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Can I Get Help with Costs Of My Glasses?

Because I'm under 19 and am still in full time education, apaprantely I get 30% off the costs of my glasses.

Anyway, got my eyes tested on Wednesday and got told that the prescription for my right eye needs to be stronger.

So anyway, I got some glasses that would've been about £85 but apparantely, I have to pay £50 for them? Surely they can't charge me this much for them? The last ones I got only cost me a fiver...

The thing is, I only get £30 a week, which goes on stuff for school and bus fare.

So, can I get help with the costs of them?

another question - I'm being referred to the eye infermary to get some visual aids. would I have to pay for these as well?
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Comments

  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I know vision express do a student discount, not sure if it's the same one. 30% is about all you'll get off, although I remember when I was younger my parents didnt have to pay for lenses, and the frames were discounted too.

    there's also a form you can fill in for financial aid if you're in full time education, if you ask your optician about it. think it's something to do with income assessment etc.

    I doubt you'll have to pay for the visual aids at the clinic, that'll be free stuff on the nhs I woulda thought.

    still, glasses are terribly expensive! I got discount about the same as you did last time I got some and they were still over £100.

    best ast your optician about it really.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Apparantely, the man who saw me on Wednesday was wrong - one pair costs £20 and 2 pairs cost about £51.30...
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I still get an NHS optical voucher towards the cost of my glasses. I have a -10 prescription and so get a £73 voucher. The amount increases as does my prescription.

    As you're under 19 and in FT ed, you should get an NHS voucher. It won't be much, but it's a start.... specsavers say something about them apparently, it's around £30 for under 19's in FT Ed.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Which is what it says on the back of my prescription.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Yes you can get help, and the reduction from £85 to £50 something was the help you got. You would have also got free lenses, you only paid the difference on the cost of the frames once your NHS voucher had been taken into account.

    There's a huge variety in the cost of frames, plenty of opticians have frames aimed at teenagers/kids (who get the NHS help) that are covered by the NHS contribution (about £30) or only cost slightly more, hence your last pair for £5. However once you want adult frames the choice of these gets very limited and more and more opticians don't have the cheap range because they make less money on it.

    In summary, it is just about possible to get very cheap/free glasses as an under 19 in full time education, but if you want coatings on your lenses, or you want a nice frame then most of the time you'll end up paying. Be warned, once you lose the NHS paying for your lenses life gets a lot more expensive.

    Whether you pay for stuff from the hospital is hard to work out without knowing all the details, but you probably won't have to pay. Make sure you ask while you're at the clinc though, they should be able to explain it to you.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    You can get help, and the voucher usually pays for the cost of the most basic single-vision lenses and the cheapest nastiest frames. You won't get the whole lot paid for if you want anything better, e.g. thin lenses, good frames.
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