NHS Dental fine of £350 but never received letters

use1

Hello all,

Does anyone have any advice on what my options are if I want to get back some of this money? Is there someone I can speak to or any I can do?

wealdroam

Nobody except a court can fine you.

Nobody except a court can issue a CCJ.

CCJ = County Court Judgement.

use1

wealdroam wrote: »

Nobody except a court can fine you.

Nobody except a court can issue a CCJ.

CCJ = County Court Judgement.

get the ball rolling

halibut2209

The dentist cannot issue a penalty charge either. Only courts, police, and councils can.

System

halibut2209 wrote: »

The dentist cannot issue a penalty charge either. Only courts, police, and councils can.

Thats wrong. The NHS can issue Penalty charges.

sithmaster

goater78 wrote: »

Thats wrong. The NHS can issue Penalty charges.

agreed
the nhs can issue fines up to £1000 if you say your exempt and your not with dentist, prescriptions and optical clamed on the nhs

brook2jack

The fine was issued by the nhs business service and has nothing to do with the dentist. In fact the dentists are never even contacted when an investigation is made about non payment. Therefore it is pointless contacting the dental practice.

You may be able to argue your case if you can prove you never received the letters but you would have to raise that with the nhs business service whose contact details you should have when you paid your fine. I don't hold out much hope as they have got very tough recently with the large numbers of people signing dental,optical and prescription forms as exempt.

If anyone is not 100%sure they are entitled to free dental treatment (and the rules are complex, benefits have to be income related not contribution related like esa,jsa etc, then pay, keep the receipt and you can claim it back if exempt. Most people are fined a minimum of £150 plus cost of treatment if caught.

spacey2012

Only a court can fine ! 100% correct
What they mean is a civil penalty, which can be collected the same way as any other CCJ once they have one .
Many websites will instruct you how to dodge the penalty and front off any bailiffs so the debt gets bounced back and then they tend pack it in as a bad job.

bod1467

In general you are right, in terms of civil claims. When it comes to government agencies (like the NHS, or council tax for example) the rules are somewhat different.

halibut2209

I gladly stand corrected

I also misread the OP. I assumed this was for missed appointments, not for a benefit exemption-related incident which is the only thing that can be fined for according to this document

http://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/DentalServices/Documents/penalty_guidance.pdf

System

spacey2012 wrote: »

Only a court can fine ! 100% correct
What they mean is a civil penalty, which can be collected the same way as any other CCJ once they have one .
Many websites will instruct you how to dodge the penalty and front off any bailiffs so the debt gets bounced back and then they tend pack it in as a bad job.

Sorry thats wrong. Its a penalty charge that the NHS can legally use if a patient doesn't pay on time.

The Health Act 1999

2.1 The Health Act 1999 inserted additional sections, 122A, 122B and 122C into
the National Health Service Act 1977, referred to in this document as “The Act.”
2.2 Additions 122A and 122B provided the power to introduce the penalty charge
by means of regulations. 122C introduced a new specific criminal offence.

National Health Service (Penalty Charge) Regulations 1999

2.3 The NHS Penalty Charge Regulations 1999 came into force on 1 November
1999, and are referred to in this document as “The Regulations”.
2.4 Penalties can only be imposed in respect of unpaid health costs arising on or

after the date the regulations came into force.