New Universal Credit forms to stop Brits being slapped with 100 fines FINALLY arrive

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BRITS on Universal Credit will have a new tick box on prescription forms to stop them being slapped with 100 fines.

The NHS will roll out fresh forms within weeks to make it easier for them to claim free health prescriptions.

What the new forms will look like – with a box for Universal Credit

The news comes more than a year after HOAR revealed how the new slips had been in the pipeline for months but still hadn’t been signed off.

Low-income Brits on Universal Credit are entitled to get free prescriptions, but the NHS form has not had a tick box to say the person is on the new benefits system.

Patients can claim the help if their earnings during their most recent assessment period were less than 435, or under 935 if it’s for a child or they have limited capacity for work.

The box will say: “Universal Credit and meets the criteria.”

Minister for Welfare Delivery, Will Quince, said today:Im delighted that this common-sense change will mean its simpler for people on Universal Credit to get free prescriptions.

“Theres a huge amount of support available to people, and people should check out www.understandinguniversalcredit.gov.uk to see what else they could be entitled to.”

Previously officials said claimants should tick the box for Income-based Jobseekers’ Allowance.

John Kell, head of policy at the Patients Association, told The Pharmaceutical Journal that the updated forms are better late than never.

He said: We know that the penalties system has been wrongly issuing fines to patients who are in fact entitled to free prescriptions, and the lack of an appropriate option for UC on FP10 forms has been a factor in this.

“Now that the new forms are here, the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) needs to monitor their use to ensure they are having the desired effect, and not throwing up unintended consequences.”

It’s just one of many problems Brits on the new welfare system are facing, as it’s being rolled out across the country.

Many say they have beenpushed into debtwaiting for their benefits, and have experienced a series of bungles.