Neighbour has an NHs exemption card ......how come???

Jummy

Hi!
My neighbour has 3 kids (school age),her partner works and earns approx £25000 a yr.
She doesn't work but a few weeks ago she was saying she was having some dental work done and i said it must be costing her a fortune but she said that she has an NHS card so treatment is free.
How is she able to get a card with her partner earning £25000 then?

clairec79

Is she pregnant? You get free NHS dental work if you are pregnant or have been in the last year.

Otherwise it does seem like something is odd - if her circumstances have changed it's also possible that she's using an old card - we get NHS exemption (legimately) but hopefully I'll be working in the next month or so and obviously won't qualify but the card is dated until July

debsy42

Bit odd, I have an exemption card for medical reasons but it doesn't cover dental work. If you get some benefits does that entitle you to free dental work ?

Cliff_top

If the family income is less than ~£14,500 then they will get exemption cards, so I suppose although they boast that they get 25000 a yr, either they don't...or some of it is 'cash in hand' governor and need reporting.

Penny-Pincher!!

I have an NHS exemption card and this is due to me being on medication for an underactive thyroid. It doesnt entitle me to dental work though, just free perscriptions.

They could be on Working Tax Credits which they would get an exemption card for and would enable them to have free/cheaper dental work.

PP
xx

siren13577

It really depends, judging by the income there shouldn't be a NHS exemption card, however it's not something you can really claim fraudently, it gets sent automatically, have a look here for more information:
http://www.ppa.org.uk/ppa/taxcredits_chart.htm

Lip_Stick

I was wondering about that Penny-Pincher, so thanks for the info. I was pregnant and got an maternity exemption card through, but then I also got one through from tax credits too. So I'm guessing after the year's maternity is up, as I now get working tax credits I'll have exemption cards issued?

[Deleted User]

It IS possible to get the cards "legally" fraudulent ( I will not divulge how this is possible so nobody should even bother to ask).
Is it possible that their previous year earnings were lower? Tax Credits are based on previous year's income so this is the same income that would be used for Exemption cards.

space_rider

The exemption card doesn`t cover all dental work. It covers things like the check up but doesn`t even cover something basic like a scale and polish.

dmg24

space_rider wrote: »

The exemption card doesn`t cover all dental work. It covers things like the check up but doesn`t even cover something basic like a scale and polish.

It does at my dentist.

shellsuit

I don't understand this....

Me & OH (a couple of years ago before we split), earned over £15K between us, but we had an exemption card each??

We were just automatically sent one, does this mean we shouldn't have had them??