"COVID: UK Government warns Covid test firms over misleading prices"

" \n COVID: UK Government warns Covid test firms over misleading prices \n \n\n \n More than 80 private Covid travel test providers listed on the government\u2019s website will be issued two-strike warnings over misleading prices, Health Secretary Sajid Javid has announced. \n \n\n \n A further 57 firms will be removed from the website on Monday, because they either no longer exist or do not actually provide the relevant tests. \n \n\n \n The health secretary said the move was to clamp down on \u201ccowboy behaviour\u201d. \n \n\n \n The government will also introduce spot checks on the test providers. \n \n\n \n The UK government has made it a condition of international travel to England that tests before travel, and on your arrival in the UK are mandatory. \n \n\n \n The number of tests that are needed is dependent on your arrival from either a green or amber country or your vaccination status. Arrivals from red countries must still use quarantine hotel facilities. \n \n\n \n The government website has a list of private companies that offer such tests \u2013 but a recent review by the Department of Health found the prices displayed were lower on the Gov.UK site than the actual amount they cost. \n \n\n \n Some of the most common complaints from travellers also mention tests listed on the government\u2019s list of providers that do not exist at the price advertised, whilst others allege poor service. \n \n\n \n Mr Javid said: \u201cIt is absolutely unacceptable for any private testing company to be taking advantage of holidaymakers and today\u2019s action clamps down on this cowboy behaviour. \n \n\n \n \u201c57 firms will be removed from the Gov.UK list and a further 82 will be given a two-strike warning \u2013 if they advertise misleading prices ever again, they\u2019re off.\u201d \n \n\n \n He added that the spot checks being introduced were to ensure that all private providers \u201cfollow the rules\u201d and meet the government\u2019s \u201chigh standards of transparency\u201d. \n \n\n \n Read This: MTN Ghana pledges continuous support for government\u2019s digital economy goal \n \n\n \n We haven\u2019t met anyone who\u2019s had a \u00a320 test\u2019 \n \n\n \n But consumer group Which? said that it had warned the government about the problems with private travel test providers six months ago. \n \n\n \n \u201cIt\u2019s welcome news that the government is finally taking responsibility for its list of test providers and carrying out an audit, but it\u2019s six months late,\u201d Rory Boland, travel editor at consumer association Which?, told the BBC. \n \n\n \n \u201cThere should not have been providers listed on the Gov.UK website that don\u2019t exist. We found this in\u00a0 our first investigation \u00a0in April, when providers were telling us that the system would collapse if larger numbers of people were travelling.\u201d \n \n\n \n He added that Which? had repeatedly reported some Covid test providers to the government: \u201cIn our second investigation, we looked at the 10 cheapest providers and we found that none of the tests listed below \u00a380, were actually attainable for less than that. \n \n\n \n \u201cWe submitted the names to the government and they removed three of those 10 names in June.\u201d \n \n\n \n While the government has not named the providers that it intends to remove from the Gov.UK website, or the firms that will be receiving warnings, Which? says it is certain that the test providers offering Covid tests that start from \u00a320 will be targeted. \n \n\n \n Mr Boland said: \u201cYou can\u2019t get the \u00a320 tests. We haven\u2019t met anyone who\u2019s had a \u00a320 test. Generally the price you pay, at the cheaper end, is \u00a340-\u00a350. \n \n\n \n \u201cA lot of these firms offering \u00a320 tests require you to drive to somewhere in England on a specific day, such as in Middlesbrough. When you try to book the test online, the booking calendar is almost always full.\u201d \n \n\n \n In April, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps told MPs that some travel tests had fallen to below \u00a345, saying he was \u201cvery anxious\u201d to reduce the cost of the tests for consumers. \n \n\n \n Last week,\u00a0the government accused the Competition and Markets Authority of not doing enough to protect consumers, saying that PCR testing for travel had become a \u201cpredictable Covid rip-off\u201d. \n \n\n \n In response, the business and competition regulator told the BBC it warned government officials that consumers could face risks from the fast-growing travel testing industry in April and May. \n "

"COVID: UK Government warns Covid test firms over misleading prices"

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