Request

My wife has been issued a penalty charge due to her pre payment certificate not being automatically renewed as she was within nine months of her sixtieth birthday.

I would like to know how many others fall into this trap, having their certificate renewed automatically for years and then being issued a penalty notice due to your action in not renewing their certificate and not giving any pre warning.

On your Web site it prominently states that certificates are automatically renewed when paid by direct debit but it is only on a more detailed inspection that the non renewal within nine months of your sixtieth birthday is evident. What is the rationale for this non renewal? It is unlikely that there will be a sudden non requirement for the medication. It would appear that the sole reason for the non renewal is to generate revenue from the issue of penalty notices as the maximum overpayment for pre payment charges would be less than the amount of a penalty notice plus prescription charges.

Please provide me with the number of people who have been issued penalty notices as a result of their certificate not being automatically renewed because they are within nine months of their sixtieth birthday over the past ten years

Response

I am writing to advise you that following a search of our paper and electronic records, I have established that the information you requested is not held by the NHS Business Services Authority.

The NHSBSA only check to see if there is a valid exemption for the time the treatment took place. These checks do not show if the patient held a previous certificate which had expired or has not been renewed. Therefore, we do not hold figures which will identify patients who have been affected by charges due to autorenewal ceasing.

Since the service first started, the decision has always been not to renew certificates for those turning 60 within the following 9 months. This was to give the opportunity to decide whether a 12-month certificate was required or whether 3-month certificates were more beneficial and cost effective for the applicant.

Full terms and conditions on the pre-payment certificates can be found on our website: https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/help-nhs-prescription-costs/nhs-prescription-prepayment-certificate-ppc/terms-and-conditions