NHS Perscription Penalty Charge

JustMartin91

So I recieved a fine today for claiming a perscription on my medical exemption card when it apparently wasn't valid.

Now, I am an idiot and did forget to renew the card! However, the date they are claiming on the penalty notice was within the date the card was valid for.

My worry is, I now know that I've got 2 more prescriptions since then thinking the card was still valid. If I call up to contest this penalty, because I was exempt, will they look through and see that I have had 2 more since that were not supposed to be free?

Do I contest it or pay it and hope I don't get spot checked for the others?

Any help would be much appreciated. I don't mind paying for something that I should have, but i was entitled to this one and the fine is considerably more than I would have since spent.

calcotti

They may well pick the other two up anyway so you might as well contest the one you know was incorrect.

I don’t think there is a right answer on this so that’s just my opinion.

I don’t know if there’s any way to voluntarily pay for prescriptions incorrectly claimed as free in advance of being chased and charged a penalty.

Worrying the number of posts on this subject recently.

[Deleted User]

I did this and phoned them. Told them I forgot to renew and I still qualified having epilepsy and they wiped the fine. So ring them.

pmduk

calcotti wrote: »

Worrying the number of posts on this subject recently.

Hopefully, it's just the NHS clamping down on people, many of whom have knowingly been happily defrauding the system. Perhaps the rest of us have become complacent about checking our documentation?

Ames

calcotti wrote: »

They may well pick the other two up anyway so you might as well contest the one you know was incorrect.

I don’t think there is a right answer on this so that’s just my opinion.

I don’t know if there’s any way to voluntarily pay for prescriptions incorrectly claimed as free in advance of being chased and charged a penalty.

Worrying the number of posts on this subject recently.

It's been going on for a while, probably a couple of years. I tried to suggest that MSE could cover it, particularly the problems people are having with well meaning pharmacy and dental staff giving misinformation. They never responded, probably because it wasn't 'my' story.

pmduk

When I visited a pharmacy for my flu jab yesterday there were several posters and leaflets prominently warning that entitlement to benefits does not automatically mean entitlement to free prescriptions.

Hopefully, if this is a national campaign MSE will pick up on a press release, it seems to be their preferred method of journalism these days.

JustMartin91

I don't want to blame the pharmacy staff because I've grown complacent with them knowing I have the card and not regularly checking it.

How do spot checks work exactly? If I contest this am I more likely to bring attention to the fact I have subsequently wrongly claimed 2 free perscriptions? Will to telephone operator have a list of all the perscriptions I have had?

I did think about just paying it as a way of just paying my dues for my mistake, but i may still yet be fined again for the other 2.

calcotti

pmduk wrote: »

Hopefully, it's just the NHS clamping down on people, many of whom have knowingly been happily defrauding the system. Perhaps the rest of us have become complacent about checking our documentation?

They are undoubtedly clamping down but because of how badly DWP decision letters are written it has always been easy for claimants to misunderstand whether their awards are contribution based or income based. This is now made worse by the total incompetence of the authorities in updating the processes for UC claimants and the complex rules for UC claimants who can qualify one month but not the next.

pickledonionspaceraider

You have to renew this? This is news to me OP

JustMartin91

I am not exempt due to a specific condition, I pay for the prepaid card.

Cnorm

JustMartin91: As you may have seen I started a thread about a Prescription Penalty Charge I had myself just yesterday.

My situation is different in that I am legally entitled to free scrips due to my benefits situation and I can prove this but I have been ticking the wrong box on the form.

What I can say is that from Jan 25th 2018 to yesterday I have had at least one scrip every 4 weeks that I did not pay for. For every one of these I ticked the wrong box for why I did not pay. And that thus far just one of these has been flagged as an invalid. That was for a scrip I did not pay for in the last week of June and I got the letter yesterday. One would have thought that if they noticed that one they might have immediately checked records for other scrips I have not paid for before then or since then. They might do so in the future but they obviously did not do so immediately. I am not sure if anyone knows what kind of cross referable records they can or do keep except for themselves.

To find out if you can pay the costs without incurring the penalty phone them and ask a hypothetical question 'for a friend'. If you get anyone reasonable on the other end they will give a straight answer.

As to the question 'if I challenge the claim, which as far as I can tell is not my mistake, will it make it more likely that my actual mistakes are noticed'. Doubt it.

In my opinion if they let pay the costs for the mistakes and don't charge a penalty do that. And then challenge the other one. If they don't then it probably won't make any difference to the others anyway. Probably. I guess.

With my problem I have already told them I made a mistake on more than one. I'll let you know how that pans out.