MSE News Exclusive: Are you one of 881,000 people who overpaid for NHS prescriptions in 2024/25?

MSE_Abby

If you get more than one prescription a month on average, you can save money by buying an annual prescription 'season ticket'. New figures shared exclusively with MoneySavingExpert.com show 881,000 people in England could've saved an average of £41 each this way in the twelve months to April 2025…

Read the full story:

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2026/01/nhs-prescriptions-annual-season-ticket/

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mrstick

If you have a prescription for 28 days of medicine, it's actually even cheaper to buy 3 month pre payment certificates instead, as you only have to buy 3 of them a year.

pauldavey

I did this for years. The best way to do this is to ask for your repeat about every three weeks or so, or even earlier if you are going to be away on holiday or business.

I think if if you only needed one item and had a small buffer stock you could need even less than three certificates per year.

But in practice I found that with multiple items and occasional changes with new prescriptions meant that I typically had a few gaps of a few weeks between renewals over a year rather than a 28 days every time.

A few things to watch out for:

1. Make sure you keep track of the dates both not to run out (allowing time for GP and pharmacy) or that you claim exemption when your certificate has expireddates
2. The date that matters is that of collecting your prescription from the pharmacy, so I would ask them to prepare it and hold it for me then collect it when convenient and best for me.
3. Also I suggest keeping track of when your certificates are valid. Over several years I had two or three queries claiming that I had not as got a certificate when in fact I had.
4. People generally know that conditions like diabetes or pregnancy mean free prescriptions, but if someone is housebound they are also free. But you need a (free) medical exemption form. It took a district nurse to tell me this.

They no longer send you a plastic card. All details are held and checked against pharmacy dispensing records online by the NHS

And it's no longer usually necessary to get an FP57 form (which is time consuming for the pharmacist and must be done when you pay for the prescription not later).

Just do not tick the box for prepayment and then forget to organise the prepayment certificate in good time ie within the next month. When you buy a prepayment certificate online you can backdate it by a upto a month. (Just make sure that matches the date you collected your prescription...)

Murphybear

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81858904#Comment_81858904

There are other health issues which you may be eligible for free prescriptions

Cancer:
Diabetes:
Epilepsy:
Thyroid Issues:
Endocrine/Metabolic Disorders:
Physical Disability: A continuing physical disability that prevents you from leaving home without help from another person.
Fistulae: 
Myasthenia Gravis.

Terms & conditions may apply to some of them