Terms and Conditions of Business

Thank you for entrusting your pets care to Crown Vets, Inverness. This page details our practice terms and conditions and applies to all our services. Some aspects of the terms may not be relevant to you and we request that you ask for further clarification if required. We reserve the right to alter these terms and conditions of business.

Fees

All fees, diets, consumables and medicine charges are subject to VAT at the current rate. Fee levels are determined by the time spent on a case and according to the drugs, materials and consumables used. Details of our fees are available on request and a detailed invoice is provided for every consultation, procedure or transaction. Estimates can be provided upon request but please bear in mind that this can only ever be approximate - often an animals illness will not follow a conventional course and costs and treatments can vary.

Methods of Payment

Accounts are due for settlement at the end of consultation, following discharge of your pet or upon collection of medicines or food. You may settle your accounts using:

• Cash
• Cheque with a current Banker's Card
• Credit or debit card - Maestro, Solo, Mastercard, Visa or Delta

Any cheque, which you issue, that is returned unpaid, any credit card payment not honoured and any cash tendered that is found to be counterfeit will result in your account being restored to the original sum together with any fees incurred in the process. Persistent late payment may result in withdrawal of our Veterinary services.

Credit Facilities

At Crown Vets we can offer 0% interest finance for those unexpected bills. We are licensed under the Consumer Credit Act 1974 and the Consumer (agreements) Regulations 1983 and the funding is provided by Braemar finance which specialise in this type of funding to clients and patients of Vets and human Dentists. All applicants are credit scored by Braemar finance and a decision is made quite quickly. Please speak to a member of our Senior staff to discuss this in more detail.

Pet Health Insurance

We strongly support the principle of insuring your pet against unexpected illness or accidents. Please be aware that it is you responsibility to settle you account with Crown Vets and then reclaim the fees from your insurer. You must take care to know the terms and conditions of provision of insurance, for your animal and understand these clearly through discussion with your chosen insurance company. Any disputes arising from slow settlement of claims should be expressly directed at your insurance company. Crown Vets is an authorised representative of Pet Plan and we can accept direct payments from this insurer.

Feedback and standards

We are always pleased to receive feedback on the service we provide so please do let us know what you think. We are very willing to hear your comments and whilst we hope that our service does not give you any cause for complaint, if you would like to raise an issue, please write to us in the first instance.

Ownership of records

Case records, radiographs, laboratory reports and similar documents are the property of Crown vets Ltd. and will be retained by us. Even though a charge may be made for investigations and interpreting the results, ownership of the resulting record e.g. an x-ray or ultrasound scan remain the property of the practice. Upon request, copies of records with a summary of the history of your animal will be passed on to another Veterinary Surgeon in the event of a patient transfer.

Liability

We carry professional indemnity insurance in the sum of £300,000 per Vet. We supply services and supplies to clients on the condition that the vets’ liability arising from any loss shall not exceed that sum. If a client wishes a higher level then this can be requested in writing.

Data Protection

We are registered with the Data Protection Act to keep your information for accounting and record purposes. We will not divulge your details to other agencies except for debt collection purposes. We will use the data that we have on file to contact you that will be beneficial to your animals health, for example booster vaccination reminders, medicine reminder information, other products that may be relevant and newsletters.

Variation in Terms and Conditions of Business

No addition or variation of these conditions will bind the practice unless specifically agreed in writing by the Directors of Crown Vets Ltd. 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. Please do contact us, if you have any queries.