Penalty Charge Notice for NHS prescription

chipxtreme

Not sure if this is correct place as technically not a benefit.

I am on blood pressure medication (two different ones) which I get 3 months worth of every time I collect.

Occasionally I get the other medication so thought it would be beneficial to buy a 3 months pre-payment prescription then I renew it once I need more tablets. I often collect prescriptions and later back-date the pre payment prescription if I wasn't covered when I collected them which is allowed and my memory is TERRIBLE due to a neurodiverse condition.

The time before last I picked up my tablets, realised that I didn't have a valid certificate for last time I picked up, went to pay and it would only allow me to select the day AFTER I collected. Little did I know but you can only backdate 30 days or something like that.

I immediately rang them up, explained what happened and they said there's nothing they can do over the phone will just need to wait for a letter.

Anyway after I next renewed my certificate I got a letter saying that I got medicines when I wasn't covered and there would be a charge. I e-mailed them and had a few back and forward exchanges explaining it was a genuine mistake and I tried everything to correct it but they basically said TOUGH. You'll be charged.

Now I've got a letter demanding £19.80 for prescription charges and £99.00 penalty charge.

Now I've no issue in the slightest paying £19.80 but asking for £99.00 on top is an absolute JOKE!

The letter also states "We won't usually accept a challenge if your exemption certificate had expired"

Surely this can't be legal. I don't even pay £99.00 for prescriptions per year. If timed right would only need to buy two 3 months pre-payments. Even if I paid for them without certificate it would only be 8 prescriptions per year.

Has anyone else had this and successfully challenged it?

oldernonethewiser

Can't help with your appeal but info on the legal penalty charge

How penalty charges are calculated

If you're sent a PCN, you'll be asked to pay both:

• the original NHS prescription or dental treatment charges
• an additional penalty charge

The penalty charge is 5 times the original amount owed, up to a maximum of £100.

Once a Penalty Charge Notice has been issued, if no payment has been made within 28 days, a surcharge may be added.

From here

MyRealNameToo

chipxtreme said:

Not sure if this is correct place as technically not a benefit.

I am on blood pressure medication (two different ones) which I get 3 months worth of every time I collect.

Occasionally I get the other medication so thought it would be beneficial to buy a 3 months pre-payment prescription then I renew it once I need more tablets. I often collect prescriptions and later back-date the pre payment prescription if I wasn't covered when I collected them which is allowed and my memory is TERRIBLE due to a neurodiverse condition.

The time before last I picked up my tablets, realised that I didn't have a valid certificate for last time I picked up, went to pay and it would only allow me to select the day AFTER I collected. Little did I know but you can only backdate 30 days or something like that.

I immediately rang them up, explained what happened and they said there's nothing they can do over the phone will just need to wait for a letter.

Anyway after I next renewed my certificate I got a letter saying that I got medicines when I wasn't covered and there would be a charge. I e-mailed them and had a few back and forward exchanges explaining it was a genuine mistake and I tried everything to correct it but they basically said TOUGH. You'll be charged.

Now I've got a letter demanding £19.80 for prescription charges and £99.00 penalty charge.

Now I've no issue in the slightest paying £19.80 but asking for £99.00 on top is an absolute JOKE!

The letter also states "We won't usually accept a challenge if your exemption certificate had expired"

Surely this can't be legal. I don't even pay £99.00 for prescriptions per year. If timed right would only need to buy two 3 months pre-payments. Even if I paid for them without certificate it would only be 8 prescriptions per year.

Has anyone else had this and successfully challenged it?

Why is it a joke? 

A penalty has to be sufficient to stop people committing fraud and if the only thing was you had to pay the original charges absolutely everyone would tick the box to say they are exempt as they may get away with it and if they dont they're only paying what they had to in the first place. 

The strict requirement is that you must have a valid certificate at the point of signing for the prescription, the fact they allow you to buy one after and back date it is very much a gesture of goodwill. 

Personally forgot my medical exemption ran out and also got new prescriptions. Given mine is for a birth defect and we haven't yet developed the ability to grow organs in a test tube I will be exempt for at least the next few decades but again its the certificate that makes me exempt not the medical condition. Thankfully they only picked up one prescription and so one fine but there had been several others. Renewed, diaried when it expires and then did the same for the Mrs who's also had just expired but thankfully they didnt catch any of her prescriptions. 

swingaloo

You would have signed the box to say you had a pre-payment certificate when you collected the prescriptions so that should have been a reminder in itself. To keep relying on them being backdated has sadly caught you out this time.

Emmia

It might be better if you got an annual certificate instead, and then you would only need to renew it once a year, and not every few months.

The annual one is £114 and saves money if you get 11 items per year.

https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/prescriptions/save-money-with-a-prescription-prepayment-certificate-ppc/

MyRealNameToo

Emmia said:

It might be better if you got an annual certificate instead, and then you would only need to renew it once a year, and not every few months.

The annual one is £114 and saves money if you get 11 items per year.

https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/prescriptions/save-money-with-a-prescription-prepayment-certificate-ppc/

But they say with good timing and if remembering to do the exemption they can pay £64.10 for a years worth of prescriptions rather than the £114.50 for an annual one. 

A £50 saving if they do it right, a significant cost if they dont. 

Muttleythefrog

I suspect difficult to argue against.... I think you might just have to chalk this one up as they're notoriously difficult to get to reverse a decision and I see no convincing case here to be made unfortunately.

Emmia

MyRealNameToo said:

Emmia said:

It might be better if you got an annual certificate instead, and then you would only need to renew it once a year, and not every few months.

The annual one is £114 and saves money if you get 11 items per year.

https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/prescriptions/save-money-with-a-prescription-prepayment-certificate-ppc/

But they say with good timing and if remembering to do the exemption they can pay £64.10 for a years worth of prescriptions rather than the £114.50 for an annual one. 

A £50 saving if they do it right, a significant cost if they dont. 

The trouble is, they seem to have difficulty remembering - as the OP has found out, the fine for forgetting once, is more than the cost saving they could have achieved.

peteuk

Emmia said:

MyRealNameToo said:

Emmia said:

It might be better if you got an annual certificate instead, and then you would only need to renew it once a year, and not every few months.

The annual one is £114 and saves money if you get 11 items per year.

https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/prescriptions/save-money-with-a-prescription-prepayment-certificate-ppc/

But they say with good timing and if remembering to do the exemption they can pay £64.10 for a years worth of prescriptions rather than the £114.50 for an annual one. 

A £50 saving if they do it right, a significant cost if they dont. 

The trouble is, they seem to have difficulty remembering - as the OP has found out, the fine for forgetting once, is more than the cost saving they could have achieved.

And it can be paid monthly so easy to budget.

unforeseen

peteuk said:

Emmia said:

MyRealNameToo said:

Emmia said:

It might be better if you got an annual certificate instead, and then you would only need to renew it once a year, and not every few months.

The annual one is £114 and saves money if you get 11 items per year.

https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/prescriptions/save-money-with-a-prescription-prepayment-certificate-ppc/

But they say with good timing and if remembering to do the exemption they can pay £64.10 for a years worth of prescriptions rather than the £114.50 for an annual one. 

A £50 saving if they do it right, a significant cost if they dont. 

The trouble is, they seem to have difficulty remembering - as the OP has found out, the fine for forgetting once, is more than the cost saving they could have achieved.

And it can be paid monthly so easy to budget.

And also, unless its changed, they auto renew (apart from when you approach 60)