What living in Britain actually saves you: five fixed numbers

Britain is expensive, and there is no arguing with that. But a share of the costs that eat budgets elsewhere are either fixed by law here or come to nothing at all. Here are the actual figures, because plenty of people pay for things they need not pay for.

Medicines: £9.90 an item, and that is the ceiling

In England a prescription costs £9.90 per item, whatever has been prescribed. The price of the drug itself makes no difference.

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If you need several, buy a prepayment certificate. A PPC covers all your prescriptions for the period: £32.05 for three months, £114.50 for twelve, and the annual one can be paid in ten instalments. The arithmetic is simple — four prescriptions in three months, or twelve in a year, and the certificate already pays for itself. PPCs are only available if you live in England.

Dentist: three fixed bands

NHS treatment is split into three bands with fixed prices. Band 1 is £27.90: examination, assessment and advice, X-rays if clinically needed, fluoride, simple management of gum disease such as scaling, moulds of your teeth, and minor adjustments to dentures or braces. Band 2 is £76.60, which is where extensive scaling for complex gum problems goes. Band 3 is £332.10.

The key rule: if your course mixes bands, you pay only for the highest. If it mixes treatments within one band, you pay that band once. The dental professional must tell you the cost before starting.

Eye tests: free for a lot of people

A free NHS sight test goes to anyone under 16; to 16, 17 and 18 year olds in full-time education, including home schooling; to everyone 60 or over; to people diagnosed with diabetes or glaucoma; to anyone 40 or over whose mother, father, sibling or child has been diagnosed with glaucoma; to anyone an ophthalmologist has said is at risk of glaucoma; and to people registered partially sighted or blind.

Separately it covers people receiving Pension Credit Guarantee Credit, income-based Jobseeker's Allowance, or Universal Credit while meeting the criteria, and holders of an HC2 certificate.

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Television: £180 a year, or nothing

A TV Licence costs £180 a year (£60.50 for a black and white set), the same for homes and businesses. A free or discounted licence is available if you are 75 or over and receive Pension Credit, or if you are blind or in residential care.

What many people do not realise: you do not need one to watch Netflix, Disney Plus, All 4, Amazon Prime Video, YouTube or DVDs. It is required only for live TV on any channel and for BBC iPlayer. The fine for watching without one is up to £1,000.

The bus: free from a certain age

In England a free bus pass arrives at State Pension age. In Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland it comes at 60. And in London, from 60 you travel free on buses, tubes and other transport — but only within London.

What to act on today

Count your prescriptions over the last three months. If there were four or more, you are overpaying and a PPC pays for itself immediately.

Check whether you fall into the free eye test list. Diabetes, and glaucoma in a close relative once you are over forty, are the grounds people most often miss.

And if you watch no live TV and never open iPlayer, the licence can be cancelled. That is £180 a year.