To think people take the absolute P**s when it comes to paying their own way

[chopper23]

I am member (lurker) on a Facebook group that helps people get their debt wrote off, advocates not paying TV licences etc the group gets my back up, but it provides some regular entertainment. BUT tonight has shocked me, people are actually calling our NHS disgusting for charging for prescriptions ?! Are people crazy, do people want everything for free in life?

Grrrr I just felt like I needed a little rant

The prescription thing is a hot potato. I'm entitled to free prescriptions (thyroid issue). I always pay, and doing so means quizzing by the pharmacist every bloody time.

Why would you pay when you are entitled to free prescriptions?

I got annoyed with people moaning about the tv licence. It's £12 a month. Lots of people spend more than that on shit coffee from Starbucks. I think it's worth every penny. The BBC have some really good programmes and you don't have to put up with all the terrible ads

Great, so if it's such good value I am sure you wouldn't mind paying a bit more via subscription so that those who choose not to watch BBC/Channel 4 can spend the £12 a month they save on other things instead (£12 a month is a lot of money for some people believe it or not!)? The licence shouldn't be compulsory but should be subscription only to those who choose to pay for BBC/Channel 4.

Livingdiisgracefully you do not need a TV license to listen to bbc radio, or to listen to radio on iplayer. Just to clarify in case anyone reading is now worried.

I got annoyed with people moaning about the tv licence. It's £12 a month. Lots of people spend more than that on shit coffee from Starbucks. I think it's worth every penny.

Well, good for you! You pay it happily then, and enjoy. But for some people £12 a month is a lot; and for some people it definitely isn't worth it! If you watch BBC programs, fine. You should pay it. I'd rather delete the iplayer app and save the money, myself. And the vast majority of my friends who are also in their 20s are the same - none of us pay it. But I don't think that's weird - we grew up streaming TV and live tv seems cumbersome, let alone if it costs money we'd rather spend on shit coffee or something we think is worth it!!

Can I just put in a word for SOME use of prescriptions for paracetamol?

If you need to take it regularly every day and are housebound or find it difficult to get out to shops, you are limited to two packs per purchase. This would mean you would run out.

My 88-year-old father is prescribed it for these reasons - as they can give him a big box of it to last him a month.

As you were ...

My oldest has type 1 diabetes and does not pay for prescriptions as people with this condition are exempt. Just as well as the amount of stuff needed would bankrupt us !

To be clear - I think the TV license fee is incredibly regressive and makes no sense. Why isn't it just paid for out of taxes, if the idea is that everyone should pay it?

Otherwise you end up with people on a low income who only wanted to watch one BBC program in the first place, paying exactly the same as people on really high incomes who love loads of BBC programs and watch them religiously. I'm baffled as to how some people seem to get annoyed with the former group in that scenario, given that as a cost proportional to their income it's going to be massively higher and it's not really beyond the bounds of imagination that they might want to moan about that.

The rich have plenty of "legal" loopholes to avoid/reduce their taxes and plugging those loopholes would help the country a lot more than ordinary people claiming things they are legally entitled to.

Truth spoken.

Most of the people who get paracetamol on prescription get it as part of a chronic pain treatment in combination with other drugs (gabapentin and tegretol or baclofen quite often) in quantities that are impossible to buy over the counter - 4g per day. We don't supply paracetamol in those amounts without a prescription as a public health initiative against suicide.

Can't believe people do these things ... we are always struggling but I wouldn't dream of doing any of those things - some people are just so brazen and it affects all of us somewhere along the line - not right at all

kaitlinktm I agree, but that's why I said it would be good to get a sort of semi-prescription that allowed you to buy a larger amount. I mean you are talking £1 for 100 at supermarket prices.

orecchietti If you think Starbucks shit coffee is worth paying £3 or whatever ridiculous price they charge then fine. I don't but I do think the tv licence fee is a bargain. The licence is actually to watch all channels live not just the BBC. My nieces, nephews and their friends are all their 20's and I believe all pay the licence fee. Why would people never watch live tv?

My tax helps pay for things I don't use such as schools but I don't moan about that.

Only 1 in 4 prescriptions is paid for anyway. Anyone in receipt of benefits, over 60, still in education, on maternity, diabetic etc do not pay for prescriptions

Not true. I'm in receipt on contribution based ESA and that isn't covered for free prescriptions. My husband is studying for his degree full-time and isn't entitled to free prescriptions either. We both have the NHS pre-paid prescription card.
I recently made the mistake of thinking my dental treatment was free due to my benefit, it wasn't and I ended up paying for the full treatment plus a £100 penalty charge. I was so mortified I made the payment straight away. I hated that I was being dishonest even though that wasn't my intention.

Now I don't usually have strong opinions but when it comes to anyone slagging off NHS I see red.
As a bloody forriner I can tell you that NHS is something to be treasured and proud of! And if you have to fork out £8-something for a prescription then consider yourself lucky!
My dad who had several heart attacks and lives elsewhere in EU has to pay 20 times that every months for all his heart medication every month. And that's considering that min wage there is €3.60 per hour!
They pay when they go to see their GP, pay for ambulance, pay to see a specialist, pay to have x-rays taken, pay to have bloods done, pay to have contraception sorted and so on.

Even if you only watch catch-up BBC you still have to pay for a licence now.

I also think the TV license is the most regressive form of taxation

Bollocks. It's not taxation. You don't have to pay; you don't have to use the service. TV is not an essential of life.

The 3 letter thing also has some standing as you have never entered into an agreement with the debt collection agency, especially when they bought the debt for pennies.

More bollocks. You signed the contract, you owe the money, if the debt's been assigned it's still due to the assignee. Just like if you owe money to a company that goes into liquidation the liquidator can claim it.

A lot of people have debt because they were given credit they should never have had. Time some companies learned to lend responsibly.

More of the same. It's not the lender's responsibility to ask "Can this applicant repay the loan?" - it's the applicant's responsibility to ask "Can I repay the loan?"

As for water: Meters, please, no choice, on new build and whenever a property changes hands; and eventually everywhere. Why should households who use more not pay more than households who use less - as with food and electricity and the other essentials of life?

I agree the TV license should be finished with. Maybe they feel the banks have ripped us all off so are getting their own back.

It's not the lender's responsibility to ask "Can this applicant repay the loan?"

This is literally what a lender's responsibility is. A lender makes money from interest; the interest rate on the loan is the evaluation of the risk of default.

I also think that we should pay for a TV licence.

My DH doesn't watch much live TV, but what he does watch online is utter tripe. Most stuff online is from the USA (so eroding the UK culture), doesn't have any educational value and as you aren't forced to have a variety of different subjects available, it really narrows your horizons in a bad way. You may not choose to watch opera, but if you aren't given the opportunity (because is wasn't under the other stuff we think that you will like tab) you will never find out if you would have enjoyed it or not.

This is why we need the BBC to stop the race to the bottom.

Zoloh the interest is what the lender gets for the loan and is entitled to even if there is no default. No doubt the risk feeds into the rate; that is why secured borrowing is cheaper than unsecured. Sometime in the Twenties there was a Bill to regulate moneylenders and an MP asked the question At what rate of interest would you lend a juicy steak to a hungry dog?

But the money is due from the debtor in any event.

Yes, mydog, but your tax is all relative to your income whereas both shit coffee and the tv license isn't! So it's a bigger investment for some people than others.

I'm well aware that the license fee applies to all live tv not just BBC - it's obviously one of the main reasons that people moan about it. Me and DH really don't watch any live tv, neither do any of our dozen closest mates. It's more convenient to watch on catch up or stream at times that suit us rather than rush to get dinner finished because First Dates starts in 10 minutes! None of us even own TVs - we just use large desktop computers when we want to watch something - on Netflix, on 4od or whatever it's called now, or just streaming it. I'm not at all saying that every single twenty something is the same, but it's really not that unusual now.

Only 1 in 4 prescriptions is paid for anyway. Anyone in receipt of benefits, over 60, still in education, on maternity, diabetic etc do not pay for prescriptions. The whole system is a farce and costs more to administrate than it raises in funding.

Incorrect. Not everyone on benefits gets free prescriptions.

Yes, the interest they get from a repaid loan is profit (and may defray losses). That in no way contradicts my statement, which is wholly uncontroversial.

Credit Risk Assessment is a core responsibility of lenders.

You have to pay a licence even for BB catch up

Credit Risk Assessment is a core responsibility of lenders.

This is absolutely true. But is there not also a responsibility on the borrower to repay? Both parties to the contract are seeking to make a profit, and both have equal obligations regarding affordability.