General Terms and Conditions

Estimates

Estimates are provided either at the time of booking the appointment or during the consultation itself. All estimates given are only approximate, and the final fee could be higher or lower than this estimate depending on complications during treatment and patient response to treatment. We will endeavour to contact you as soon as we have reason to believe that the costs could be significantly higher than the estimate.

Fees

All fees for services and prices for goods (including food, accessories and drugs) are subject to VAT at the applicable rate (currently 20% for standard-rated items). Prices for goods are as marked or notified at the point of purchase. A full fee breakdown will appear on your invoice.

Fees for services include our professional fees in respect of the veterinary services provided along with the cost of any drugs, materials or consumables used in the provision of the services. Professional fees vary according to the time spent on a case, and the level of expertise required of the staff looking after your animal.

Payments

Our policy is for payment at the time of treatment or at the time of collecting medications or products. You will be advised exactly when payments are due depending upon the nature of the services that we provide to you but you should expect to make payments at the end of each consultation and upon the discharge of your pet from our care. In the event that your pet is hospitalised we may require part payment in advance of any period of hospitalisation and/or stage payments for longer periods of hospitalisation. If your pet is hospitalised we will phone you each day to discuss the progress of your animal and the fees incurred once the veterinary surgeon has completed their morning rounds.

We do not offer any payment schemes.

Payment is accepted by cash, debit/ credit card, unfortunately we cannot accept American Express.

Please note that if a pet is registered with our practice we will assume that any person other than the registered pet owner who may bring the pet in for treatment is duly authorised by the registered pet owner to seek treatment for the pet and to incur costs for which the registered pet owner will be liable. Where a pet is not registered with our practice we will assume that the individual requesting treatment accepts liability for all costs incurred.

Failure to pay your invoice may lead to such action as we consider appropriate to recover our fees, which may include engaging third party debt collection agencies to recover the outstanding fees and/or instigating proceedings against you in the county court. In such cases, any costs levied by the debt collection agency will be added on to the outstanding balance owed by you and/or we will seek to recover any legal expenses from you. Please note that the use of debt collection agencies and the county court could affect your future credit rating.

We shall be entitled to suspend the provision of any further goods and/or services until you have paid any outstanding sums in full. Where we consider it appropriate to do so we may require payment on account before goods and/or services are provided.

Insurance

We strongly support the principle of insuring your pet against unexpected illness or accidents.

There are times for insured animals where direct claims are available and these can be discussed on an individual basis. In such cases, the client must pay the excess and any excluded amounts at the end of the consultation or upon demand and, in the event that a claim is refused by the insurers, will remain liable for our fees.

In the event that an insurer fails to acknowledge our claim or respond to communications from us within 30 days we will treat this as a refused claim and seek to recover the full cost from you. You may, of course, seek to recover the costs directly from your insurer should this occur.

You must advise us prior to any treatment if you wish us to submit a direct claim to your insurer in respect of our fees and complete an Insurance Claim Declaration. If you do not advise us in advance that you wish us to submit a claim directly to your insurer you will be liable to pay our fees as they become due and may then seek to recoup the cost from your insurer yourself.

Where possible insurance pre-authorisations must be completed prior to treatments or procedures where a direct claim is requested.

Prescriptions

Prescriptions are available from this practice. You will be advised of the prescription charge when you contact the practice. Prescription charges are applied only when you request a prescription from us but go elsewhere to have the prescription filled. Animals requiring repeat prescriptions will need to be re-assessed periodically by the veterinary surgeon dealing with the case. The re-examination interval will vary between clinical cases. Please give us 48 hours’ notice for any requests for a repeat or written prescription. There is a charge for a re-examination, details of which will be provided on enquiry.

Please note that we cannot accept the return of any prescription drugs as such items cannot be resold. If you wish us to safely dispose of any unwanted medication we can do so.

Client records

Client and clinical records, and other such similar documents (including, but not limited to, digital imaging results), are and shall remain the property of Cornish Paws. Copies of clinical records may be passed to another veterinary surgeon on request should you move surgeries.

We never discuss or sell confidential records to any third party other than if you move surgeries or are referred to another veterinary surgeon.

Data protection

When you register your animal with our practice or request that we provide veterinary services we will collect personal data about you and, where relevant, your employees and/or agents. We will only collect data that we need to perform the services, take payment or contact you such as names, contact details and possibly some financial details. Please note that we may pass your details to debt collection agencies or our legal advisers for the purpose of recovering unpaid fees if you do not pay invoices when they fall due.

Complaints

We pride ourselves on offering a quality service, and take customer complaints seriously. Should we not meet your expectations on any aspect of our service, please let us know at the time where possible.

Alternatively, should you wish to raise a formal complaint, we ask that you contact the practice in person, by telephone or in writing within three months of the complaint event. The clinical director or practice manager will then investigate your complaint and reply to you within 14 days.

Home visits

In most cases your pet will receive better treatment if it is brought into the surgery where we have the equipment, facilities and staff necessary to treat them. However, there are some cases when it may be preferable to provide treatment at your home. We endeavour to come out to your home at your convenience but we ask that you call the surgery in the morning so we can arrange this around other duties. There is an additional charge for a home visit. You will be provided with an estimate of fees when calling to book a visit.

Out of hours care and hospitalisation

We have provisions in place to provide emergency care for outside normal surgery hours. Please ring our daytime phone number and you will go straight through to a dedicated night service called MiNightVet. They will offer triage advice and appointments as required at their Falmouth base, minutes from Cornish Paws.

Where animals require hospitalisation they may require transport by their owner between Cornish Paws and MiNightVet, although this is minimised wherever possible.

We are more than happy to discuss any queries to the above terms and conditions or anything that is not covered, please just get in touch.