Maternity Exemption Prescription Penalty Charge!

[SmileCheese]

On Friday I received a letter for a penalty charge notification for claiming free prescriptions without a valid medical exemption. I submitted the form for exemption due to pregnancy after receiving it at my second midwife appointment (I only remember because it was a different midwife who gave it me and I saw the same midwife for all other appointments).

Apparently you are meant to receive a certificate/letter back after they process the form which you then show to get the free prescriptions/dental care. Clueless me as a FTM had no idea to expect anything back so naturally didn't chase it when no such letter arrived.

I rang the number on the charge letter this morning and the women who answered said it was my own fault for receiving the charge as apparently everyone knows you receiving this letter/certificate. I genuinely had no idea and at no point has anyone ever asked for it when I have collected prescriptions or visited the dentist during my pregnancy or after (my baby is now a month old).

The women on the end of the phone was pretty unhelpful but said she would waive the fine but I'd still have to pay the prescription charge, which I was happy to do and then she dropped the bombshell that any other fines I received for both prescriptions and dental treatment would not be waived and I'd have to pay them in full!

The fine I received was from October and I collected prescriptions every week, sometimes more than once as I had Gestational Diabetes so I'm looking at potentially 3 months worth of fines! Is there anything I can do about this? I feel like I've been let down by the fact no one ever explained I'd get a letter to show and no one ever asked me for it. I'm not sure how I could have known about needing a physical letter.

Each fine is the charge for the prescription and a £90 penalty fee an amount I wont be able to afford should I receive one for every prescription I've collected. Is there anything I can do at all, other than pray I receive no more fines.

I know this isn't actually answering your question OP,but isn't all prescribed medication for diabetes, gestational or otherwise,free on the NHS? I am practically certain that it is,if so you won't be liable for the cost of any prescriptions that you had,or have any penalty notices relating to them.

Being a first time mum can be overwhelming but it doesn’t make you incapable of following this up with a phone call, or googling the proper process if this is a service that you’re interested in, as no one wants to be accused of fraud or fined etc. NHS advice is to pay first and claim a refund later if you’re unsure if you’re eligible for help with health costs or not.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing but the reason I find myself in this situation is simply because I had no idea I needed or to expect to receive physical evidence of the exemption hence why I never phoned to clarify where the certificate was. I didn't pay because I knew I was eligible and assumed I was covered by sending off the form. I didn't intend to fraudulently claim free prescriptions but this is what the women on the phone accused me of doing.

Perhaps you’d have a better chance at mitigating any impending fines by emailing them your proof of postage receipt to show them that your application form got lost in the post?

Sadly I don't have proof of postage as I used a pre paid envelope provided by the surgery so they only have my word that I sent it and the midwifes word she filled it in.

I am practically certain that it is,if so you won't be liable for the cost of any prescriptions that you had,or have any penalty notices relating to them.

The trouble is the box I ticked to state why I was entitled to free prescriptions was the one stating I had an exemption certificate. Because I didn't have one at the time that is why she said the fines will still stand if I had ticked the box for diabetes I would have been ok. Don't you love bureaucracy. [Hmm]

Not RDFT as not pregnancy related but fight it.. My Sis had a fine letter saying that she had made fraudulent dental claims. She had never signed anything, it was a mistake at her dental practice but it took six months to prove. There was no evidence of forms that she had allegedly signed but they still went after her. Eventually they admitted they were in the wrong

I know this isn't actually answering your question OP,but isn't all prescribed medication for diabetes, gestational or otherwise,free on the NHS?

If and only if you have an exemption certificate.

I had the exact same thing. My midwife had told me prescriptions were now free but hadn't told me anything about filling in paperwork or a maternity exemption certificate.
I had claimed for hypermesis meds and they tried to charge me fines also.

I found when I rang to query it, the guy on the phone wasn't just unhelpful, he was extremely rude and treated me like I was stupid. If you are a first time mum, how the hell are you supposed to know the intricate details of this stuff if someone hasn't told you about it. I got so much paperwork along with my maternity notes it was unreal.

I had a really tough time with the people over the phone but eventually got the form sent off and once I got the certificate and gave them the details of it they reluctantly agreed to waive the fine only.

With DC2 I made damn sure I had that certificate pronto.

This is obviously something that happens often, reading all the comments. Makes me really annoyed. I hardly ever get sick and when I do I try to take up least amount of NHS time (doctors appointments etc) as possible.
When I really needed it and was entitled to it, they are nobs about it.

The same thing happened to me, except no midwife ever filled in any form!

I did get some kind of certificate when I was 30 weeks pregnant and I assumed that was it. I had to nag and nag for that certificate too despite my work needing it .

I'm confused. The mat1b1 is the certificate isnt it? Midwife completed and issued mine. That's what seems to be suggested online- that is the certificate isnt it?

No matb1 form is different to the maternity exemption certificate

Omg so this thread just triggered my anxiety. 3 text messages to my midwife and a search of the house later and I've found my certificate. Yup, different to the mat1b1. Argh!

The fine helpline is not helpful at all. I have problems with memory. My pills are for this condition. I prepaid 3 monthly but collected a prescription after one expired. No reminder from them even though I had renewed four times by that point, online. fined over £100. No movement at all from them. Since switching to annual prepaid, I got a reminder a month before.
There is no card or certificate for this type, only an email confirmation.

Totally agree that the system is stupid - you were entitled to the exemption certificate so they should be able to waive the fines. Fingers crossed you don't get any more through, if you do though do call again, you might hopefully get someone more helpful on the phone!

I am just going to step in in defence of the pharmacies though. They haven't been lax in not checking your certificate, there's no requirement to do so. You're the one signing the prescription to say you've got one so the responsibility is yours. The pharmacy can't check whether everyone who claims they're exempt is (e.g. if someone is in full time education or in receipt of benefits).

newmumatlast sorry for worrying you, im glad you got it sorted.

if you do though do call again, you might hopefully get someone more helpful on the phone

Fingers crossed, it does sound like others have had more sympathetic people who actually tried to resolve the issue rather than simply saying no because they were incapable of being empathetic to the situation.

They haven't been lax in not checking your certificate, there's no requirement to do so.

It does seem like there is a lack of consistency as to whether or not they should check. It sounds like some pharmacists need the number each time and others like mine never ask at all. They might not have a legal requirement to check but surely the rules should be applied consistently across all pharmacy's to avoid situations such as the one I find myself in.

They don't have to check though so there doesn't need to be consistency. Those pharmacies that note down certificate numbers are probably doing it to make sure they get reimbursed properly (when sending off prescriptions at the end of the month, you separate them into paid and exempt piles.)

You were very unlucky though that your prescriptions ended up being randomly chosen and there are other groups of people actively commuting fraud.

Hi,

I know this is an old post but I am also in exact same boat so just wondering how you got on in the end, did you receive any other fines? I have received a letter today stating I have ticked that I had maternity exemption but records show I dont. I had no idea that I was supposed to receive an actual certificate!

I am going to try ring them tomorrow so just hope I get someone understanding and helpful!

I think it would be incredibly unfair to make you pay a fine for each prescription you had....I'd be inclined to forward an email admitting your mistake.
Whilst I think it's all very unfortunate, each time you signed for a prescription you presumably ticked to say you had an exemption certificate......which you didn't, so that's fraud. When you completed your forms you should have read what you were signing. It shouldn't be too difficult to prove that it was a genuine mistake and that you were indeed pregnant and therefore entitled to an exemption certificate. I dont think theyll fine you £90 per offence...but like a tv licence of car insurance, its your responsibility. Lesson learnt.

I had an issue with a medical exemption, they'd been using my maternity exemption that ran out. I contacted them and because I was entitled to it they didn't fine, I just had to update the certificate number. If you applied for the exemption certificate then you may be able to get proof of that, and certainly can prove pregnancy, so it's worth contesting it.

www.theguardian.com/money/2022/dec/22/nhs-has-fined-me-for-claiming-free-prescriptions-because-of-its-own-mistake
This is a recent article in the Guardian where someone had to pay the fine. It’s a stupid system.

Hi so my partner has just received this fine. She was gestational diabetic and was told by her midwife that the form for exception had been done and she was eligible for free prescriptions. Going back and forth with proof etc it turns out the cert was never created not clear where it went wrong but it did. Anyway we have had the fine removed just the prescription charge of £9.35 to pay. But as there are 50 others in the last 12 months we just need to sit and wait to see if there are any more.

if anyone else is in the same boat email [email protected] she is looking at running a story