Friend hasn’t paid prescription charges for 10 years - what will happen?

[Kat19899]

Please be kind, this was stupid but unintentional and now is beside herself and remorseful.
She was on JSA around 10 years ago and entitled to free prescriptions when she set up her delivery for repeat prescriptions from the local pharmacy. She became more ill and was out of work for a couple of years, didn’t receive JSA or any benefits during that time. However she forgot to tell the pharmacy she wasn’t entitled to free prescriptions anymore and I guess with the stress/depression of being ill and the pharmacy never querying it she just forgot about it. The other day she got a doctor’s prescription at an appointment, paid for the item at the pharmacy like normal and had the sudden realisation she has not paid for 4+ items per month for about 10 years!

She is beside herself, feels awful at costing the NHS money and very stressed that she will go to court and get a criminal record or jail time. Is this likely to happen?? What should she do? I think her options are to call/write a letter telling the truth and offering to pay in full (it would wipe out her savings but she has the money), tell the pharmacy she is no longer eligible and buy a prescription prepayment certificate and hope no one questions it, or say nothing and hope for the best.
She said she does her repeats online and they get sent to the pharmacy automatically. I’m confused about how this can go unnoticed for so long. She’s willing to fully pay but every time the post comes she thinks it’s going to be a court summons.

Same. I have Myasthenia Gravis, it's not curable, I had no idea I would have to reapply. It doesn't expire till 2027 so I guess I have to hope I remember!

Same. I have Myasthenia Gravis, it's not curable, I had no idea I would have to reapply. It doesn't expire till 2027 so I guess I have to hope I remember!

Can I just point out.

an exemption certificate is different to a pre paid prescription charge. Two entirely different things.

I dont think anyone is confused on here

an exemption certificate lasts 5 years or until your 60 . Its gives free prescriptions for patients with certain conditions
A prepaid certificate is either 3 months or a year and costs roughly £10 a month to cover all prescriptions in that time period

A medical exemption card only lasts five years even if you're under 60. You can only have free prescriptions with your medical condition if you have a valid medical exemption card (although they never ask to check mine). If you have one it is your responsibility to get it renewed when it expires, or you may get fined. - I did.

I meant 5 years or less if you are 60 in that 5 years. I got mine when i was 59 so i only needed it for 6 months

This thread did remind me to go hunting for my card. Fortunately it's ok til December 24. I got caught out last time. I can't remember how much I was fined.

@NHSarah

But anyone and everyone can get 10 years worth of prescriptions for around £1000, (with the prepayment certificate!)

So no, the OP did NOT have £4500 worth of meds over 10 years. She had ten years worth of free prepayment certificates. And she would have paid around £1000 for the past 10 years worth of prepayment certificates, not £4500. Why are you struggling to grasp this?

Perhaps you might like to prepay for a calculator?

Do they send a reminder?

@BlossomCloud Yes, they send an email reminder for prepayment certificates one month before it's due.

Ahh good @FadeAwayAndRadiate no way I will remember otherwise!

I didn't get a reminder. My first one expired 3 years ago and I think they sent postal reminders then rather than email & we'd moved house.

Sorry. I was talking about medical exemption cards rather than prepayment certificates.

She had an exemption due to being on job seekers. She did not have a prepayment certificate. 4 x prescriptions per month = £38:60 per month x 12 = £463:20 x 10 = £4632. No prepayment certificate, no prepayment discount.

But the point is, she she didn’t pay £4500 - she didn’t pay anything !! If you read the OPs post again, it says that she was on JSA ten years ago, which would have entitled her to free prescriptions for the period of time she claimed it - not the same thing as prepayment/exemption certificate as it’s not funded from the NHS. Once JSA stopped she was no longer entitled, but didn’t convey this to the pharmacy, so continued to have 4 items a month delivered without paying prescription charges. She only realised her mistake when she paid the charge for a prescription she picked up herself after a GP visit. So a lot more than a grand.

But if she had been paying for her prescriptions she'd have paid £111.60 a year (at todays rates) - so she's deprived the NHS of a thousand quid or so, not four thousand five hundred. There's no plausible way she'd have paid £450 a year.

I think you need that calculator yourself !! Entitlement to free prescriptions is not the same thing as a pre-payment certificate. Her claim to JSA is what entitled her to free prescriptions, but only for the duration of the claim. She failed to tell the pharmacy when her claim ended, so for the last ten years she has continued to receive 4 meds a month free of charge, despite not being entitled. She only realised this after picking up a prescription in person after a doctors’ appointment, and paying for it. Why would you pay again if you were covered by a prepayment certificate ?

But the fact remains that for ten years meds were provided free when she was neither entitled to free prescriptions or covered by a PPC, so the full prescription price would apply as well as a fine. So you’re right - it’s not £4500. More like £26500 - £22000 in fines plus the full cost of the prescriptions.