Wasn't made aware my dental appointment was private, and feel I'm being unfairly billed for it
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Vashetti
Posts: 4 Newbie
Hi there.
I had an appointment at my dental practice on the 10th of June with the hygienist for a scrub and polish. Upon leaving my appointment, I was shocked to be slapped with a bill for £48. I wasn't aware in the slightest that this was a private appointment and the practice had taken no measures to disclose this to me until after the treatment had taken place.
Up until this point all my treatment had been covered by the NHS, as for a time, I was co-claimant on my partner's (now ex) ESA claim. Now I have my own universal credit claim. So through the entirety of my time with this practice, I had been unemployed and in receipt of benefits.
Last year, I had two appointments, my first was the introductory one where they inspected my mouth as I had been suffering from toothache. Shortly after, I had a second appointment where they gave me a scrub and polish, then two fillings. Next, I was booked in for my follow-up appointment, which takes us up to the 7th of June this year.
This was just a check-up, they were happy with my mouth, but the dentist advised I book an appointment with the hygienist as soon as possible, for a scrub and polish to get rid of a small plaque build up. I did as suggested and arranged this with reception for the 10th of June. Again, there was zero mention that this would be a private appointment nor that I would be charged for it.
After attending said private appointment, I made to leave and was then stopped by reception and asked to pay £48. As I said, I was very shocked. The receptionist appreciated my plight and that I hadn't been made aware by himself or by the dentists who suggested I had it done, but that since I had received the treatment, I was still liable to pay it.
I couldn't afford to pay it at the time (nor can I really do so right now), so they let me go and took my parent's address details (where I had just moved back to). About two weeks ago I received a letter requesting said payment. I contacted Citizen's Advice, and they explained that when transferring from NHS to private treatment, all of this should be disclosed to you, as well as the costs, etc. A form (FP17DC) should also be given to you to sign to agree to start private treatment, which wasn't explained or disclosed to me. Through all of this, they say the practice is in breach of contract because of how everything has been handled.
I wrote up a polite letter explaining all of this to the practice, as well as explaining my circumstances of having to report my ex to the police for 9 years of domestic abuse, which has left me in financial ruin, stating my intent to not pay the bill due to feeling misled and deceived.
Today I have received another letter demanding that I pay the bill of £48 within 7 days.
Does anyone have advice regarding this? I'm based in Wales and the practice is in Cardiff, if that helps with regards who I should/could be contacting.
Thanks for your time
I had an appointment at my dental practice on the 10th of June with the hygienist for a scrub and polish. Upon leaving my appointment, I was shocked to be slapped with a bill for £48. I wasn't aware in the slightest that this was a private appointment and the practice had taken no measures to disclose this to me until after the treatment had taken place.
Up until this point all my treatment had been covered by the NHS, as for a time, I was co-claimant on my partner's (now ex) ESA claim. Now I have my own universal credit claim. So through the entirety of my time with this practice, I had been unemployed and in receipt of benefits.
Last year, I had two appointments, my first was the introductory one where they inspected my mouth as I had been suffering from toothache. Shortly after, I had a second appointment where they gave me a scrub and polish, then two fillings. Next, I was booked in for my follow-up appointment, which takes us up to the 7th of June this year.
This was just a check-up, they were happy with my mouth, but the dentist advised I book an appointment with the hygienist as soon as possible, for a scrub and polish to get rid of a small plaque build up. I did as suggested and arranged this with reception for the 10th of June. Again, there was zero mention that this would be a private appointment nor that I would be charged for it.
After attending said private appointment, I made to leave and was then stopped by reception and asked to pay £48. As I said, I was very shocked. The receptionist appreciated my plight and that I hadn't been made aware by himself or by the dentists who suggested I had it done, but that since I had received the treatment, I was still liable to pay it.
I couldn't afford to pay it at the time (nor can I really do so right now), so they let me go and took my parent's address details (where I had just moved back to). About two weeks ago I received a letter requesting said payment. I contacted Citizen's Advice, and they explained that when transferring from NHS to private treatment, all of this should be disclosed to you, as well as the costs, etc. A form (FP17DC) should also be given to you to sign to agree to start private treatment, which wasn't explained or disclosed to me. Through all of this, they say the practice is in breach of contract because of how everything has been handled.
I wrote up a polite letter explaining all of this to the practice, as well as explaining my circumstances of having to report my ex to the police for 9 years of domestic abuse, which has left me in financial ruin, stating my intent to not pay the bill due to feeling misled and deceived.
Today I have received another letter demanding that I pay the bill of £48 within 7 days.
Does anyone have advice regarding this? I'm based in Wales and the practice is in Cardiff, if that helps with regards who I should/could be contacting.
Thanks for your time
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Comments
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I would imagine that dentists need to belong to some official body or other and that you could find out what that official body is and make a complaint to them. With that, any such body they are in would, presumably, send them a letter hauling them over the coals about having not told you in advance that payment would be due from you?
You will probably need to change dentist practice once this has been sorted out though, as the practice will probably chuck you out for having had the temerity to query their efficiency (or otherwise) and so you need to mentally have another dentist practice lined-up to swop to.0 -
How did the dentist know your benefits position had changed and you were now being treated under private? I don’t think there is any automatic sharing of this information with a dentist surgery, and so you must have informed them of this? If you didn’t inform them of this, how were they supposed to tell you in advance that there would be a charge?
I’m pretty sure when I’ve had NHS dental treatment I’ve had to fill in a form stating the basis on which it is exempt from payment (this is usually done after the treatment).
So it seems likely that when you went to leave they asked you to compete the form, and on so doing it emerged that you were no longer eligible for free NHS treatment and at that point you were asked for payment?0 -
Yellow_mango wrote: »How did the dentist know your benefits position had changed and you were now being treated under private? I don’t think there is any automatic sharing of this information with a dentist surgery, and so you must have informed them of this? If you didn’t inform them of this, how were they supposed to tell you in advance that there would be a charge?
I’m pretty sure when I’ve had NHS dental treatment I’ve had to fill in a form stating the basis on which it is exempt from payment (this is usually done after the treatment).
So it seems likely that when you went to leave they asked you to compete the form, and on so doing it emerged that you were no longer eligible for free NHS treatment and at that point you were asked for payment?
Apologies, I feel you must have misread, or I was unclear. There was no conversation regarding my benefits. I simply asked for an appointment with the hygienist for a scrub and polish, and they booked me in for a private appointment, without disclosing that to me.
Having had a scrub and polish at the practice before, as mentioned in my post, I thought nothing of it. It didn't cross my mind in the slightest that I would be charged for this appointment, and they made no mention of that either.0 -
Apologies, I feel you must have misread, or I was unclear. There was no conversation regarding my benefits. I simply asked for an appointment with the hygienist for a scrub and polish, and they booked me in for a private appointment, without disclosing that to me.
Having had a scrub and polish at the practice before, as mentioned in my post, I thought nothing of it. It didn't cross my mind in the slightest that I would be charged for this appointment, and they made no mention of that either.
No matter what the dentist did how why did you believe you would still be entitled to nhs treatment? You must have known you'd have to pay for it?0 -
Band 1 NHS treatment (£22.70) is meant to include a scale & polish if clinically necessary, but a lot of dentists don't want to do that themselves so pass patients over to the hygienist, which is always private.
However, as your case they don't always make people aware that there is a charge for seeing the hygienist as too many people would opt for having the dentist do the work instead!
In your position I would argue that as a scale & polish is available on the NHS you had no reason to believe that you were receiving private treatment until after the event.
In the meantime I would write to the dentist (with proof of posting) and state your reasons for disputing the bill. Then try and get an appointment with the CAB.0 -
No matter what the dentist did how why did you believe you would still be entitled to nhs treatment? You must have known you'd have to pay for it?
Why would I think I would have to pay for it? My entire time at the practice I have been on benefits and unemployed. All of my treatment up to that point had been covered by the NHS, I had no idea I was booking a private appointment, and wasn't made aware of that until after I had had the treatment.0 -
I have done this as mentioned in my post, I received a letter in response from them today demanding the payment of £48 within 7 days.In the meantime I would write to the dentist (with proof of posting) and state your reasons for disputing the bill. Then try and get an appointment with the CAB.0 -
Why would I think I would have to pay for it? My entire time at the practice I have been on benefits and unemployed. All of my treatment up to that point had been covered by the NHS, I had no idea I was booking a private appointment, and wasn't made aware of that until after I had had the treatment.
You stated you had left your partner which means you'd no longer be on their benefits claim. Where you receiving another qualifying benefit at the time of the treatment?0 -
Sorry, I meant another letter in response to the demand for payment in 7 days, saying that you still dispute the charge and that you are taking advice. You can also complain directly to NHS England and tell the dentist that you've done that.
I tried to put the link in for NHS Enlgand but I'm not allowed to so just Google it.0 -
Apologies, I feel you must have misread, or I was unclear. There was no conversation regarding my benefits. I simply asked for an appointment with the hygienist for a scrub and polish, and they booked me in for a private appointment, without disclosing that to me.
Having had a scrub and polish at the practice before, as mentioned in my post, I thought nothing of it. It didn't cross my mind in the slightest that I would be charged for this appointment, and they made no mention of that either.
My understanding from your post was that the reason this appointment had a charge, whilst earlier appointments did not, was that your circumstances had changed.
If you did not inform the dentist of this change of circumstance at the point of making the booking, how were they supposed to know that you were no longer eligible for the NHS exemption in order to inform you of the charge? The first they will have known about it was when you filled out the form following the appointment.
They do not have direct access to your benefit information, and it is not reasonable to expect them to ask whether your circumstances have changed prior to making any booking.0
This discussion has been closed.
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