Myself and my chemist believed I was exempt from prescription charges, only to find I wasn't in the form of a letter demanding payment, plus a £100 penalty. I sent a cheque for the prescription amount only, stating why I thought the penalty was not fair. I said that if they cashed my cheque it will confirm their acceptance that this was the full amount. They did but now they still want the extra £100. Don't know if there is an appeal procedure or if my only option is to pay up.
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greensld
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This happened to my son who has Special Needs. He was on an HC2 and I didn’t realise it needed renewing every 12 months. I was callously told that as I’m his carer it was up to me to pay up. Contact your MP. Mine was brilliant. His secretary contacted NHS Business Services informing them that this was an honest mistake and not a deliberate attempt to defraud the NHS and I was refunded the charges. It took a few letters, phone calls and stress but stick with it.
Thanks for the responses people. I had been getting tax credits, and thought that this allowed free prescriptions. My chemist agreed, but it seems like there are variations of tax credits. Looks like I didn't have the right one!! It seems so overly complicated, but wrongly relied on advise when I put in my prescription, they even ticked what they thought was, the appropriate box.
Guess that just paying the outstanding charges was not enough for them.
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Emergency Services Failure
This would not be tolerated in most of the countries I have lived in