Below are our practice terms & conditions.
Our Commitment to You
We aim to provide you with a first-class service and the highest standards of treatment and care for your animals.
Our Fees
Our professional fees are determined by the time spent on a case, and the drugs, resources, materials, and consumables used. All fees, consumables, and drug charges are subject to VAT at the current rate. We are always happy to provide written estimates for any procedure should you require one, however, please bear in mind that any estimate we give can only be approximate, as often an animal’s illness will not follow a predictable or standard course.
Our Payment Terms
Small Animal
• Payment for treatment is expected at the end of each consultation, and the collection of any medication or food.
• Clients will receive an itemised invoice on request for every consultation, surgical procedure, or transaction. These can be emailed to you, but hard copies can be requested.
• If for any reason you are unable to settle your account, we ask that you contact us straight away.
• If your account has not been settled at the end of a consultation, we will send you an invoice and payment link. Payment is expected within 3 days.
• Any accounts that have not been settled after 7 days may incur an additional administration cost, as will referral to our debt collection agency.
Farm
All County Vets clients are automatically put on a thirty-day credit account. Bills are produced monthly and sent out by the 10th of the following month. We request that all bills are settled by the end of that month. If a bill is unpaid after two months, we may apply a 2% surcharge on any balance that is over 60 days old.
Equine
We ask that all routine pre-booked visits are paid for in advance or at the time of the visit unless otherwise discussed and agreed with the practice in advance of the visit.
• Visits not paid at the time of or in advance of the visit will be invoiced within 3 days, we will send you an invoice and payment link. Payment is expected within 7 days.
• Any accounts that have not been settled after 7 days may incur an additional administration cost, as will referral to our debt collection agency.
Payment Methods – making it easy for you
Our aim is to make payment as easy as possible for you. You may settle your account using:
• CASH
• CREDIT/DEBIT CARD in person or over the phone
• Online or by bank transfer to:
County Vets Ltd
Sort Code: 83-25-11
Account: 00150712
Reference: please use your account number
If you have more than one account with us i.e. farm, small animal, and/or equine, then a single payment covering all bills is acceptable.
Returned Cheques and Payments
Any cheque that you issue that is returned unpaid or any credit/debit card payment which is not honoured, or any cash payment which is found to be counterfeit will result in your account being restored to the unpaid sum, additional charges may also be incurred in the process.
Inability to Pay
If you are aware in advance of treatment that you will be unable to settle your account within our payment terms, please appraise the vet at the time of treatment.
If you find yourself unable to pay your account following treatment, please immediately contact our Practice Manager (contact details below) to discuss the situation.
Complaints
Whilst we hope our service does not give you cause for complaint, if you do wish to complain please contact our Practice Manager in the following way:
Gillian Campbell
County Vets
Whitefaulds Farm
Maybole
KA19 8AH
Email: info@county-vets.co.uk FAO Gillian
Telephone: 01655883531
Feedback
We are always pleased to receive feedback on the service we provide. Please forward this to the Practice Manager using the above contact details.
Disputes
Any dispute with the fees/service presented must be put in writing to our Practice Manager (using the above contact details) within 14 days of receiving the invoice.
Where any dispute is not proven and as a result the payment is late, the overdue accounts procedure will become effective. Therefore, clients are always advised to settle their invoice on time, and if there is a dispute this payment is made without prejudice.
HEALTH INSURANCE AND LIABILITIES
Insurance
County Vets strongly supports the principle of insuring against expected illness or accident. The role of the insurance company is to reimburse you for fees incurred for veterinary treatment. Even when insured, your veterinary charges and fees must be paid by you initially and are due for payment as per the above terms. Please then claim the fees from your insurance company.
Under certain pre-agreed circumstances we can arrange for Insurance Companies to make payment directly to us. This arrangement must be agreed with us before or at the time of treatment and with your insurance company. We will request that you make a payment to cover your insurance excess at the time or before the required treatment, and a £30 admin fee per condition, per year. We cannot guarantee that your insurance company will cover the costs of treatment, and you are therefore encouraged to contact the insurance company to verify cover before any treatment has been administered. Many policies insist on this and failing to do so will invalidate your policy.
Passports (Equine)
All horses, ponies, donkeys, and mules must have passports which should be available to our vets to check. We strongly recommend that passports are signed by you the owner to confirm that the horse is not for human consumption. If a passport is not available, a detailed record of your equine’s medicinal products must be retained.
Ownership of Your Records
Although we are treating your animal, all case records, x-rays, scans, and similar documents are the property of and will be retained by County Vets, whilst you are free at any time to see these. Upon request, copies of records with a summary of the history of your animal will be passed to another Veterinary Surgeon taking over your animal’s care and treatment.
Termination of Services
You may ask us to stop caring for your animal/s at any time.
We may withdraw our services if:
• You fail to settle your account on time
• The relationship between you and the practice breaks down
• We are prohibited by law from doing any further work on your case
Under these circumstances, we will provide you with notice in writing to seek alternative veterinary care.
Variation in Terms and Conditions of Business
No addition or variation of these conditions will bind the practice unless specifically agreed in writing. Additionally, no agent or person employed by or under contract with the Practice has the authority to alter or vary these terms and conditions in any way.
Data Protection
Our guarantee to you: we will only use client details for the purpose of our business. We will not intentionally pass, without your permission, any details on to 3rd parties, unless specifically detailed above. We will aim to accurately maintain your contact preference details on our databases.
Your responsibility: you will provide us with correct and updated personal information to allow us to provide our services to you in a timely and efficient manner, none of your details will be passed on without your permission.
If you have any questions about our Practice Terms & Conditions, please email info@county-vets.co.uk and our Practice Manager will get back to you. Alternatively, you can call us on 01655883531.
