£150 GP fee for completing and stamping an insurance claim

hello just been to ask about having an insurance document completed so I can put in a claim as I am off sick (ongoing angina with significant pain (current cardiologist’s words) no meds for specific issue thought to cause the angina, waiting for a referral to go through to another hospital/ cardiologist) but they are charging £150!

That certainly caused an emotional trigger for my angina, if I’m making plans for what could be a very dire financial period, they expect me to pay £150. Technically for me I see the information required is about my sick leave that is due to illness treated on NHS so why have to pay? Can individual GPS charge what they like or is there a scale / price list somewhere?

But thankfully the insurance company said to complete everything else and send in with sick notes and then they will try and process anyway.

How can they justify such high fees? I guess this is why gps and consultants do private work to compensate themselves for lower pay in NHS, at least they are staying in the NHS when could make more money elsewhere. But I don’t think for one second this is the same situation as nurses trying to make ends meet.

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Not going to pass comment on whether it’s appropriate or not, or what level of fee would be appropriate, but there is information provided by the BMA regarding the GP charging fees for this kind of thing and why it’s deemed appropriate for them to do so:

bma.org.uk/pay-and-contract...

This link details what a GP must do when they receive a request, bearing in mind that even a signature on a form requires them to follow this process:

bma.org.uk/pay-and-contract...

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Hello

That does seem steep and I hope you get it back through the insurance company fingers crossed

I am not lucky in most things and have to admit I have never had to ask my Doctor to do one of these but any supporting letters and things like that and they do or can charge for them she has never once charged me which I am very grateful for

Let us know how you get on x

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My GP had to complete a form for Occupational Health on my behalf 12months ago, the charge was £50, so £150 does seem a bit steep. I knew there'd be a charge, and as I had too much riding on the report, I was resigned to having to pay up.

The same GP wrote a letter for me earlier this year and didn't charge, so you can never tell.

[Carlg]

I am going to be asking my GP to write a letter to say I'm ok to return to workout at the gymI'll let you know if I face a charge!

[Hidden in reply to Carlg]

fingers crossed it’s not as much!

[EU95PTM]

I recently had to ask my GP to complete part of my insurance claim form for a cancelled holiday. I was charged £45 and had to wait 4 months for them to do it (as private work was put on hold indefinitely), so £150 does sound rather a lot.

[Hidden in reply to EU95PTM]

that’s what I thought, I was expecting about £30.

[Kristin1812 Heart Star]

Some GPs are salaried, now, but most are in business, self-employed and contract to deliver services to the NHS, for a rather complex range of fees. They will charge you for their time and on-costs if you ask them to spend time filling in insurance forms or doing a letter for you.

These will have their own set of fees, depending on time taken.

I thought these were standard, but other posts here suggest they can be discretionary.