Lister Chelsea- overcharging/unclear pricing

[devonvall]

Hi. I’ve recently undergone egg defrosting and FET with lister Chelsea. The estimate I was given for the process was c 4.8k plus blood and medication, but I have been charged c 8k plus blood and medication. My “cycle” was entirely standard- literally no hiccups or extras needed and drugs were minimal (the standard ivf oestrogen). Has anyone else had this experience? Im now wondering if this sort of routine overcharging is systematic - they just get you when you are so vulnerable there is little you can do to challenge it.

This seems very high. Have they provided an itemisation?

https://www.hcahealthcare.co.uk/services/departments/fertility-and-reproductive-medicine/patient-information/patients-price-lists

Have you done egg thawing or embryo thawing? And FET (frozen embryo transfer)?

They have provided all the invoices paid- but no itemisation that matches the estimate on their price list as requested

Egg thaw (from a freeze a few years ago) and then embryo creation and transfer.

@devonvall it's pretty normal for blood tests and medication to be charged on top of the FET cycle package

Yes I don’t object to the bloods and meds on top- but the two figures I cited weee both with blood and med on top. So the core amount was much much higher and they don’t seem prepared to explain why

@devonvall I'd call up their customer service number and discuss. I have had issues getting clarity on invoices from the Lister IVF accounts department, I don't think they've overcharged me but its not been super clear that credit I've had on account has been used and they're really crap about responding. Otherwise I've found them great but the accounts team leas so!

By far the worst thing about Lister Chelsea is their admin and finance department. They are pretty awful, which is a shame as the actual medical care was fantastic. You will need to call them and ask for a full itemised list of everything you have been charged for and a break down of how the estimate was calculated, and compare the two.

Thank you. I’ve done this and they sent invoices showing I’ve paid c8k (plus meds and blood). I noted that this was way more than the estimate for no reason and I was never warned and they are now just not responding. I’m going to report to regulator I think (and am also thinking about trying to write someone longer about my experience of freezing then coming back a few years later to use as there doesn’t seem to be a huge amount out there about this second stage- not least about how hugely expensive it also is!!). But I’m interested to know if I alone on this and it really could just be an admin mess up (in which case I could still push to get a refund)

@devonvall they do have a price list on their website so definitely compare to that if you haven't already! I've found the HCA Healthcare support much better at responding and they've chased up the Lister accounts (not resolved yet in my case, but they were definitely annoyed that the ivf accounts team weren't responding and we may escalate this way!)

Thanks I will contact support. The price list says 4.8 plus blood and meds

If you share a link to the price list I’m happy to review and see if I can see where the discrepancy may be, based in my 7 rounds!

@CuriousGeorge80 prices linked in second post.