£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
£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
I have just been asked for £118.80 by my Dr's surgery for a letter on my fitness to hold an FAC. Can anyone beat this?
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 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.
They need some paperwork from the quack to say you're dont have any medical conditions which might prohibit you from gun ownership.
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.
£50 I can live with but this just smacks of being on the take.
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.....and the fee of £25, which I found more than acceptable...
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
Surely it would take LESS time for a doctor to check your records if you rarely, or never see him/her?
I wrote my reply upon receipt of the invoice and took it straight back to the surgery, I declined to pay.
Simon
<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.
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?
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.