Denplan - what am I paying for?

Cheryle_2

Interested to know whether anyone else is in similar experience to me. I pay almost £30 a month to Denplan even though I have not attended  or heard from my dental practice since September 2019. Apparently the surgery reopened in June, but I was not contacted at any point from my last appointment 14 months ago in spite of having an appointment booked in early April. My dentist explained this was because all the staff were furloughed - meaning that their salaries were paid by the tax payers whilst the practice actually suffered no drop in income, I’m not certain of the legality of this, but am certain of the lack or morality of this action. When I complained about the lack of communication I was informed I was able to claim back two months payments for the time the surgery was physically closed during Lockdown. I enquired whether this was offered to me in response to my complaint or was available to all Denplan patients I was told it was indeed for all patients. Obviously this has not been advertised by either Denplan or my particular practice so just wanted to let other Denplan members to be aware of it.
Also, it might be worth noting, that according to both my dentist and Denplan the payment scheme is not an insurance, but a plan to help spread the cost of dental treatment over 12 months. Therefore if no cost has been incurred either due to unprecedented circumstances or the lack of communication by the dental practice afterwards should I be entitled to a full year refund? It would seem that my payments have merely swelled the coffers of both Denplan and my dentist and I would much rather my money went to a more deserving cause.

Ditzy_Mitzy

If I were you I'd just cancel the policy and forget about it; having had a look at the Denplan website the thing strikes me as a complete waste of money.  It's not actually a proper insurance policy that covers emergency work, other than 'one emergency' on the top level package which is a dubious sort of statement.  In fact it rather seems like a con: nobody, or at least those without dental problems, needs more than one dental check up a year.  Someone with discoloured teeth or similar might benefit from visits to the hygienist, but those don't tend to be that expensive.  Even going once a quarter at £50 a pop comes in cheaper than the Denplan annual cost.  £360 a year for dental 'treatment' is ridiculous, it just sounds like another one of those subscription services that charges a lot for services that nobody actually needs.  To take full advantage of what's offered, one would have to spend most of one's time at the dentist; which is patently unnecessary.  Most people won't do that, ergo pay for nothing.  I go to the dentist now and then and simply pay for the services I use.  I'd be very surprised if I spend £100 a year on it.  

greyteam1959

Cheryle_2
My family have a Denplan scheme that costs us £155 per month for 5 of us & that includes a 15% family discount.
I have complained twice to Denplan & twice to our dental practice about the lack of providing what we have paid for.
Following your success in getting 2 months fees refunded I will certainly be contacting Denplan again to see if I can get some money back from them.

Grabs39

It seems like there are two issues here - your dentists lack of communication isn't directly linked to Denplan, I'd be looking for a better organised surgery.

I'm with Denplan but have had an email from my dentist every couple of weeks this year explaining what's going on.  They've been doing emergency appointments, and have me booked in soon for a routine check and scale/polish.  I've missed one checkup and scale and polish in the summer but if I'd actually had any problems I could have gone in so as far as I can see I've got pretty much what I pay for.

sheepenhurder

Denplan is a Contract between the dental practice and them, not with the individual patient. My private dentist used to belong to Denplan but then decided to go it alone where a different company accepts the monthly payments. In doing this, they became non regulated which involves a loophole for them hide in. I was/am paying £17 a month even through "lockdown". I started a Complaint with the dentist back in July/August, letters going backwards and forwards with them trying to get out of it. I approached Trading Standards together with finding out very interesting information (internet is a very wonderful thing). My monthly payments covered 2 checkups and scale/polish. The dentist was arguing it wasn't true, so, advice from TS was to obtain personal information under the "Subject Access Request" and "General Data Protection Regulation" Data Protection Act 2018. The dental practice had to legally provide the information. After a month I received what I asked for which detailed for decades I had 2 dental visits a year. I believe the practice realised they were on the ropes which led to me being refunded. During my quest I called every Dental organisation including the Financial Ombudsman to no avail.  Best advice is DO NOT GIVE UP! If I can help any one please let me know.