FAC doctor's report fee?

£99 + VAT for this is a rip off. £50 I can live with but this just smacks of being on the take.

Have they provided you with a VAT invoice. Must be the practice themselves invoicing you I guess

It was indeed an invoice from the practice!

Simon
 
Had my renewal come with letter stating Firearms department would automatically put me renew both SGC and FAC for £49 as SGC ran out first along with only one Photo. Filled both SGC and FAC which also had a variation. Quick call from FEO on a Thursday received Both SGC and FAC with variation on Monday total time 7 days well happy a week after receiving certificates had a letter from Doctors wanting me to pay £36 to renew my SGC and FAC ????
Phoned BASC there advice Don't pay ignore Letter and if i get any demands etc phone BASC again who will write to Doctors. This was in Cambridgeshire.
 
Had my renewal come with letter stating Firearms department would automatically put me renew both SGC and FAC for £49 as SGC ran out first along with only one Photo. Filled both SGC and FAC which also had a variation. Quick call from FEO on a Thursday received Both SGC and FAC with variation on Monday total time 7 days well happy a week after receiving certificates had a letter from Doctors wanting me to pay £36 to renew my SGC and FAC ????
Phoned BASC there advice Don't pay ignore Letter and if i get any demands etc phone BASC again who will write to Doctors. This was in Cambridgeshire.

Had my visit last Wednesday and got a letter from the docs wanting £40 called BASC and exactly the same as the man above said, mines Norfolk!
 
Fortunately the new GDPR regulations have done more than provide us all with annoying spam emails for the last month or so.

You are now (apparently) entitled to ask your GP for whats called a "subject access report" and GP's are only allowed to charge you a maximum of £10 for this (assuming the records are all held electronically).

BMA - Medical records access

What are the fees for accessing medical records (health records)? - Health questions - NHS Choices

Simply submit the request, get your medical records from the doctors and send them off to the Police. I assume that as most FAC holders medical records will be minimal and with nothing of concern documented that should be more than sufficient (as well as brief) to keep the FLO happy.

The police dont want your medical records, that would defeat the object, they want a doctor to tell them they have no concerns over you having a FAC, that way when the **** hits the fan the police can say "You told us there were no concerns" so we issued a FAC!!!!

Ian.
 
just my opinion, but I would rather trust information that's given freely and not for monetary gain, it could prove more reliable, a genuine concern of someones mental state should obviously be disclosed in the case of firearms ownership, but going through the motions to get a nice fat fee could end badly.
 
They need some paperwork from the quack to say you're dont have any medical conditions which might prohibit you from gun ownership.

Dont see why, you are asked on your renewal form if there is any medical reason you should not be granted a certificate.
One assumed you would have said no there is no medical reason I should not be granted a certificate.
If the police decide they don't trust you it is up to them to prove you are wrong/lying, and that just like any other charge is for them to prove.
Innocent till proved guilty.

Neil.
 
The police dont want your medical records, that would defeat the object, they want a doctor to tell them they have no concerns over you having a FAC, that way when the **** hits the fan the police can say "You told us there were no concerns" so we issued a FAC!!!!

Ian.

To be fair, I think even the police are aware that the answers they'll get from a GP will be no more conclusive than they can be - viz. 'As far as I can tell from this person's medical record, there are no concerns.'

I don't see any reason why an FME paid by the police shouldn't have a look through an applicant's GP notes and be able to come to one conclusion or the other.

£50 I can live with but this just smacks of being on the take.
....and the fee of £25, which I found more than acceptable...
The problem with 'finding acceptable' the idea of GPs charging applicants at all for forms/reports/whatever demanded by the FLD is that one that practice is found acceptable, the GPs will tend to charge what ever they like - which will in many cases be a great deal of money. If the FLDs were paying, I suspect the FLD would tell the GP what the fee was rather than the other way about.

We must not forget that the FAC/SGC applicant has already paid a statutory fee for the process. I still think that the lawfulness of changes to the process with increase the financial burden on the applicant would be worth challenging. We need to keep in mind that there is no comparison whatever to be made between this process of certification and the issuing of HGV/PSV/Pilots' licences.
 
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We must not forget that the FAC/SGC applicant has already paid a statutory fee for the process

Yep, I see where you're coming from. Trouble is, Police Scotland have been allowed to over-ride HO guidance force doctors to provide the service. In England, non-compliance on the part of the GP will result in the FAC being granted (if all other conditions are met of course) In Scotland, the opposite applies so doctors are effectively being forced to perform an additional duty by thoroughly-checking an applicants medical history. This could take some time if the doctor in question has had limited contact with the applicant (as in my case; I can't remember the last time I visited my GP). But the fee hasn't been set, so practices can charge what they like at present
 
The problem in Scotland is that no-one has challenged Police Scotlands policy, so they continue to "get away with it"
I remain convinced that a legal challenge to a refusal based purely on Police Scotland not having the GPs response to the initial letter would be successful and that their whole house of cards would fall instantly.

Cheers

Bruce
 
It's a nice thought. As usual though, our representative bodies continue to give the impression of 'all mouth and no trousers', and it would fall to an individual applicant to take on the mantle of guinea-pig, without guaranteed support from the outset. To my mind, if they'd actually been doing their job, we wouldn't find ourselves in such a damn mess in the first place
 
Yep, I see where you're coming from. Trouble is, Police Scotland have been allowed to over-ride HO guidance force doctors to provide the service. In England, non-compliance on the part of the GP will result in the FAC being granted (if all other conditions are met of course) In Scotland, the opposite applies so doctors are effectively being forced to perform an additional duty by thoroughly-checking an applicants medical history. This could take some time if the doctor in question has had limited contact with the applicant (as in my case; I can't remember the last time I visited my GP). But the fee hasn't been set, so practices can charge what they like at present

Surely it would take LESS time for a doctor to check your records if you rarely, or never see him/her?
 
Surely it would take LESS time for a doctor to check your records if you rarely, or never see him/her?

That's assuming the records are fairly empty, I guess? I don't have any particular GP at the practice I'm registered with, so any GP checking my records won't personally know, or remember, me. My records aren't that complex though, so it'd be an easy enough check. In some folks cases though, I imagine it might take a bit of time?
 
Just for information - I filled in a questionnaire sponsored by Strutt and Parker, a shooting organisation and Guns on Pegs. The questionnaire asks about the respondents view of the imposition of medical charges. It would seem the message is getting about that shooters are not happy generally but why another question to confirm it ?
I have re-written to my MP and the HO - third letter to both.
There is a 200 + driven game day as a prize - maybe.

Sorry to disappoint you all but I meant what I said.
 
<snip> had a letter from Doctors wanting me to pay £36 to renew my SGC and FAC ????
Phoned BASC there advice Don't pay ignore Letter and if i get any demands etc phone BASC again who will write to Doctors. This was in Cambridgeshire.

Interestingly that is the EXACT OPPOSITE of what BASC tell those in Scotland who are asking for/renewing their SGC/FAC and have received an invoice from their Doctors .... isn't that right David ?
 
That's assuming the records are fairly empty, I guess? I don't have any particular GP at the practice I'm registered with, so any GP checking my records won't personally know, or remember, me. My records aren't that complex though, so it'd be an easy enough check. In some folks cases though, I imagine it might take a bit of time?

I had to get a report as I had reported a minor short lived issue in the past at renewal (as I had at grant), the doctor was thoroughly confused because as far as he was concerned I was marked down as a firearms holder so had there been an issue they'd have been in touch with the police! He also said I could have just got in touch with the secretary rather than wait for an appointment and she could have dealt with it - cost me £35.00. I did get told once they had that report there would be no need for another going forward, will be interesting to see if that stands next renewal!
 
The price of £118.80 gives me an increase in cost of my co-terminus FAC & SGC of 117%.

Just a few weeks ago my son required a letter from our GP about his unfitness to fly (holiday insurance) because of gastroenteritis, the cost of that letter was £25:00! Quite a large difference I think you will agree.

I have also had a follow up letter from my GP saying he has written to West Mercia Firearms about my refusal to pay his invoice. It really does smack of blackmail.

Simon

Surely informing someone about a debt you owe them, that's of no relevance to the police's request for a medical report, is illegal nowadays? Assuming he's already sent the report.
 
Surely informing someone about a debt you owe them, that's of no relevance to the police's request for a medical report, is illegal nowadays? Assuming he's already sent the report.

I received a second letter from the head of the practice saying that they believed that the legal advice offered by BASC et al was wrong and that he was writing to West Mercia saying, and I quote; " In accordance with British Medical Association guidance we have written to Firearms Licensing Unit informing them that you have declined to pay our fee and as such the non-NHS work of accessing and checking your medical record has not been done."

I must admit that if it had been a £50.00 fee I would have paid it without demur, but £118.80 seemed more than excessive to me. This smacks nastily of blackmail, especially as my son recently required a Dr's letter, from the same practice, to be able to claim on his holiday insurance as being unfit to fly. This letter cost him the princely sum of £25.00.

Simon
 
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