Dental plan won't suspend payment or offer plan extension beyond lockdown

born_again

greyteam1959 said:

I have had the same discussion with Denplan.
My family monthly DD is £155.00.
Basically they have told me that they are offering nothing & that I can cancel my contract with them.
However they then pointed out that if I wished to reinstate my contract at anyiany time it would cost me extra as I would be a new customer.
Got us by the short hairs unfortunately.
Hopefully their attitude may change.

Now that is unusual.
New customers usually get a incentive to join..

greyteam1959

born_again said:

greyteam1959 said:

I have had the same discussion with Denplan.
My family monthly DD is £155.00.
Basically they have told me that they are offering nothing & that I can cancel my contract with them.
However they then pointed out that if I wished to reinstate my contract at anyiany time it would cost me extra as I would be a new customer.
Got us by the short hairs unfortunately.
Hopefully their attitude may change.

Now that is unusual.
New customers usually get a incentive to join..

Nope because your dentist would have to re assess you and charge for the re assessment.

swissras

Have same problem with  Denplan, they  want to keep taking our money without being able to offer any type of service (obviously services have to be suspended during outbreak) , refused to offer a discount or suspend fees.
Reality check Denplan, if your customers can only access emergency treatment which would be an extraction, it will be cheaper to pay as  you require treatment. I would suggest if these company wont offer discounts then cancel, call there bluff .  We wont be getting the service we pay for for a considerable time.

inspectorperez

swissras said:

Have same problem with  Denplan, they  want to keep taking our money without being able to offer any type of service (obviously services have to be suspended during outbreak) , refused to offer a discount or suspend fees.
Reality check Denplan, if your customers can only access emergency treatment which would be an extraction, it will be cheaper to pay as  you require treatment. I would suggest if these company wont offer discounts then cancel, call there bluff .  We wont be getting the service we pay for for a considerable time.

Your post makes interesting reading. My wife asked me this same question just this morning. I was intending to ring Denplan up (they probably wouldn't speak to me I know) and just ask the generic question myself. You have saved me the bother thank you.

I did not renew my cover in January and moved to an NHS dentist within the same practice.

I think Denplan will lose goodwill over this decision when even the broadcasters and gyms are suspending monthly direct debits until business returns to normality. My wife's dentist would not even make an appointment for next month when she phoned yesterday morning and she is still paying the monthly charge!

atalosstoo

This is probably no help but I have the same problem with my dentist. It is a DPAS plan. I spoke to DPAS who said some dentists are reducing payments but others not. They didn't say any were offering to extend contracts with free months. DPAS take a cut of your payment to administer the scheme and also give you an emergency insurance. Anyway, my dentist flatly refused to do anything. I am contemplating referring them to their regulatory body on the grounds that charging for a full service when they are offering a minimal service is unethical. They are very short sighted as they will lose  me as a customer. 

DoaM

We're with Denplan ... we've already missed scheduled appointments due to COVID-19, but we haven't (as yet) followed up regarding payment holiday etc.

PeterJ2611

BUPA Dental Care annual entitlement

My wife has a BUPA dental care policy, and has called the company a number of times, to ask about refunds on premiums paid during lockdown.

BUPA have said on the phone that they are waiting to see how much ( if anything ) will be refunded.

She also asked about unused annual entitlements for treatments.

She was due to have some treatment done in March, which would have used up most of her annual entitlement of £700.

The annual policy is due for renewal tomorrow, at which point the entitlement will reset, meaning she has lost out on her entitlement for last year, and when she has the treatment done next week, that will use up her entitlement until this time next year.

DOES ANYONE KNOW IF BUPA DENTAL CARE WILL ALLOW PATIENTS TO "CARRY OVER" ENTITLEMENTS FOR TREATMENT THAT COULD NOT TAKE PLACE OWING TO LOCKDOWN ?

Thanks very much

sheepenhurder

I've had exactly the same problem paying £18 a month continuing through lockdown with no compensation at all, resenting the fact that my payments were propping up the business whilst closed. I am owed 2 checkup/clean & polish, have written letters of Complaint to the practice with zero result. Originally the plan was with Denplan who are regulated but then the dental practice decided to run their own which I've now found out is "unregulated" therefore Financial Ombudsman can't help but Im going through other organisations. It appears these businesses can take money from who they want, when they, how they want without any form of protection for the patient. Until I get to the bottom of it all I'm paying the monthly amount, if not then DD will be terminated. They can't sue for breach of Contract because technically there isn't one and they would be exposed. As I progress with my Complaint however long it takes, I am happy to report in order to help others.      

breaking_free

Hi all, OP here. I moved to a new area this year and promptly signed up with another dentist. Had a letter from them the other week stating that from now on all clients MUST join their dental plan or not treatment. I called them up and politely told them to take me off their client list citing the complaints I gave in my original post. I'll take my business elsewhere thanks.