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Expert Medicals removed from UK approved covid test list – is your cheap test worthless?

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Expert Medicals, probably the cheapest online provider of covid testing for travellers returning to the UK, has been removed from the Government list of approved testing providers.

Here is the list of approved test providers for Day 0-2 testing and the company is no longer listed.

The HfP comments section has seen many readers complaining about Expert Medicals service – if they received any service at all.

Expert Medicals removed from UK approved covid test list

However, there were also many readers happy to use them, irrespective of whether they actually provided tests after you paid them.

You DID receive a valid tracking number to put on your Passenger Locator Form when flying back to the UK, which allowed you to enter the country. There is no proof that the Government actually tracks whether purchased tests are used or not.

Here are some reader comments from the last month:

Expert Medicals Day 2 test turned up on day 6, and I’d already left the UK on another trip on day 5. 

Expert Medicals is working. Seems to come on about this time on a weekday. I ordered two last week and they arrived here, not fussed about what happens when I send it back.

Just used Expert Medicals for £28 for the day 2 test and the purchase went through without a hitch. Whether the test actually shows up is another question but getting the code for the PLF is the main objective.

Expert Medicals – 2 first time users here during the past fortnight. Paid with Curve. Both of us had our Curve cards compromised this weekend, with fraudulent in-person transactions in the north of England. We’re both abroad so could prove it wasn’t us. EM are the only new retailer common to both of us. Correlation isn’t causation but just putting it out there.

Has anyone been able to buy a test from Expert Medicals today? I fill in the form, click submit and the website just reloads, it never gets me to the payment processing stage.

I managed to order Expert Medicals over a week ago, but they haven’t bothered to ship the tests yet and I’m now on day 2 arrival from amber fully vaxxed. 

Expert Medicals is a dodgy company working from an office above a shop in Bradford. They specialise in medicals for (dodgy) insurance claims. I wouldn’t trust them to send a test kit out in time.

Expert Medicals PCR test – I used them previously without issues. Second time, they took my money 2 weeks ago, but failed to send PCR test at all – no emails about courier/expected delivery etc as per the first time. They are ignoring emails.

Expert Medicals – successfully ordered £28 PCR test yesterday for my wife. Today I can’t get the form to submit and go to checkout for mine. I’ve seen on here others have had same problem?

Expert Medicals for £28 if you don’t care much about testing arriving on time etc and just need it for PLF.

Expert Medicals is cheaper but probably won’t arrive. You only need the code for the PLF, so it’s up to you.

Has anyone successfully ordered an Expert Medicals test since the weekend? Numerous reports of people having issues with the website.

Can I still use my Expert Medicals reference on my Passenger Locator Form?

This is the big question.

Does this mean that if you have bought an Expert Medicals test but have not yet flown back to the UK, you will no longer be able to use the number on your Passenger Locator Form?

Which? magazine states that it believes that existing tests ARE still valid. However, Expert Medicals now appears to be using a new laboratory called ‘LY’ to process its tests. Which? magazine claims that no such laboratory has Government approval to carry out Day 0-2 testing in the UK.

The purchase reference number you give on your Passenger Locator Form does seem to be checked against a list of issued numbers so it is possible that numbers issued by Expert Medicals will cease to be accepted at some point.

This story will run on, I think.

Category

General

Comments (135)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Alan says:
    4 Sep4 September 09:45

    So glad I cancelled my trip abroad (BA cancelled flights anyway and couldn’t be bothered rearranging with connections abroad). Would have probably used the cheapest, staycation still seems the easiest option the way things are just now.

  • Graham Walsh says:
    4 Sep4 September 10:37

    Researching this Day 2 testing rubbish and it just seems a total joke and waste of money. How can one provider claim to charge £20 and another £250. What’s the actual difference? One test actually gets processed and tested, the other goes in the bin and you get a code? Quick and fast cash for some?

    • Chrisasaurus says:
      4 Sep4 September 12:03

      Fixed costs. If you have a large and expensive lab that you are repurposing for pcr tests then your tests will cost more. If you have either lean operations or a means of leasing capacity cheaply then you will be cheaper.

      Nobody, presumably, was building capacity for an unknown period of testing requirements. Massive capital expenditure and hefty fixed operating costs for a short term revenue opportunity makes no sense – so it’s very much down to what capacity already existed and who can access it the cheapest

    • TGLoyalty says:
      4 Sep4 September 13:47

      Since there are many reputable outfits offering tests fit £40-60 I suspect the only difference with the one charging £250 is a very healthy markup.

      • Will says:
        4 Sep4 September 14:34

        Agree completely. It’s a disgrace.
        If gov wanted to ensure testing was done and make it easy to travel it should have opened up NHS capacity and enforced in person testing with passports.

        Literally no point in the current regime, if you have a cough and don’t want a positive test you can simply swap tap water and send it off.

  • Blenz101 says:
    4 Sep4 September 10:46

    No provider is knowingly chucking tests in the bin. Some just have better quality control measures and appropriate systems and procedures in place to ensure a more reliable result.

    Rather like a hair cut, you can take one yourself, go to a cheap barber or pay for a boutique salon. All that matters is you take a hair cut on arrival. Nobody will actually check you have taken this haircut only that you have booked and paid for one.

    • Char Char says:
      4 Sep4 September 11:02

      You don’t know that and underestimate the stupidity of some people who run these ‘new companies’

    • Will says:
      4 Sep4 September 14:37

      How do you know that providers are not binning tests?
      How do you know even if you get a result it’s actually been tested and not just given a fake result.

      There’s so much money to be made in this and so little enforced regulation that I suspect it’s not a case of stupidity but it’s actually a case of street smarts ajd realising it’s a money printing operation with little consequence.

      How would the government ever be able to prove that expert Medical actually tested a sample?

    • Alex Sm says:
      5 Sep5 September 09:57

      There have been some revealing media investigations about a company which I used for tests in June (RT diagnostics) and one of the points was about binning the tests

  • Jennifer Montgomery says:
    4 Sep4 September 10:50

    Annoying! We are about to leave France, having ordered Day 2 tests from Expert Medicals. They have already told us they will be delivered later than we requested. My husband phoned to query this: Medical Experts argued with him then hung up.

    • Anna says:
      4 Sep4 September 11:04

      Jennifer – as posted earlier I called 119 this morning – they said if the day 2 test doesn’t arrive by the end of day 2 you can call back and they will send you replacement tests. This is probably easier than chasing Expert Medicals!

      • Blenz101 says:
        4 Sep4 September 12:11

        Plus assuming you paid on a credit card for the tests claim the cost back as well

    • Chrisasaurus says:
      4 Sep4 September 11:57

      What day did you order them?

  • Sandra B says:
    4 Sep4 September 16:22

    Does anyone have insight as to when Nanny Nicola is going to provide a list of private testing companies? Particularly Day 2 arrivals back to Scotland from an Amber country. Early September seem a bit like “how long is a piece of string?”. I have looked but maybe missed it in amongst the ever changing crazy rules. Would just like to have my ensaimadas and Onze gin firmly in my sights.

  • TheOtherN says:
    4 Sep4 September 20:03

    Randox don’t come up golden either. Last Day 0-2 test we ordered from them arrived in time (just), we posted in their dropbox … no result was returned.

    Do I leave it, as they gave me the order code for the PLF and got me into the country? Or chargeback as they haven’t fulfilled their obligation to a customer, the UK Government, and society at large?

    Seems like a lot of pockets are being filled.

    • Sandra B says:
      4 Sep4 September 21:03

      The question I asked was because at the moment you are required to book through the Scottish Government approved provider. Singular. It is to be opened to the private providers “early September” but no list as yet and Day 2 only has been reduced to £68. Whoop-de-doo! With no competition there is no choice and a worse rip-off than England. Just looking for some better qualified advice from the experienced on here.

  • Rh says:
    4 Sep4 September 21:25

    I am on Portugal at the moment and my code still worked ok thankfully as returning tomorrow.

    • Nathan says:
      7 Sep7 September 15:28

      Did you purchase the test before or after they were removed from the approved list, thank you?

  • WaynedP says:
    4 Sep4 September 21:42

    If only the official policy makers had a fraction of the sense demonstrated here.

    We wouldn’t be chasing our tails trying to secure questionable tests charged at profiteering rates.

    Wishful thinking, I know 🙄

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