Publication of DVA Customer Satisfaction Survey 2016

Date published: 02 February 2017

The 2016 Driver and Vehicle Agency (DVA) Customer Satisfaction Survey results are now available. This latest survey was designed to ascertain the main methods of contact with the DVA and customer satisfaction levels across each of the Agency’s main business areas.

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The survey report is available on the ASRB website at:

KEY POINTS

The key points for the 2016 survey are:

Overall view of DVA services;

  • Almost all (97%) respondents reported being satisfied or very satisfied with the service they received during their most recent period of contact with the DVA. This overall satisfaction rating has remained unchanged since the last survey in 2014, however, the proportion of customers who stated that they were very satisfied has increased by 6 percentage points to 61%.

Written Contact with the DVA

  • Overall satisfaction (very satisfied/satisfied) with how their written contact was handled was similarly high at 97%, which is an improvement on the 2014 results (90%). Other satisfaction levels were also high with 97% for time to respond to letters/e-mail, 98% for clarity of response, and 98% in terms of the quality of information supplied with the response.

Personal Visits to DVA premises

  • Satisfaction (very satisfied/satisfied) with driver and vehicle testing, test procedures and with the time spent queuing was just under 98% for all, with 97% being satisfied with the politeness and courtesy shown by examiners.

Personal Visits - satisfaction with facilities

  • When asked about satisfaction with DVA facilities during their last visit for a test (vehicle and driver), only around 1 in 20 respondents (5%) indicated they were ‘dissatisfied’ or ‘very dissatisfied’ with facilities e.g. waiting area etc. The vast majority (95%) reported being ‘very satisfied’ or ‘satisfied’ with facilities.
  • For ‘Disabled’ facilities at DVA premises (eg access ramps, etc), only around 2% of respondents reported some degree of dissatisfaction.

Alternative Booking test arrangements

  • If an appointment for a vehicle/driving test was not available at their chosen test centre, just over 7 in 10 respondents (72%) reported they would be at least satisfied if offered an appointment at their nearest available test centre. Around 3 in 10 (29%) reported they would be ‘dissatisfied’ or ‘very dissatisfied’ with this arrangement.

Visiting DVA for reasons other than a vehicle or driving test

  • A large majority (96%) of respondents were at least satisfied with how their visit to the DVA was handled. This is marked an improvement from 2014 when 86% of respondents reported that they were satisfied.

Personal Visits for reasons other than for a vehicle or driving test

  • When asked about satisfaction with facilities (eg waiting area, etc) during their last visit for reasons other than a vehicle or driving test, a high proportion (95%) indicated that they were either ‘very satisfied’ or ‘satisfied’. Similarly for ‘Disabled facilities (eg access ramps, etc)’, all but 2 respondents reported being at least satisfied.

Use of DVA on-line booking service for driving and vehicle testing

  • Overall satisfaction with online booking was high; just over 97% of respondents reported being either ‘very satisfied’ or ‘satisfied’.

Use of NI Direct (Motoring) website to gain information on DVA services (other than the on-line booking system)

  • Around 3 in 10 respondents (28%) reported having used NI Direct (Motoring) to gain information on DVA services (other than the online booking system) and provided details. Around three fifths (59%) of these indicated this was for driver licensing information, while over half (56%) searched for vehicle test information. Just under a fifth (18%) used it to download forms.

Satisfaction with NI Direct (Motoring) website to access DVA information

  • The vast majority of respondents (95%) were at least satisfied with the NI Direct (Motoring) website for accessing DVA information, a small improvement from 93% in 2014. Around 1in 10 respondents (11%) indicated that they were not satisfied with the ease with which they could locate relevant information.

Treated fairly by the DVA

  • When asked if they were treated fairly, 98% agreed with well over half (56%) strongly agreeing that this was the case.

Notes to editors: 

Background to the Survey Report

  1. This is the latest reporting of DVA customer satisfaction since 2014. Overall satisfaction up to 2011 had remained at a very high level and a decision was taken by the Agency at that time to move to biennial surveys. This helped to reduce both costs and the burden on their customers. Up to 2011, the Agency had conducted regular annual surveys, all of which were aimed at measuring their performance against key business targets in respect of bookings, testing, and assessing what customer’s were indicating in terms of their satisfaction with DVA services.
  2. The latest survey was conducted by Perceptive Insight with the methodology and final report being quality assured by Analysis Statistics and Research Branch within DfI. The figures detailed in this publication are the final, validated figures. The survey covered all DVA business areas, excluding vehicle licensing which transferred to DVLA in July 2014.
  3. The survey for 2016 was designed to ascertain the main methods of contact with the DVA and customer satisfaction levels across each of the Agency’s main business areas. The agency took the opportunity to review and refine the previous survey questionnaire to better reflect circumstances in place during the period customers would be asked about their dealings with the agency.
  4. Survey field work sampled from customers who had contact with DVA during the two months for August and September, 2016, and achieved an overall response rate of 23% (1,565): 26% for Vehicle Testing (1,112), with 22% (325) and 13% (128) for Licensing and Driver Testing respectively. Results were weighted in order to correctly reflect the profile of DVA’s customer base. The overall recorded customer satisfaction rate of 97.4% is subject to a sampling error of +/- 0.8% meaning that the true population estimate is likely to lie in the range 96.6% - 98.2%.

Official Statistics

  1. This is an Official Statistics publication and therefore follows the Code of Practice for Official Statistics. You can find further information about the Code of Practice at:

Further Information

  1. For further information please contact:
Analysis, Statistics and Research Branch
Department for Infrastructure
Clarence Court
10-18 Adelaide Street
Belfast BT2 8GB
  1. All media queries should be directed to the Department for Infrastructure Press Office on 028 9054 0007. Out of office hours please contact the duty press officer via pager number 07623 974 383.

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