Patient Refund Queries (HC5s)

An HC5 (O) form can be used to claim back the cost of a sight test, glasses or contact lenses on low income grounds. For glasses and contact lenses, the maximum refund anyone can have is the voucher value that matches their prescription.

HC5 patient refund forms should be submitted to the NHS Business Services Authority (BSA) at the address stated in section 4 of the form.

NHS BSA will confirm to Primary Care Support England (PCSE) that the claim can be processed for payment and PCSE calculate the refund amount based on the voucher value. 

The refund cheque is then issued by NHS Shared Business Services (SBS) and posted to the claimant’s home address that is provided on the application form.

If you have moved address since completing your application for a refund, please notify us via the online form so we are able to cancel the cheque and re-issue it to the new address provided.

If you simply haven’t received the cheque please complete an enquiry on the online form by selecting Ophthalmic Payments as the category and type of enquiry, and then once the secure Ophthalmic Enquiry form has launched:

• answer 'No' to 'Is your enquiry related to a transformed submission?'
• select the capacity in which you are submitting the form i.e. Contractor/Optical Practice
• select the ‘HC5 Patient Refund’ option from the Type of Enquiry drop down

For glasses and contact lenses, the maximum refund anyone can have from NHS England is the voucher value that matches their prescription. This may be different to the amount that you paid for your glasses.  

If you have a HC3 certificate for limited help with health costs the amount of your refund will be the difference between the relevant voucher value and the amount your certificate says you have to pay.