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NHS Penalty Notice
Hi I am helping someone with their debts and budgeting and they have given me a NHS Penalty notice from November 2014. There is also a Debt Recovery Agency letter dated April 2016 but he doesn’t think he has received anything since then. The Penalty is for dental charges. He had been getting Income support and carers allowance but his wife died. He then claimed JSA for a while but that stopped in October 2014 because he didn’t attend Jobcentre due to depression. At some point after this he got bereavement payments but he doesn’t know the dates now (I presume from date of death for 12 months, so July 15).
the NHSBSA letters states when he went to the dentist in Nov 14 he told them he was still getting Income Support. Given that he was in a poor mental state, this is now nearly 4 years ago and the fact that the NHS do not seem to pursue these charges in court is there any merit in contacting them or do they eventually get written off?
He is still suffering with depression and not dealing with things very well.
I guess this is in reference to this FOI release:
https://www.rightsnet.org.uk/forums/viewreply/62094/
Given that he was in a poor mental state, this is now nearly 4 years ago and the fact that the NHS do not seem to pursue these charges in court is there any merit in contacting them or do they eventually get written off?
A similar question might be asked about (m)any unsecured creditors who aren’t currently pursuing their debts. The answer must, I think, depend on what overall debt strategy is being pursued (e.g., obtaining balances in order to advise on relevant debt options? make an offer? ask for a write-off? etc). There can be risks either way, both financially and to peace of mind, which the client really needs to be aware of. E.g. if he has changed address and has not been in touch with the creditor to make them aware, then enforcement action might be proceeding against him without his knowledge. On the other hand, getting in touch with the creditor, but then not making a reasonable offer nor showing why they should abandon the debt, might well lead to subsequent DCA contact.
A further general point - if you are getting directly involved in debt counselling, you need to make sure your organization is compliant with the FCA requirements