eGDC
Close

Pay by instalments Direct Debit

You can pay your Annual Retention Fee (ARF) by quarterly instalments to spread the cost over the year. Set up a Direct Debit with us and never forget to pay again.

It costs the same to pay by instalments as it does to pay annually. There are no additional costs. Dental care professionals (DCPs) make four payments of £24. Dentists make four payments of £155.25. Where a dentist holds specialist titles, the annual fee of £72 per title will be collected in full in the first Direct Debit.

How to pay by instalments

Log into eGDC and select the quarterly Direct Debit option. If you don’t already have an account, you will need to create an eGDC account.

You must make the choice to pay by instalments in advance. DCPs must do this by the end of May. Dentist must do this by the end of October

Key dates for DCPs:

You must set up your Direct Debit by Midnight, 31 May.

  • Q1 payment: £24 taken on or around 1 July 2024.
  • Q2 payment: £24 taken on or around 1 October 2024.
  • Q3 payment: £24 taken on or around 7 January 2025.
  • Q4 payment: £24 taken on or around 1 April 2025.

We will tell you the exact instalment dates at least 10 working days before we take the first payment.

Key dates for dentists

You must set up your Direct Debit by Midnight, 30 October.

  • Q1 payment: £155.25 taken on or around 4 December 2023.
  • Q2 payment: £155.25 taken on or around 1 March 2024.
  • Q3 payment: £155.25 taken on or around 3 June 2024.
  • Q4 payment: £155.25 taken on or around 2 September 2024.

We will tell you the exact instalment dates at least 10 working days before we take the first payment.

Direct Debit protections

You are protected by three important safeguards:

  • An immediate money back guarantee from your bank in the event of an error.
  • Advance notice if the date or amount changes at any time.
  • The right to cancel at any time, although, in the event of a cancelled Direct Debit, dental professionals will need to pay the remainder of the ARF. Please refer to the Terms and Conditions for further information.

 

The pay by instalments option is only available for the ARF.

Do not cancel your Direct Debit. If you change bank accounts mid cycle, you will need to use the bank switching service offered by your new bank account provider which will update your Direct Debit automatically. If you cancel your Direct Debit, there is no way to manually set up a new one mid cycle, and the remainder of your ARF balance will be payable by the end of the month in which the instalment was due.

 

We decided on the quarterly option because it represents a good balance between making a difference to the amount you have to pay in one go and keeping down the costs of running the scheme. A monthly option is much more expensive to run and, as the GDC’s income comes almost entirely from the ARF, we would have had to pass this cost on.

If you miss an instalment, you must pay the remaining balance for that year by the end of the month in which the instalment was due. If you miss that deadline, you may be removed from the Register and you will need to apply for restoration.

If that happens, you will not be able to pay by instalments for two years.

When opting to pay the ARF by instalments, you are entering into an agreement to pay the full ARF. We remove access to the instalments scheme for two years as a way to prevent repeated breaches, and the associated costs.

No, you just need to go onto eGDC by the direct debit ‘setup’ deadline and select the 'quarterly Direct Debit' option. This will update your existing Direct Debit.

Yes. For each ARF cycle there is a deadline for signing up. For DCPs the deadline is the end of May. For dentists it is the end of October.

 

The pay by instalment option is available by Direct Debit only.

Yes. Changes to your payment method need to be made by the Direct Debit cancellation deadline each year, which is typically around the end of June for DCPs and the end of November for dentists.

 

To set up a quarterly Direct Debit, log in to eGDC. From your eGDC home page, click ‘Manage payments’ and then ‘Direct Debit’ on the left navigation. Complete or check your bank details, click ‘Direct Debit payment frequency’ and select ‘quarterly’.