GP wants to charge to sign a form!

Cook_County

My dad is 95 years old and suffers with dementia. He should be exempt from council tax; but the local authority want his GPs signature before they grant the exemption. The GP has refused to sign the local authority form unless I pay him £15.

This seems like robbery to me (I have given the GP a stamped addressed reply envelope so the cost to him is negligible). How can I get around this nuisance?

[Deleted User]

You can't. I was being evicted, on benefits and I had to pay for several letters from my GP to support my son's special needs with housing. Also had to pay for another letter to qualify my older son for a disabled bus pass. It was maybe four lines long and I practically told him what was needed to be said lol.

I'm afraid its the way it works. You are paying for their time, not their costs.

If you need it, you'll have to pay. £15 isn't a huge amount.

Torry_Quine

The GP is totally entitled to ask for payment for anything which is not part of their medical duties. £15 is actually a good price, many charge more.

London50

I do not think you can get round the charge as it is not anything to do with NHS as such. More and more GP's these days charge for this type of thing when it becomes a "private" matter and I would believe that council tax exemption would fall under that section.
While I agree with you and your feelings over this £15 against the free council tax is IMO a small {if annoying} charge to pay


I am no expert in these matter I am just voicing my own feelings

pigpen

Ours charge £30-£50 depending on what the form is.. £15 is cheap! And it will save way more than that when CT exemption is granted!


Just a thought.. If he has a hospital consultant/nurse they might be able to sign it and not charge at their own discretion.. I know our diabetes nurse has signed forms for people free.. it could be worth asking.

tea_lover

£15 is a bargain compared to the GPs I used to deal with for work.

dianasnan

That's cheap- one GP charged us £100 to complete a Court of Protection form with a few lines of writing.

Poppie68

GP's are asked to complete forms and sign others on a daily basis, they are entitled to charge for non NHS work.

d70cw6

make sure you get an invoice!

pebbles88

It's not a nuisance, it's not normal nhs work so isn't free. It's a small price to pay for the benefit it'll give . Hope you get things sorted for your dad. X

Ames

Mine was charging £16 nearly ten years ago, I'm waiting for a form to be done and I don't know how much it's going to cost. I'm glad that they will sign it though - for some things they just flat out refuse.