Disabled (not sight) Contact lenses advice 22 July 2021 at 12:28PM in Disability money matters 10 replies 251 views

daniel-2412

Hello all,

Hope you are all having a nice day, I am going to trial contact lenses for the first time today (through Specsavers free trial) I am on high rate mobility and daily living as well as high rate pip, although I am not disabled due to my sight, I was wondering if anyone had any money saving tips or advice for when this trial is over? I was actually born cross-eyed and have had eight operations on my eyes and have worn glasses most of my life as I dont like the idea of things against my eyes but have decided to bite the bullet and see what happens. Any advice on saving money as I hear these can be very expensive would be greatly appreciated.

thank you all.

MalMonroe

This is a bit of a worry because we on this site are not allowed to give or receive medical advice to/from anyone else.

And when we are discussing eyes, that's even more of a worry as sight is very precious.

What I would recommend - and I'm not giving any medical advice or even any hints or tips at all - is that you go to see your GP and ask to be referred to specialist consultant opticians/ophthalmologists/eye people, preferably at a proper eye hospital. You may even be able to have the lenses free of charge or at a reduced rate if a consultant recommends or prescribes them for you. (I don't know that for a fact so please don't quote me!)

There's also a thing called Help with Health Costs that you can apply for (but which not many people tell you about). You need to complete a form (of course, there is always a form!) and it's really easy, you can do it online. If you are on a low income it's very helpful.

The link is here :  https://services.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/apply-for-help-with-nhs-costs/apply-online

Specsavers, with the best will in the world, are NOT consultant optical specialists and with the ops you've had in the past and your optical history, you will probably be better served by a specialist.

Any other advice on here will probably be removed by moderators but you can get lots of help from the experts (and I don't mean Specsavers).

Take care. 

daniel-2412

im sorry i didnt realise i wasnt aloud to ask for money saving tips to do with eyes. thanks for your suggestions

poppy12345

MalMonroe said:

This is a bit of a worry because we on this site are not allowed to give or receive medical advice to/from anyone else.

I think you should have another read of the OP question because i can't see anywhere at all where they've actually asked for medical advice.

OP with regards to cost after your free trial, do you claim any other benefits other than PIP? Some benefits allow free vouchers which will help with the cost. See link. https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/opticians/free-nhs-eye-tests-and-optical-vouchers/

Failing that there's the NHS low income scheme, details here. https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/help-with-health-costs/nhs-low-income-scheme-lis/

Other than that i'd advise to speak to specsavers regarding the cost after the trial.

coffeehound

In terms of money saving, I would not choose the very cheapest CLs that are offered.  Although supposed to last a month, I often found they ripped after just a few uses and were a false economy.  

Daily disposables are a huge luxury in comparison to the monthly ones where you have to put them in solutions each night and might be good if you have any dexterity problems.  But of course they are more expensive.

debsy42

I have daily contact lenses which are great for me as I wear them once and then dispose of them. Previously I had the ones where you had to store in solutions etc which I found fiddly. With regard to cost it depends on your prescription and the the type of lenses you want to wear/your eyes feel comfortable with. Mine are usually about £18 for a box of 30 which gives you 15 days usage however I have toric lenses which are more expensive compared to "normal" ones.

theoretica

What pattern of contact lens wear are you hoping for?  All day every day or less often for some special activity?

daniel-2412

i get universal credit too and high rate mobility on both parts of pip but use some of it for a disability car. i have never used contact lenses but i break too many glasses and they give me headaches, i have had an Eyesight test in the last 6 months and they havent changed much since the last test, i was hoping to change them as little as possible. i am longsighted in one eye and twice as long sited in the other, ive asked for another copy of my prescription so cant tell you it currently sorry.
thank you for re-reading my first post, i thought i was going to be removed.

poppy12345

daniel-2412 said:

i get universal credit too and high rate mobility on both parts of pip but use some of it for a disability car.

Your PIP award and mobility car has no bearing on the free NHS eye test and voucher.

Your UC may depending on circumstances.

You qualify if, on the date you claim help with health costs:

you receive Universal Credit and either had no earnings or had net earnings of £435 or less in your last Universal Credit assessment period

or

you receive Universal Credit, which includes an element for a child, or you (or your partner) had limited capability for work (LCW) or limited capability for work and work-related activity (LCWRA), and you either had no earnings or net earnings of £935 or less in your last Universal Credit assessment period. See link. https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/help-with-health-costs/help-with-health-costs-for-people-getting-universal-credit/

daniel-2412 said:

thank you for re-reading my first post, i thought i was going to be removed.

I don't see any reason why your post should be removed because you've done nothing wrong. You didn't even ask for medical advice to begin with. There's lots of members here that are only too happy to give some advice on the questions you've asked.

Spoonie_Turtle

daniel-2412 said:

i get universal credit too and high rate mobility on both parts of pip but use some of it for a disability car. i have never used contact lenses but i break too many glasses and they give me headaches, i have had an Eyesight test in the last 6 months and they havent changed much since the last test, i was hoping to change them as little as possible. i am longsighted in one eye and twice as long sited in the other, ive asked for another copy of my prescription so cant tell you it currently sorry.
thank you for re-reading my first post, i thought i was going to be removed.

PIP is irrelevant but UC is what will make you eligible for help as poppy has already said.  The NHS optical voucher will help towards contact lenses but just like with glasses, it may not cover the whole cost depending on which ones you want to try.

https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/opticians/free-nhs-eye-tests-and-optical-vouchers/

(poppy posted that link before, but I'm just repeating it in case you missed it )

daniel-2412

thank you all