Elston Veterinary Clinic's Terms & Conditions
Thank you for entrusting the care and attention of your pet to Elston Veterinary Clinic. This page details our Practice Terms and Conditions, and we will deem that you have accepted these by requesting that we treat your pet. Please feel free to ask us if there are any aspects which you feel require clarification.
Fees
All fees are due for payment at the time of the consultation or when your pet is discharged after an in-house procedure. All fees, diets and drug charges are subject to VAT at the current rate. Fee levels are determined based on the expertise required, the time spent on a case, the laboratory tests required, and according to the drugs, materials, consumables and diets used. If reports or referral letters are required a charge will be levied dependent on the time taken to formulate the necessary material.
Details of our fees are available on request and a detailed invoice is provided for every consultation, procedure or transaction. Estimates can also be provided on request and will be offered for non-routine procedures; please see below.
Methods of payment
Accounts are due for settlement at the end of the consultation, the discharge of your pet or upon collection of drugs/diets. You may settle the account using:
- CREDIT/DEBIT CARD – Switch, MasterCard, Visa, Delta, Electron
- BACS transfers
- CASH
- CHEQUE – with current banker’s card
Where the practice is unable to return the goods to the supplier, payment may be requested at the time the order is placed by the client.
Estimates of treatment costs
We will, upon request, be pleased to provide an estimate as to the probable cost of any treatment, but please bear in mind that any estimate given can only be approximate – often a pet’s illness will not follow a conventional course. It is essential that clients ensure that their contact details are up-to-date and that they are readily contactable whilst their pet is with us an in-patient so that, should any significant alteration to the planned procedure prove necessary, this can be discussed where possible prior to any work being undertaken. By signing the practice consent forms in relation to those animals undergoing in-patient procedures, services or operations, it is deemed that consent has been given for administration of immediate treatment to prevent pain or suffering should the need arise where a client is not contactable.
Settlement terms
Payment is due at the time of treatment, at the end of the consultation or when your pet is discharged after in-hospital treatment.
If an account is outstanding at the end of the trading day a payment link or invoice may be sent by email. If the account remains outstanding reminder invoices will be sent by email on a weekly basis.
Overdue accounts, after due notice to you, will be referred to our Debt Collection Agency or the County Court if satisfactory repayment arrangements have not been made with ourselves. Further charges will be levied in respect of costs incurred in collecting the debt such as production of reports, correspondence and court fees etc.
Any cheque returned by our bank as unpaid, any credit card payment not honoured will result in your account being restored to the original sum with further charges added in respect of bank charges and administration costs together with interest on the principal sum.
Inability to pay
If you find yourself in the unfortunate position of being unable to pay your account please discuss this matter as soon as possible with a member of staff. Instalments or part payments of any accounts may ONLY be sanctioned with the express permission of Dr Frantilla, and ONLY in exceptional circumstances.
Pet health insurance
Elston Veterinary Clinic strongly supports the principle of insuring your pet against unexpected illness or accidents. Pet health insurance against illness or injury can help alleviate the worry of meeting vet bills, particularly when referral to a specialist becomes necessary. It is advisable to consider the type and level of cover required as there are multiple formulations of benefits available. Please ask for details about insurance from any member of staff.
Please be aware that it is your responsibility to settle your account with ourselves and then reclaim the fees from your Insurance Company, as insurance policies are a contract between you and your chosen provider. We are happy to assist you in making a claim and endeavour to send off all completed insurance forms within 10 working days of receipt. Please speak to us before cancelling or changing your insurance company.
We are currently only able to facilitate a direct claim in very exceptional circumstances, for example when a complex emergency procedure has been required. Under these circumstances we will need you to:
-Contact your insurance company to give us permission to speak to them about your policy in order to ascertain if a direct claim is appropriate.
-Have read through your insurance policy details and in order to confirm that your policy details are correct.
-Complete and sign a form accepting liability for non-payment from the insurance company and agreeing that should the insurance company not reimburse the practice within 60 days of the initial claim being submitted you will settle the account in full.
-Make payment of any policy excess together with the insurance claim completion fee.
-In non-emergency circumstances pre-authorisation will be required from the insurance company where time permits. This can take up to 7 days to obtain.
-Authorisation for direct claims must be arranged in advance of the procedure being performed, and if agreed by the practice, claim forms must be submitted for completion at the time the work is carried out. As direct claims require considerable administrative effort and can result in a significant delay in payment to the business of several weeks, a charge will be levied for this service. If after the initial claim has been made, you wish us to make direct claims for an ongoing condition, claim forms must be submitted at each visit and these will carry an additional fee for completion on each occasion.
Prescriptions
Prescriptions are available from this practice. You may obtain Prescription Only Medicines Veterinary (POM-Vs) from your veterinary surgeon or ask for a written prescription and obtain these medicines from another veterinary surgeon or a pharmacy; a written prescription carries a fee for each item requested. Your veterinary surgeon may prescribe POM-Vs only for animals under their care. A prescription may not be appropriate if your animal is an in-patient or immediate treatment is necessary. You will be informed, on request, of the price of any medicine that may be dispensed for your pet.
Animals with ongoing illnesses need to be reassessed at regular intervals by a veterinary surgeon to ensure that both the best results are achieved for the patient and compliance with the relevant veterinary medicines legislation is achieved. It is practice policy that these animals are clinically examined every 3 months, but this may vary with individual circumstances.
When requesting a repeat prescription of a medication for your pet, please provide us with an update on their condition. Please also give at least 48 hours’ notice to allow a veterinary surgeon to check your pet’s records and ensure that prescribing the medication remains appropriate.
Return of unused drugs
Inappropriate disposal of veterinary medicines poses a risk to the environment. Unused, unopened or out of date medications can be returned to us for safe disposal. Whilst we are happy to accept such unused medications for disposal, we are unable to refund any payment made as, because they have left the practice, we are unable to resell them.
Complaints
We hope that you never have cause to complain to complain about the service received from Elston Veterinary Clinic. We appreciate there may be rare occasions when you may wish to bring something to our attention. In these situations please tell us about it as soon as possible to allow us to resolve the issue. Please inform us in writing of the incident, with as much detail as possible. Please address your complaint to ask@elstonvets.co.uk or to Dr Enid Frantilla DVM MRCVS at Elston Veterinary Clinic, Elston Lane, Shrewton, Salisbury, Wiltshire SP3 4HL.
We will aim to acknowledge receipt of your complaint either by telephone or in writing within five working days of receiving it. As part of the investigatory process we may contact you for further details so that we can better understand what happened.
If the matter is unable to be resolved following a phone conversation, or if that form of communication is not appropriate for the situation, Dr Frantilla will send you a written reply to your complaint, including her suggestions for resolving the matter, within 15 working days of sending you the acknowledgement letter. We will inform you if either Dr Frantilla or the employee(s) involved in the complaint are on holiday or sick leave at that time. Regretfully, we are unable to investigate complaints made more than six months after the event.
Feedback
We are always pleased to receive feedback on the service we provide, so please do let us know your thoughts so we can continue to improve.
Ownership of records
Case records, radiographs and similar documents are the property of, and will be retained by Elston Veterinary Clinic. Even though we make a charge for carrying out the investigations and interpreting the results, ownership of the resulting record e.g. a radiograph, remains the property of the practice and will be retained by us.
Upon request, copies of records with a summary of the history of your pet will be passed to another veterinary practice taking over your pet’s care and treatment.
Phone calls
All phone calls to the practice are recorded for training and monitoring purposes.
How we use your data
We will hold and use your personal data (as defined by UK data protection laws) for the purpose of caring for your pet and providing our service to you.
We will take all reasonable precautions to ensure the security of your data. On occasions we may be required to share your personal data with others, but only to the extent necessary, such as in the event that we refer your pet to an out of hours emergency service or referral centre, in order to provide you with the services you asked of us, when there is a legal requirement, or when it is in our legitimate interest to do so. Where possible we will contact you before doing so.
You have the right to see your personal data. If you have any queries or concerns about the data we hold, please write to Dr Frantilla, Elston Veterinary Clinic, Elston Lane, Shrewton, Salisbury SP3 4HL or send an email to ask@elstonvets.co.uk. We will try our best to address your query or concern. However, if you are not satisfied with our handling of any request to you in relation to your rights or concerns, you also have the right to make a complaint to the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). You can contact the ICO at: Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow SK9 5AF, or at ico.org.uk/concerns, or telephone 0303 123 1113 for further information about your rights and how to make a formal complaint.
Variations in terms and conditions
No addition or variation of these conditions will bind the practice unless specifically agreed in writing by Dr Frantilla. No person or agent employed by or under contract with the practice has the authority to alter or vary these conditions in any way.
February 2025