New Specs, How Much Should I Expect to Pay?

[expatinscotland]

My first foray into eye care in the UK!

Found a good optometrist, but want to avoid being ripped off.

My old frames have broken and my eyes are hurting, so I'll need both lenses (for reading) and frames.

Anyone got a ballpark figure?

£100 ? Mine were a little over £200 but I went for designer frames. You don't have to get your glasses from the same place you had your eye test, you can take your prescription and shop around. Vision Express and Specsavers often have 2-for-1 or free sunglasses type offers.

£20 ish for eye test.
£39 if you go to specsavers. Probably more if you go to another opticians.

specsavers are brill.

they all have prices on the frames which includes the price of the lenses (so long as they are straight forward ordianry ones)

the cheapest are £39...but they are pretty horrid to be fair, the most expensive are £169 but they are the fancy pants frameless designer ones.

the middle of the road are between £85 - £120.

no i dont work for them ..its just my DS has only just had to have very complex lenses and we have had to go back and forth getting them altered over the past few weeks. i feel like i should pay rent in there.

also if you have an NHS voucher you only pay a max £40 even for designer frames!

I'm just rambling really in the hope that someone else will see this that knows....
I have really really weak lenses but I got that film on them that reduces the glare for nighttime driving and anti-scratch whatever - this was about 5 years ago and I paid £210. Well, I say I paid £210, I factored in the fact that my employer was duty bound to pay for glasses for me (do you work, did you know this?) - I could have got them with a basic frame for about &80 at the time so figured I could go a bit crazy and get some Police frames on the basis I could get £80 paid for by employer. In the end they gave me £120 towards them. (I was stunned - part of me wishes I still worked for them!)

So, within that blather, did you know that if you are required to use a computer at work your employer must pay for your optical devices? VDU regs 1996?? Something like that?

not sure how much an eye test is. but peter recently got a nice set of glasses (lenses and frames) from specsvers for £39. Mine were £79 as i wanted reaction lenses on mine.

specsavers are also doing 2-4-1 on glasses, and i think one pair can be sunglasses, but they have to be in £79 range or above.

ok. I have had a habit of doing this all day. Posting blather whilst loads of people post in the meantime. Shit.

fattiemumma i found an almost identical pair of my glasses in the £39 price range. but reaction lenses are £41 extra, so i went for the pricier frames to get the reactions free.

Oh yes, forgot about that - I got a pair of prescription sunglasses for "my" money. Sadly stood on them shortly afterwards.

Your employer only has to pay for your glasses if you only require them for computer work. They do, however, have to pay for the eye test IIRC.

It's if they are required for computer work at all Soupy. You can need them or other things too, but the optician has to specify vdu use within the range of use.

your employer has to pay for your eye test but NOT the glasses.. unless you only need them for seeing the vdu

ie, if you already wear glasses anyway and don't need different ones for work then you wouldn't get any money from them

you are dead right about paying for the eye test though - forgot about that.

The Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992 attempts to address the adverse health risks to VDU users and require that companies comply as follows:

* All VDU user workstations must meet the minimum requirements of the Regulations and BS/EU Regulations
* All VDU user workstations are assessed in order to reduce the risks of the potential adverse health effects
<strong> The user's work routine allows breaks or changes of activity </strong> Eye tests and remedial spectacles are provided, where prescribed, for users
* VDU users are provided with adequate information and training on the adverse health effects and how to avoid them.

The Regulations require that VDU users are provided with eye tests and, where prescribed, remedial spectacles at no cost to themselves. To be a 'VDU user', the operator must use a VDU as an "integral part of their job". (Some persons may not therefore qualify even if they have a PC on their desk.)

VDU users are entitled to a free eye test:
a) When taking up employment
b) Every two years as an existing user
c) If you experience visual difficulties which could be caused by work on a VDU

The employer has a duty to inform you of your rights under the Regulations. The eye test will determine whether you need spectacles solely for VDU work - in which case the company must comply and provide remedial spectacles. However, most firms will only pay for basic spectacles or up to a fixed limit.

A typical situation might be someone who wears bifocal lens spectacles for general every day distance, reading (or both). VDUs are normally located at an 'intermediate distance' from they eyes and this can cause difficulties for a bifocal wearer. The problem can be overcome with trifocals or varifocals, which incorporate a correction for the middle distance.

Note that under the Regulations "the employer need contribute only the costs attributable to the requirements of the display screen work involved" which means that the employer only pays for the difference between the cost of the user's existing bifocals and the cost of the trifocal or varifocal prescription.

I agree with Starlover. Mine were for VDU and driving and I got not a penny.

Perhaps my old employers were just overly lovely then

mine cost 120 quid

think i'll trot over to specsavers tomorrow. they're offering free eye tests.

i haven't had new glasses in about 7 years and am now getting those nasty headaches and that yucky strain/pulling feeling in my eyes.

Depends what you want from your glasses. I paid around £360 for mine. I have the lenses that go dark in the sunlight, unfortunately it doesn't work in the car because of the tinted/polarised windows.

That may sound a heck of a lot but I wear them all day every day and if they last for 2 years that only works out around 50p a day.

I paid £250 for my glasses - they were a treat after dh inherited some money, I had had eyestrain etc for years - and then left them on the train last year because ds2 was having a monster tantrum, and never got them back I get horrible headaches now and everything is blurred. I had insurance for them too, but the beeatch in Vision Express smiled and said "The one thing it doesn't cover you against is loss". I could have hit her. If anyone knows who does cheap but non-revolting glasses, I'll be interested. There's always something more important to spend £250 on

I've used an intenet company called 'Specs on the net' several times now and been very pleased with them You get good quality designer frames and lenses very cheaply so I now have several pairs. I think I paid less than £70 for Hugo Boss frames and lenses.

\link{http://www.specsonthenet.com\specs on the net}
Looks good Hullaballoo!

Wow, that looks fantastic. Thanks for that - I'll definitely be using them.:)

I use specsavers (wear glasses and toric contact lenses and I'm sure it might very from branch to branch but mine have always been fantastic - beyond the call of duty. Also, if you are petite, you can get away with the children's frames - of which there is a very good selection (I paid £40 complete) but the norm is about £80 for nice (not neccessarily designer) glasses and standard lenses. You pay a bit more for ultra-thin lenses or special coatings etc.
Specsaver only charge £20 where I live for an eye test.

Thanks - I think 'Specs on the net ' get end of ranges in the designer collections so you have to keep an eye on the site - they haven't got much choice there at the minute, but in the past I've had Hugo Boss, Kangol and Versace frames from them and been very pleased. Just make sure you get the right frame dimensions for your face - they give instructions on the site.Just seen a Versace frame for £25 incl. lenses on there I like though !

well are you all sitting down?????

i picked up my new glasses yesterday, they were £515!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

my presription is sooooo complex, they have all sorts of weird bits in, varivocal, prisms, thinned out, anti-glare. the lenses themselves were well over £300, then because my eyes are very sensintive to light i need presciption sunglasses so chose a compromise....more expensive frames that come with clips for the sun, but worked out cheaper than 2 pairs of leneses and frames.

PLUS my old frames are great but i couldn't use those for my new prescription because it takes 2 weeks to do my lenses...i'd have to stay in bed for 2 weeks whilst my new presription was put into old frames.