Payment Policy

Payment at the Time

All services and goods (including food, accessories and veterinary medicines) must be paid for at the end of your appointment, or on discharge of your pet. We may, at our discretion, require full or part-payment for the services in advance.

We accept payment by most major credit or debit cards (excluding American Express). Please note that we do not accept cash or cheque.

Insurance

The practice strongly supports the principle of insuring your pet against illness or accidents.

The practice does not facilitate direct insurance claims. You are required to pay the full costs at the time of treatment and then recoup the costs from your insurer.

In exceptional circumstances, the practice may agree to claim directly from your approved insurer. To do this, we would require pre-authorisation from your insurer confirming that they will cover the full cost. To enable the practice to obtain a pre-authorisation, you must discuss this with the management team prior to any treatment. If this is agreed, the practice will need your approved insurer's details (policy number, your name and address, and animal name for online portals, or a paper copy of the pre-authorisation form). The practice will complete a pre-authorisation form and send it to your insurer — an admin fee will be charged for this. Once we have had confirmation that the treatment will be paid for by the insurer, the animal can be booked in to receive consultation or surgery. The client must pay the excess and any excluded amounts at the end of the consultation or surgery, or upon demand.

The practice reserves the right to charge clients a reasonable admin fee (inclusive of VAT) for assisting with the preparation, submission and administration of client pre-authorisation and insurance forms.

Late Payment of Fees

If your payment is not received at the end of your appointment or on discharge of your pet, one of our reception team will email or text you a secure payment link on the evening of your visit. You will be expected to pay the full amount within 24 hours of the link being sent. If no payment has been received, the practice will contact you by telephone to remind you to pay the outstanding amount.

If no payment has been made within 7 days, another phone call will be made to discuss the outstanding amount and a further secure link will be sent.

After 21 days have lapsed, you will receive communication from our Practice Manager explaining that, if no payment is received by the 30-day period, your outstanding amount will automatically be sent to a third-party debt collector. An administration fee of 17.5% of the outstanding amount will be added to your account. You will be required to pay the practice the original amount plus the administration fee. The debt collection agency will keep the practice informed of their communication with you, and any court fees regarding judgement will be added to your account. Please note that the use of debt collection agencies and the county court can affect your future credit rating.

If you cannot pay for the services provided, our obligations will be limited to fulfilling our minimum legal responsibilities and professional regulatory obligations to the animal under our care.

Please note: Clinical history will only be sent to another veterinary practice once your account is clear of any debt.