Save Money With A Prescription Prepayment Certificate
Admittedly I don’t tend to write about prescriptions much on here (read NEVER), but having finally taken a few minutes to look into the NHS prescription prepayment certificate scheme the other day it felt like it was worth sharing!
What is an NHS prescription prepayment certificate?
For those of you who don’t know, if you live in England you can potentially save money on NHS prescriptions by purchasing an NHS prescription prepayment certificate which will cover the cost of all your NHS prescriptions for a whole year.
I assumed it wouldn’t be worth it for me, because I only really ever get my asthma medications on prescription. For me that’s my Clenil inhaler every 3 months and my Montelukast tablets every month. I also have an Avamyst nasal spray for my allergies over the Summer and a couple of Epipens for my peanut allergy whenever they expire.
However, having researched it a bit it turns out that even if you only get an average of one prescription per month you could save money by getting an NHS prescription prepayment certificate. So I did!
I went for the yearly option, by direct debit, which costs me £105.90 a year or just under £9 a month and that entitles me to not pay for any prescriptions for a whole year. All I do is cross the relevant box on the back of the prescription and that’s it. Ideal for people who regularly need to get prescription medication like me.
For my asthma and allergies alone I have 20 prescriptions per year and that would otherwise cost me £183 per year, so by prepaying I should save money on NHS prescriptions to the tune of nearly £80. Not a bad saving!
How to get one & save money on NHS prescriptions
All the details of how to apply are here and my certificate was valid from the date I purchased it. You don’t even have to carry it around with you – I’ve never been asked to prove I have one, but if I did I can just show the certificate on my phone. Easy!
It’s also worth checking if you have a condition or personal circumstances that mean you don’t have to pay for prescriptions at all. You can check here.
Possible conditions that might mean you don’t need to pay for your prescriptions are below:
That’s it really. I’m not being paid to promote this or anything, but I can very much recommend it if you want to save money on NHS prescriptions or want to spread out the cost of prescriptions over the course of the year. That’s my good deed for the day done!
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