The NHS sent my wife a penalty notice for getting a prescription

My wife has a direct debit for an NHS prescription prepayment certificate, which automatically renews each year. Recently, she received a Penalty Notice (PCN) for a prescription she picked up three months ago. It appears that last year his new certificate was returned as unissued to the issuer, NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA), due to an "incorrect address", although we haven't budged. NHSBSA has therefore canceled the direct debit and automatic renewal. We didn't know this and my wife kept checking the prepaid box when she picked up her prescriptions. NHSBSA claims they did not notify us because they assumed we had moved. He has since issued the certificate but says he can't backdate it and insists my wife pay the PCN. We are happy to catch up on missed payments after the direct debit was cancelled, but I'm afraid it will issue a PCN for all prescriptions she has received during this time. She receives weekly prescriptions for eight medications.EA, Hastings

NHSBSA tells me that they have not been able to comment on your wife's case due to the confidentiality, but says that if a prepayment certificate is returned as undeliverable, it reverses payments so patients aren't charged for a service they can't use. He confirmed that patients are alerted if they have provided another contact. You say your wife was called shortly after my intervention and told her that since a phone number was on file, she should have been informed as soon as the certificate was returned to her.

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PCNs – another one that arrived after you wrote – have been canceled and since they can apparently only be canceled after they have been sent, future fines will also be waived. You have been given the email address of a team member to forward them to and told that you do not need to catch up on canceled payments. The larger lesson is to keep an eye on bank statements and check that direct debits are being paid and, if you rely on a prepayment certificate, make sure it's up to date.

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