them. If your instructor’s vehicle breaks down within 48 hours of your test, your instructor covers the rebooking cost.
You must hold a valid provisional driving licence before your course starts, and present the signed licence in person or by online permission link at your first lesson. A photograph or image is not acceptable. Without this the course cannot proceed and will still be chargeable.
If your test does not go your way, you book your retest yourself with the DVSA and pay their fee directly to them. We do not charge a retest fee because we do not book retests.
Extra tuition before a retest can be arranged with your instructor. If you have hours left on your booking they can be used for it.
Test Alerts and Booking Strategy is an optional £50 add-on. It gives you written booking strategy guidance, and SMS or email alerts telling you when earlier practical test slots may have become available at the test centres you choose, so that you can check and book them yourself.
This service does not include booking, changing, cancelling, swapping, monitoring or accessing your DVSA test or account, which only you may do. The DVSA test fee is paid by you directly to the DVSA and is not included. It is an alert and guidance service only, not a guarantee of any test date, and the fee is not refundable if no earlier slot appears. We may refund it as a goodwill gesture.
All booking details must be accurate and complete. Providing false or incomplete information may result in cancellation of your course, and the full fee will remain chargeable.
At your first lesson you must present a signed provisional driving licence. Your instructor must be able to view it in person or through an online permission link. A photo or image is not acceptable.
You must arrive at the agreed pick up point 10 to 15 minutes before your lesson starts. Your instructor will wait a maximum of 15 minutes. If you do not arrive within 15 minutes the lesson is forfeit, the full lesson fee is charged, and it counts as a delivered lesson. If this happens more than once, your instructor may terminate the course.
Once your instructor proposes lesson dates you must confirm them promptly. Once you have accepted a schedule and attended lessons, you cannot later claim dissatisfaction with the timing.
Attend both your theory and practical tests on time, and bring your valid provisional licence to the test centre. If you fail to attend, you lose the test fee.
At no point during your course should you be under the influence of alcohol, drugs or impairing medication. If your instructor suspects or detects impairment the lesson is terminated immediately, the full lesson fee is charged, and your course may be terminated.
You must maintain professional conduct at all times. Abusive behaviour, threats or disrespect will result in immediate termination of your course and forfeiture of all fees. See section 14.
All our instructors are self-employed professionals working to DVSA standards. They are DVSA approved driving instructors (ADIs). We vet them for reliability and professionalism. Their vehicles are insured for learner drivers and maintained to a professional standard, and you can ask for proof of insurance at any time.
We cannot guarantee specific instructor preferences such as gender, personality or car type, and no refund is issued on compatibility grounds. If a pairing genuinely is not working, clause 11.3 applies.
If a pairing genuinely is not working, reallocation to a different instructor is how we put it right. Tell us what has happened; we may ask you to put it in writing so that we can look into it properly. Your course hours and your booking stay valid throughout.
You may request a maximum of three instructor reallocations during the validity period of your course. Further requests may be declined, may carry an additional administration fee, or may be treated as a new booking requiring a further deposit. We will use reasonable efforts to accommodate your preferences but we do not guarantee that a replacement instructor will be available within a particular timeframe, location or transmission type.
If your instructor becomes unavailable for an extended period part way through your course, whether through illness or otherwise, we will treat reallocating you as a priority.
Because this is not a change you asked for:
Any hours you have already paid your original instructor but not received are settled between you and them, and we will support you in reaching that settlement.
Occasionally instructors may arrive late due to traffic or a previous lesson running over. They will make every effort to reschedule missed time. Instructors may not respond immediately to messages because they are often teaching. We ask for your patience.
A course hour is time in the car with your instructor. Your instructor’s travel to and from you does not come out of your hours. The only time deducted outside in-car tuition is test time.
On test day you use your instructor’s car for the test itself and for travel to and from the test centre. There is no fixed rule about how this is handled and practice varies between instructors. Most allocate around two to three hours; some charge a set fee of about £120, which works out at roughly the same. Either way it comes out of your total course balance, and your instructor will tell you which applies to them.
You and your instructor must complete and sign a Record of Course Hours form at the end of each day. It documents the hours completed, the topics covered, any breaks taken, and both parties’ agreement. Please keep your copy.
Any dispute about hours completed must be resolved directly between you and your instructor using the signed form. We cannot help resolve a dispute about hours without it.
If you pass with hours in hand, or you do not use all your hours, raise it directly with your instructor. Those hours are part of your contract with them and they hold the payment for them.
Many instructors will put unused hours toward further training such as Pass Plus or motorway lessons, or hold them for a retest. Some will return part of the value.
We cannot require your instructor to return the full value of unused hours. They may fairly account for other factors such as overtime worked beyond your booked hours, lateness, or lessons you cancelled. It is for you to make the approach, and we will support you if you get no response.
Please try to resolve the issue with your instructor first. Most things are settled fastest that way, and we are a last resort rather than a first one.
If that does not work, email complaints@lpodacademy.co.uk. We will send you our complaint form. We do not begin investigating until that form is completed in full, because we need the detail in order to put the same questions to both sides.
Once we have your completed form we log the complaint, place the booking on hold while we look into it, contact you and your instructor, gather information from both sides, and work toward a fair resolution as a neutral intermediary.
We aim to resolve complaints within 14 days of receiving your completed form. Where a complaint is complex we may extend this by a further 14 days, and we will tell you if we do.
If you believe your instructor has acted unprofessionally, discriminated against you or engaged in misconduct, you can report them to the DVSA, the regulatory body for driving instructors, at any time.
LPOD Academy operates a zero tolerance policy for abuse. We will not tolerate:
This applies to all interactions with LPOD Academy staff, with instructors and with other learners, and it applies to you and to anyone associated with your booking.
A first incident results in immediate termination of your course, forfeiture of your deposit, and any remaining balance still being due. A severe incident may additionally be reported to the police and pursued through legal action to recover fees.
Some events are genuinely outside the control of everyone involved:
Your instructor’s vehicle breaking down, your instructor being ill, and your instructor’s personal circumstances are not events outside our control. They are your instructor’s responsibility under their agreement with us, and they are handled by rescheduling and by reallocation under clause 11.4.
Where an event in clause 15.1 prevents your course going ahead, we work through these in order:
Your deposit pays for arranging your course and matching you with an instructor. Where that has already been done, the service you paid us for has been delivered, and an event that later stops your training does not undo it. Your deposit is therefore not refunded in these circumstances.
Neither we nor your instructor are liable for lost earnings, travel costs, accommodation costs or other consequential losses arising from an event in clause 15.1.
We may update these terms from time to time. Changes apply to bookings made after the change takes effect. The terms that apply to your booking are the ones in force on the day you booked.
Home pick up is not guaranteed. If you live more than 7 miles from a major town centre or test centre, alternative pick up arrangements will be offered and additional costs may apply. If you need a different pick up point requiring additional travel time, additional costs may apply, agreed with your instructor. Your hours themselves are not reduced by travel: as clause 12.1 says, a course hour is time in the car with your instructor. Lessons outside standard working hours may carry an instructor surcharge.
We can only discuss your course with you directly unless you have authorised someone else to speak for you. Your information is handled in line with UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018.
We keep your information for up to 2 years after your booking, after which it is deleted unless we are required to keep it for longer by law. See our Privacy Policy for detail.
Promotional and discount codes may be made available from time to time. These are subject to their own terms, which may vary. We reserve the right to withdraw a promotional offer at any time.
Nothing in these terms limits or excludes our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud, or for anything else that the law does not allow us to limit or exclude. Your legal rights as a consumer are not affected by anything in this section.
Your driving tuition is delivered under your contract with your instructor. Your instructor is a self-employed professional running their own business, holding their own DVSA registration and their own insurance for their vehicle and their teaching. We are not a party to that contract.
We are therefore not responsible for the way your tuition is delivered, for your instructor’s acts or omissions while delivering it, for anything arising from the use or condition of their vehicle, or for any insurance claim relating to it. Those are matters between you and your instructor, and where you cannot resolve them we will help you try.
We are also not responsible for DVSA test availability, waiting times, test dates, test results or test cancellations.
Where we do break this contract, we are responsible for loss you suffer that is a foreseeable result of us doing so. We are not responsible for loss that was not foreseeable when you booked, for loss you could reasonably have avoided, or for lost earnings, travel costs, accommodation costs or similar knock on costs. We provide our service for personal use, and we are not responsible for any loss of profit or business.
Where we are responsible, the most we will pay you is the total amount you have paid to us for your booking.
These terms are governed by the laws of England and Wales. If you live in Scotland or Northern Ireland you may bring proceedings in your own courts, and you keep the benefit of any consumer protection that applies there.
Your contract is with Primeoutcome Group Limited, a company registered in England and Wales, company number 17176839, registered office 66 Paul Street, London, EC2A 4NA, trading as LPOD Academy.
By booking a course with LPOD Academy you confirm that:
Questions about our terms? We are here to help.
Last updated: 29 August 2026
LPOD Academy is a trading name of Primeoutcome Group Limited, registered in England and Wales, company number 17176839. Registered office: 66 Paul Street, London, EC2A 4NA.
