eye care help ?

kronas

i dont know if this goes here but here we go, im on IS (sickness) and DLA (care lower rate) i need assistance with paying for new glasses, the current lenses are a few years old and so have a fair few scratches on them, a new frame is also needed im in my twenties so i was wondering what help i can get with this ?

newMS

if you claimn income support you should get free eye care (test and a voucher)...... ask at your local optician, you will need proof of you IS when you go along

kronas

i know that, its about the purchase of frames, what about the cost of lenses too ?

springs65

Your eye test will be free and you should get a voucher towards the cost of lenses, The price of the voucher will vary depending on the which band your prescripion falls in. You will have to pay full price for the frame, although some Opticians will give you their budget frames for free so need to shop around.

SeptemberBaby_2

Hi, when my partner was in receipt of IB and I was unemployed (receiving no JSA) a while back we obtained a form HC2 - Certificate for Full Help with Health Costs. We had to fill in form HC1 (from JobCentrePlus or by calling 0845 850 1166) and list our income.

The Full Certificate we received entitled us to:

Free NHS prescriptions
Free NHS dental treatment
Free NHS sight tests
The full value of a voucher towards the cost of glasses and contact lenses
Free NHS wigs and fabric supports
Refund of necessary costs of travel to receive NHS treatment under the care of a consultant

Depending on your circumstances you may receive a Full or Partial help certificate so its definately worth a go.

We received an eye test and a pair of glasses each. The optician took the number from the certificate and we were both allocated an amount of money to spend on glasses (not much but enough to get a basic pair!). You can also buy a more expensive pair and have the voucher amount deducted.

I hope this helps as it certainly helped us at the time.

xx

kronas

thanks guys/girls, i will ask my local opticians!

congrats on the pending baby SeptemberBaby!

Morglin

Here are some details about obtaining free prescriptions, eye care, dental care etc.,:

http://www.patient.co.uk/showdoc/23069022/

Lin

msmicawber

You can also user your voucher at glasses direct and some of the other discount specs web sites, so you don't end up having to pay the balance between the voucher value (usually about £30) and the price of the specs (often more like £90). Have a look at this link: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cgi-bin/viewnews.cgi?newsid1134472921,56555,

JulianF_2

kronas wrote: »

i dont know if this goes here but here we go, im on IS (sickness) and DLA (care lower rate) i need assistance with paying for new glasses, the current lenses are a few years old and so have a fair few scratches on them, a new frame is also needed im in my twenties so i was wondering what help i can get with this ?

Kronas -

I just bought a pair of (what I consoder to be fashionable!!) glasses for £9.95, having already had a free eye test and got the prescription for it. Now that, I think, is as cheap as it gets! My glasses came from Fashion Specs Direct in less than a week and their customer care was great!

I've posted a thread about this elsewhere on mse as I was gobsmacked at how easy it was to do!

I'm not exactly 'flush' myself at the moment, but I managed to scrape together the price of a couple of packs of fags to get some great glasses (mine were called 'Director').