For two and a half years, I went to a private dental clinic in Birmingham and opted for a Denplan payment scheme, where I paid £35 monthly for my dental expenses.
Very little was done to my teeth in that time.
Upon leaving Birmingham and before moving to Somerset in February 2024, I received a certificate from the dentist stating that no dental work was necessary at that time.
But to my horror when I signed up to a new dentist a few weeks later, I was told I needed five fillings at a cost of £902.
I cannot afford this. I complained to the old dentist but have got nowhere.
J.T., Somerset.
Dental costs: A reader was told she needed five new filling just a few weeks after being given the all clear by her payment plan dentist
Sally Hamilton responds: In August of last year, you brought your concern to me, and I reached out to the Birmingham clinic. I requested the dentist to clarify why you were suddenly advised to undergo extensive treatment shortly after you had left their practice.
I suggested that a suitable resolution would be refunding your Denplan payments (£910) or covering the £902 cost of the treatment that needed to be undertaken.
Denplan is a popular scheme for dentists and their customers. The plan not only helps patients spread the cost of treatment but provides a predictable income for dentists signed up to it.
A patient pays monthly charges based on the treatment a dentist expects a patient to require over the year.
It took a week or two to receive a response from the Birmingham practice, but eventually your old dentist agreed to review your records, including those from your new practice, once they had been forwarded, and get back.
In late October he replied, stating in his clinical view, your X rays did not suggest that fillings were required at the time he last saw you.
He agreed one tooth looked as if it might have required further attention in due course. His defence was ‘different dentists hold different clinical opinions’.
But he added he didn’t want any patient to be ‘disappointed or disadvantaged’ and offered you a £500 refund of the Denplan payments as a gesture of goodwill.
You were not happy as this would still leave you £400 or so short in meeting the new bills, which you said you could not afford.
He raised it to £766. Reluctantly you agreed, and requested the payment by cheque, but it did not materialise.
You were becoming increasingly stressed, not helped by the fact you are recovering from breast cancer, and only wanted to begin treatment with your new dentist when you knew the funds were forthcoming.
By February, the money had still not arrived. With your complaint unresolved, I contacted Denplan.
Considering you had forked out for its payment plan all the time you had been with the Birmingham practice, and apparently received little care in return, I was hopeful it would have a view on the matter. You also called Denplan to explain your concerns.
These actions seemed to finally do the trick. Denplan investigated and, in early March, came some good news.
It thanked me for bringing your case to its attention and to ‘ensure a speedy resolution’ insisted you go ahead with the required treatment to make you dentally fit at your new practice, and that it would pay these bills on your behalf.
It said it was working with your old dentist to recoup the £766 promised to you previously.
On March 15, an unnamed person from reception at your previous dentist emailed me to say, ‘We came to a resolution with J.T., hope she has contacted you.’
While it took a painfully long time to extract payment, you were relieved that the battle with your old dentist was finally over.
I agreed that I would not write up your case until your course of treatment was completed, which I am happy to say happened when the last tooth was filled on June 3.
My £120 phone credit went down the toilet
I’m 87 and had an accident with my simple pay-as-you-go mobile phone when it slipped out of my pocket and into the toilet.
It was ruined. It had £120.46 credit on it with my provider Vodafone which I’d purchased with cash via a top up card at my Post Office.
I have spent ages on the phone with Vodafone trying to obtain a refund, but they keep asking for a bank card number.
I paid by cash, so I requested a cheque. It refused. This is most unfair.
B.L., Lincoln.
Sally Hamilton replies: You told me this incident happened as you had to keep your phone on you all day awaiting a call from social services.
You had been in the garden admiring the surroundings when nature of a different kind called.
This was when the phone slid out of your pocket and into the toilet bowl. You fished it out and tried to get it working but all efforts failed.
Despite getting the credit amount checked and verified by Vodafone, and spending a long time on the phone to them, they would not send you a cheque.
You rightly asked me why it wasn’t easier for vulnerable, elderly people like you, who pay with cash to top up their phones, to resolve the situation.
You felt bereft after having to give up on your ‘faithful friend of 20 years’ – a phone that was easy to use with just a couple of buttons – and aggravated you couldn’t even get back the money you were owed.
Cash users often feel like second-class citizens in such circumstances. I asked Vodafone to dial up its efforts to help you, which it has now done.
Its customer care team got in touch directly with you – requesting further information and photos of yourself – before finally sending a cheque.
Apparently, refunds aren’t usually made by cheque to unregistered pay-as-you-go accounts due to strict anti-money laundering policies.
This seems a bit heavy handed for such a small sum, but rules are rules, I suppose. You have purchased a new phone which you find more complicated than your trusty old device.
You say your daughter, who works for Age UK, is organising a few lessons for you with the charity on how to use it.
- Write to Sally Hamilton at Sally Sorts It, Money Mail, Northcliffe House, 2 Derry Street, London W8 5TT or email [email protected] — include phone number, address and a note addressed to the offending organisation giving them permission to talk to Sally Hamilton. Please do not send original documents as we cannot take responsibility for them. No legal responsibility can be accepted by the Daily Mail for answers given.
