Nine in 10 private travel test providers not yet accredited

MORE than 90 per cent of the private travel test providers are yet to be accredited as competent operators, amid claims by industry that holidaymakers face a “wild west”.

The UK accreditation service (UKAS) is responsible for vetting and approving the 434 firms listed by the Government as offering testing and who are charging holidaymakers up to £399 per PCR test.

Checking that they meet medical and scientific standards began at the end of last year after the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) set up the gov.uk site of approved companies.

However, only 38 have so far been fully accredited, prompting complaints from industry that holidaymakers are being exposed to rip-offs, misleading pricing and missed flights because of delays in returned test results.

Tim Alderslade, of Airlines UK, said: “The PCR regime is becoming more untenable by the day. Consumers need protecting against rip-off testing costs and rogue businesses without accreditation trying to make a quick buck. No family should be priced out of a holiday because of a private market not functioning properly.

“The review [of the testing firms] by the Competition and Market Authority is welcome but ministers need to go much further.”

Another industry figure said: “It’s the wild west. We only need 20 to 25 decent, respectable providers to do the job.”

The testing firms can continue operating while they go through the threestage accreditation, which includes laboratory standards checks. However, companies which contract out the tests to laboratories only have to complete a self-registration form as part of stage one. It means a firm such as 1010Labs – criticised on Trustpilot for its poor service and late results, with 95 per cent of reviews logged as “bad” – will only have to complete the first stage. The partner test laboratories face the tougher stage two and three checks.

Rory Boland, of Which? said: “Travellers shouldn’t have to shop around for something as crucial as a test provider, the service must be reliable, accessible and delivered on time. The Government must urgently step in to ensure robust accreditation of all providers.” 1010Labs was contacted for comment.

Meanwhile, Britons could be paying 20 times more than the “fair” price for PCR tests. Prof Stephen Bustin, an expert on PCR at Anglia Ruskin University, said a price in the region of £20 would be reasonable for the swabs.

‘Travellers shouldn’t have to shop around for something as crucial as a test provider, the service must be reliable’