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See all MNHQ comments on this thread

Original poster

Why are covid home tests free to pick up at phamacies, yet tests for travellers are at extortianate prices?

53 replies

CatAndHisKit · 05/07/2021 01:56

I assume it's the same type of test - or not?
I have a relative travelling to stay with me in summer for nearly two months (she always does, already skipped the winter stay) , just learned that it costs around £150 for the two tests. Possibly also when going back in 6 weeks).

Is the govt or agencies turned this into money making tool, or am I missing something? People aer still traelling even on short holidays so it hasn't stop the travel. For people who are hard up after all the covid fallout this is hard to afford.

I'm also amazed people are not protesting / challenging this what with all the other protests, taking onto account that tests are free of chaarge when in this country.
Other countries charge a lot less, still adds up but it's around 25 euros.

OP posts:
KeflavikAirport · 05/07/2021 19:27

It is extortionate. There were very few cases in my current country and if I want to come back to see my elderly mother with her grandkids that she hasn’t seen for nearly 2 years it will cost us the best part of 1000 pounds just on tests.

VienneseWhirligig · 05/07/2021 19:33

It is because PCR tests that are for symptomatic people are to test for a suspected virus, so have a benefit to wider society, and LFD tests for asymptomatic cases require less processing and also benefit wider society. PCR tests for people with no symptoms who want them for their own purposes (ie travel) are paying for the costs of the processing, because if you weren't travelling you wouldn't need it. I think it's only fair, although the cost differential between companies is ridiculous.

KeflavikAirport · 05/07/2021 20:09

I rather suspect there is a degree of profiteering going on.

devastating · 05/07/2021 20:17

@KeflavikAirport

It is extortionate. There were very few cases in my current country and if I want to come back to see my elderly mother with her grandkids that she hasn’t seen for nearly 2 years it will cost us the best part of 1000 pounds just on tests.
Same here.

I haven’t seen my Dad for two years and the tests for all of us (if we manage to see him this summer) will be extortionate.

edgeware · 05/07/2021 20:21

Oh come on; of course it isn’t essential but that doesn’t mean we’re not all getting collectively fucked by some clever profiteering. It is extortionate in this country and no doubt some people are getting very rich out of it.

MNHQ
FionaMumsnet · 05/07/2021 20:29

We're just going to move this one over to the Coronavirus topic.

Howshouldibehave · 05/07/2021 20:31

Is the govt or agencies turned this into money making too

I would imagine that’s exactly what’s going on. If Tory MPs and their mates can find a way to extort money out of the public, they will.

ChocOrange1 · 05/07/2021 21:07

PCR tests cost a fortune. In order to stop the spread of covid, the government are picking up the bill for the hundreds of thousands of PCR tests which its citizens are taking.
However, if someone has decided to go abroad when advised not to and doesn't have symptoms, why should the government pay for it?

feesh · 05/07/2021 21:35

The tests don’t cost a fortune! I live in a country where you can only have them done privately, and they’re about £15 each. I’ve just come back from Greece and they’re 20 Euros there for the pre- travel test and 7 Euros for a lateral flow.

The U.K. is massively profiteering! It will cost me £250 to do the required tests to come to the U.K. for a holiday!

transformandriseup · 05/07/2021 22:03

The private PCR tests are targeted at people who want to travel abroad or want to test before visiting vulnerable relatives.

The tests are manufactured at a reasonable price but are sadly being sold on at a large mark up.

Howshouldibehave · 05/07/2021 22:04

PCR tests cost a fortune

No, I don’t believe that they do.

Except here.

Wide · 05/07/2021 22:07

I have been saying this!!

C8H10N4O2 · 05/07/2021 22:38

PCR tests cost a fortune. In order to stop the spread of covid, the government are picking up the bill for the hundreds of thousands of PCR tests which its citizens are taking.

The tests don't cost a fortune. They are certainly not subsidised for "elective" travel (which includes both business and compassionate travel in my DC's country of residence). However they do control profiteering so the PCRs to travel were 30 euro each for tests delivered, conducted and results returned by a company qualified to manage medical testing.

The same tests DC had to pre book and pay for whilst in the UK (as a UK citizen so same price as any other UK citizen) ranged from 140-180 uk pounds each, were never delivered, nor refunded and the money went to an "approved" supplier who turned out to have no track record in the field. We ended up paying for the extra test at Heathrow - cheaper than the profiteers and properly conducted for 80ukp. The DoH, T&T were completely uninterested in the fact that their "approved" supplier was a con artist. I'd have assumed it was a one off but it happened twice in six months with two different suppliers and have heard many tales from colleagues/friends who have had to make urgent visits abroad.

Its blatant profiteering. Would be worth tracing back some of these approved suppliers to see how many directors are connected indirectly or by donation to their local party.
However, if someone has decided to go abroad when advised not to and doesn't have symptoms, why should the government pay for it?*

C8H10N4O2 · 05/07/2021 22:40

ugh - surplus quotation at the end - "However, if someone has decided to go abroad when advised not to and doesn't have symptoms, why should the government pay for it?*" should have been edited out as nobody on this thread has suggested the government should pay for tests, even where the travel is urgent.

HangingOver · 05/07/2021 23:10

You can go a fair few places with a rapid test (lateral flow) atm and they're a lot cheaper than PCRs but they have to be witnessed and certified by a clinician.

HangingOver · 05/07/2021 23:12

and the money went to an "approved" supplier who turned out to have no track record

They're not allowed to call themselves "government approved". Lots of places do, but they aren't supposed to.

C8H10N4O2 · 05/07/2021 23:17

They're not allowed to call themselves "government approved". Lots of places do, but they aren't supposed to.

I'm talking about actual government approved. You have to book tests form one of the resellers on the government list (or at least this was still teh case within the last 6 weeks). You can't just go to random supplier and have the test accepted.

You can go a fair few places with a rapid test (lateral flow) atm and they're a lot cheaper than PCRs but they have to be witnessed and certified by a clinician

See above. LFTs not accepted, must be PCR and from approved supplier. Hence the price inflation as the government does not restrict profiteering here, as other governments have done in Europe. The rules for getting into an event in the UK from the UK are very different from when you have to cross a border.

HangingOver · 06/07/2021 09:54

There are places you can theoretically travel to with a rapid test, the USA being the biggest one but a lot of them are effectively not accepting UK travellers. I can send you a list if you want.

If you're listed on that site as a test provider you're not allowed to call yourself "government approved" (but people do anyway). A lot of them get round it by saying "government listed" instead. It even says on the site "The government does not endorse, recommend or approve any private test provider".

C8H10N4O2 · 06/07/2021 11:43

If you're listed on that site as a test provider you're not allowed to call yourself "government approved" (but people do anyway).

The instructions DC received from the UK Gov immigration information presented a list to choose from as approved/valid ie you risk your test not being accepted if you don't use from this list. When he tried to confirm one way or the other the messaging back was to choose from the list or risk the tests not being accepted.

If that is not the government's intent they haven't implemented it very effectively.

nordica · 06/07/2021 11:49

Why should the UK tax payer cover the cost of your relative (who presumably isn't a UK tax payer) having a test if they insist on coming here on holiday during a pandemic?

HangingOver · 06/07/2021 14:30

If that is not the government's intent they haven't implemented it very effectively

I didn't say it made any sense 😁

itsnotgolf · 06/07/2021 15:01

I think it's also because people are more likely to take it if they have to pay for it.

C8H10N4O2 · 06/07/2021 22:57

Why should the UK tax payer cover the cost of your relative (who presumably isn't a UK tax payer) having a test if they insist on coming here on holiday during a pandemic?

What interesting assumptions you make. Try reading the thread hun.

workwoes123 · 07/07/2021 06:36

It looks extortionate from here. In France, up until today, all COVID tests whether PCR or travel-acceptable antigen tests, have been completely free to all including tourists / visitors.

From today, visitors (not in the French health care system) will be charged 29€ for the antigen tests and €49 for a PCR test. My understanding is that it’s because the principal of free testing for all has not been reciprocated elsewhere.

So yeah, the prices being charged in the U.K. look pretty outrageous to me.

habibihabibi · 07/07/2021 07:09

Need to travel to the UK to clear house and sort affairs of family member who died (of covid ) April 2020.
I pay UK tax and NI.
PCR here is free for work and £20-£40 for travel depending on clinic
Day 2, 5 and 8 tests in UK and departure test will total over £350.
Someone is profiting