Pre-Payment Certificate Application

Pharmacy Login

Welcome to PPC Direct "On-Line", our Prescription Pre-payment Certificate (PPC) sales facility for pharmacies registered to sell PPCs on our behalf.

To enter PPC Direct, please complete your Pharmacy OCS Code and password below. If your pharmacy is not registered and you would like to register to sell PPCs on our behalf click here.

For a copy of the guidance, in respect of selling PPCs on our behalf, please click here.

If your pharmacy is registered and you have forgotten your password, please contact our IT Help Desk on 0191 203 5050. For any other queries regarding PPC Direct "On-line", please contact 0191 203 4945.

To see if they can get free prescriptions, look in leaflet HC11, ‘Help with Health Costs’, at:
www.ppa.org.uk/pdfs/ppc/hc11.htm

PPC Cost

The current cost is:

• £26.85 for a 3-month PPC; and
• 
  
• £98.70 for a 12-month PPC.

Conditions of Issue

The patient can only use the PPC for his or her own NHS prescriptions.

The PPC will start on the date they purchase their application at a registered pharmacy, unless they ask for a different start date. This can be up to one month earlier or later than the date they purchase their PPC at a registered pharmacy.

A full refund of the cost of a 3 or 12 month PPC can be claimed if, within the first month, the patient becomes entitled to free prescriptions.

A partial refund of the cost of a 12 month PPC can be claimed if, within months 2-4 of the PPC, the patient becomes entitled to free prescriptions.

For full details on PPC refund arrangements, including the time limit for claiming a refund, check leaflet HC11 at:
www.ppa.org.uk/pdfs/ppc/hc11.htm

Refund of Prescription Charges

The patient should remember to apply for a new PPC in good time, otherwise they will have to pay charges when their old PPC runs out. If they claim they have a valid PPC when they do not, they may have to pay a penalty charge.

If they have to pay a prescription charge while they are waiting for their PPC, they cannot get a refund unless they get an NHS receipt form (an FP57) at the time they pay for a prescription charge (they cannot get one later) and their new certificate covers the date they paid the charge. When they apply, they can ask for their PPC to be backdated up to one month.