Help with glasses confusion

vikki_louise

My nan is bedridden with MS, she had an eye test at home last week and they asked lots of question about benefits, pension credits etc which my grandpa (her carer) doesn't know. He is already worn out and stressed without having to phone around to find out the details and I wondered if anyone knew if you qualify for help with glasses, they are both OAP's, nans housebound, my nan has Dla as she was given a life time award before she turned 65 and they get a pension.
Thank you

Richie-from-the-Boro

vikki_louise wrote: »

My nan is bedridden with MS, she had an eye test at home last week and they asked lots of question about benefits, pension credits etc which my grandpa (her carer) doesn't know. He is already worn out and stressed without having to phone around to find out the details and I wondered if anyone knew if you qualify for help with glasses, they are both OAP's, nans housebound, my nan has Dla as she was given a life time award before she turned 65 and they get a pension.
Thank you

- the test [ not home test ] is free over 60
- the glasses or contacts are free if :

- - the person receives the 'guarantee credit' element of Pension Credit
- - or if you have a HC2 or HC3
- - or if they are prescribed complex lenses

Get a form HC1 from a Jobcentre / NHS hospital / dentist / optician, get your GP's to fill it in and send it off. Doing this now may not help with the problem now .. .. but may well stop it happening in the future, this applies to prescriptions which are a huge cost as people become older, it also gives exemption for other items as well as glasses & prescriptions .. .. get it done !

Get your GP's 'papers out, each Easter s/he / they will get brown envelopes from their Pensions Service. Go through them looking for the phrase Pension Credit in general and the phrase 'guaranteed element' in particular. If you discover they receive the 'guaranteed element' then they will be entitled to free eye test & the resulting glasses .. .. prove it to the optician by showing the papaerwork and your Gp's are sorted.

If your GP's have a joint weekly income of below £217.90 they are probably entitled to the 'guaranteed element' but have possibly not known about it or bothered applying for it .. .. check it out for them.

If they do get Pension Credit, they might get more Pension Credit if they have as you say 'caring responsibilities' or have severe disabilities or have certain housing costs .. .. check it out for them.

DLA does not count in the case of the eye test & glasses. Importantly it does not count when applying for pension credit, neither does attendance allowance / christmas bonus /Exceptionally severe disablement allowance / war widow's supplementary pension /Disability Living Allowance.

GlasweJen

gregbythesea wrote: »

Not entirely true.

I am 63 and my wife 68 in two months. We do get a small amount of GPC for the past 5 years.

Amongst other things I am type 1 insulin dependent diabetes which is difficult to control due to other disabilities.

Yes I get a free test every year and should have new lenses/glasses every year.

I haven't been able to afford to have a test for the past 3 years due to the costs involved.

My lenses are variofocal which together with a new frame cost a lot of money.

Last time I had some, I had to pay £193 and that was with the GPC award letter.

The NHS now only issue yellow vouchers to adults every 2 years even if they are entitled to yearly sight tests. We can only give out a yellow voucher now if there's been a "significant clinical change".

[Deleted User]

gregbythesea wrote: »

Not entirely true.

I am 63 and my wife 68 in two months. We do get a small amount of GPC for the past 5 years.

Amongst other things I am type 1 insulin dependent diabetes which is difficult to control due to other disabilities.

Yes I get a free test every year and should have new lenses/glasses every year.

I haven't been able to afford to have a test for the past 3 years due to the costs involved.

My lenses are variofocal which together with a new frame cost a lot of money.

Last time I had some, I had to pay £193 and that was with the GPC award letter.

its worth taking the eye test results and shopping around for the best deals,my MIL 5 years ago paid £400 for varifocals with frames,she got the same deal from asda for £95 this year

KxMx

gregbythesea wrote: »

Are you saying thatI cannot no longer have the annual free eye test?

Well if that is the case, I'm not as bad as I thought I was.
Why then do the Diabetes Clinic tell me that I must have my eyesight tested every year as I do for the normal annual screening?

If you are a diabetic then that is different, you will still get a free yearly eye test.

The two year rule is for adults with no medical need to have one annualy.

I am about 95% sure that is right.

GlasweJen

You still get a free eye test if entitled but if you usually get a voucher for glasses this will only be issued every 2 years even if you break or lose your glasses in between your annual tests.

We have started advising our NHS patients to get insurance on their glasses as they now have to last 2 years, we have had patients who have been fined and forced to pay because they've tried to get around the rules by registering at other opticians and declaring their last vouchered pair of glasses to be 2+ years old.