prepaid prescriptions don't automatically renew in the last year before your 60

Johnsorento

Prepaid prescriptions don't automatically renew in the last year before your 60 and you can be fined for each prescription you take out, if you don't notice. Which could be hundreds of pounds. I have had a prepayment prescription for years, 15+ and they have auto renewed. I have wrote to Tim Farron to look into this. I tried to paid for any but they will not let you pay, they just fine you. It is very hard to get to speak to anyone on this matter and if you do, they don't care.

MattMattMattUK

Johnsorento said:

Prepaid prescriptions don't automatically renew in the last year before your 60 and you can be fined for each prescription you take out, if you don't notice. Which could be hundreds of pounds. I have had a prepayment prescription for years, 15+ and they have auto renewed. I have wrote to Tim Farron to look into this. I tried to paid for any but they will not let you pay, they just fine you. It is very hard to get to speak to anyone on this matter and if you do, they don't care.

Do you mean you tried to pay after the fact, when they had already issued the fine?

sheramber

It does state this on NHS website

https://faq.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/knowledgebase/article/KA-03588/en-us

DullGreyGuy

Johnsorento said:

Prepaid prescriptions don't automatically renew in the last year before your 60 and you can be fined for each prescription you take out, if you don't notice. Which could be hundreds of pounds. I have had a prepayment prescription for years, 15+ and they have auto renewed. I have wrote to Tim Farron to look into this. I tried to paid for any but they will not let you pay, they just fine you. It is very hard to get to speak to anyone on this matter and if you do, they don't care.

Personally find the whole NHS BSA a pain... they dont use NHS Spine to keep your records up to date so reminders they do send (for Medical Exemption anyway) are to your old address. Many of the conditions are incurable life long things but you have to renew every 5 years. What the rules say is that you have to have the card not the condition so even though you've had something since birth if you forget to renew the card you are in breach of the rules and so will be fined even though they know you still have the condition. 

I didnt find it hard to phone them when I got my fine. Wasnt that much point in talking to them as all they do for medical-exemption is point out the card not the condition gives the right to free prescriptions but if you renew the card late you can just pay the prescription fees and avoid the fine. 

Ectophile

Auto-renewing pre-paid prescription cards is a mug's game.  A pharmacist gave me a neat tip when it comes to the prepaid prescriptions: when your card is about to run out, go to your doctor and order everything you'll need for a month.  Then let the card run out.

Then buy the new card when you have to put in a new prescription request.

DullGreyGuy

Ectophile said:

Auto-renewing pre-paid prescription cards is a mug's game.  A pharmacist gave me a neat tip when it comes to the prepaid prescriptions: when your card is about to run out, go to your doctor and order everything you'll need for a month.  Then let the card run out.

Then buy the new card when you have to put in a new prescription request.

That very much depends your Doc and their following of guidelines. 

If your Doc doesn't follow the guidelines and issues more than 1 months meds and will issue them early then absolutely this advice means you can get 13-16 months meds for the same price but if your doc sticks by the strict guidelines and only ever gives 1 months prescription and only 1 week in advance then if you are lucky this gives you 13 months but just as ofter 12 weeks and introduces the risk of forgetting the renewal

Ectophile

DullGreyGuy said:

Ectophile said:

Auto-renewing pre-paid prescription cards is a mug's game.  A pharmacist gave me a neat tip when it comes to the prepaid prescriptions: when your card is about to run out, go to your doctor and order everything you'll need for a month.  Then let the card run out.

Then buy the new card when you have to put in a new prescription request.

That very much depends your Doc and their following of guidelines. 

If your Doc doesn't follow the guidelines and issues more than 1 months meds and will issue them early then absolutely this advice means you can get 13-16 months meds for the same price but if your doc sticks by the strict guidelines and only ever gives 1 months prescription and only 1 week in advance then if you are lucky this gives you 13 months but just as ofter 12 weeks and introduces the risk of forgetting the renewal

I suspect my doctor is too over-worked to pay any attention.  I order whatever I want, whenever I want.  And I try to order multiple things at once, to reduce the effort for everybody.

That said, it's the practice nurse who decides what medecines I should get.  I have never even seen my current doctor.

cashew_2

This really is a nasty trick and must have caught out many others.
The NHS website clearly states the DD will only be stopped if cancelled by the patient.
This guidance is still currently on their site, yet as you point out, if the patient is set to turn 60 years old in the following 12 months the NHS System will stop their DD without issuing any advice.
This effectively means anyone aged 59 who’s currently using the NHS Prescription Prepayment Service is likely to continue collecting prescriptions believing in all honesty they’re covered, only to find themselves receiving a Penalty Charge letter through the post.

@johnsorento - Did your receive any notification .?
did you even receive a PPC certificate a@Johnsorento

I’ve received the same penalty for a prescription collected one month after they cancelled my DD, having received neither PPC in the first place, nor advice from them the DD would be stopped.
When I asked for copies of both those documents they said they were unable to supply them.

I fear the only reason they do not rescind such penalties is because their system is so limited it lacks the facility to do what is clearly ‘right’ by and decent judgement.
Conversely a fried using a High St Prescription Service said their system charged him up until his 60th birthday then stopped automatically, I guess the NHS simply bought cheap software, or enjoys making cash out of people.

Pretty disgusting really.

Stirrups36

I've just been hit by this - not just for one month, but for two months as it took that long for them to send me the first penalty charge. So I am facing £230 of charges (currently, and of course that would increase if not paid by the dates given). 

They are refusing to cancel the fines at the moment, and I have asked for evidence of their notification to me that the prepayment would cease. Yes, it is on the website, but I last looked at the T&C on these 'quite a while ago'. 

Just not fair for someone who bides by the system. The system is evidently unfair. 

Beware you 59 year olds! 

Stirrups36

The sensible way to run this for 59 year olds, is to take the prepayment as usual and then once the user turns 60, send them the letter cancelling the prepayment and a refund for that not used. 

But maybe that is just too sensible. 

shewhomustbeobeyed

Johnsorento said:

Prepaid prescriptions don't automatically renew in the last year before your 60 and you can be fined for each prescription you take out, if you don't notice. Which could be hundreds of pounds. I have had a prepayment prescription for years, 15+ and they have auto renewed. I have wrote to Tim Farron to look into this. I tried to paid for any but they will not let you pay, they just fine you. It is very hard to get to speak to anyone on this matter and if you do, they don't care.

As I have found out! Just turning 60 I contacted them to advise them, understanding as I had been told for years that it was up to me to cancel, not them. Only to be advised they had not renewed some three months earlier, despite me never having cancelled and still having a direct debit in force. So I phone them to explain and am met with nothing that can be done and if it is investigated I will be fined. Yes it does say it on their website, but it's not reasonable to expect me to have gone looking for a condition I would not have expected to be there. Yes they did send me a letter, but it was headed something like "Your prescription pre-payment certificate" and since I know that nobody ever needs to see this letter, and since I have had them for 20 years or so, I don't read the small print. I admit my error - - but I would like them also to admit theirs (for instance, the letter was not my certificate despite it saying that was what it was) and resolve it amicably. It seems arbitrary and not what I would like or expect that they just unilaterally fail to renew my certificate. I am bound to say it seems designed to catch people out. Not fair, not nice.