Fees
All fees, foodstuffs and drug 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, consumables and diets used. Equine clients who have an account facility with us, will be issued with an invoice at the end of the month, which is to be settled by the end of the following month.

Methods of Payment
Fees are due for settlement at the end of each consultation, the discharge of your pet or upon the collection of drugs/diets. You may settle the account using cash, cheque or credit or debit card in person or by telephone. Where an invoice has been issued, payment may be made by bank transfer. Please ensure your account reference number is quoted.

Estimates
Upon request we will provide a written estimate regarding the probable costs of a course of treatment. Please bear in mind that any estimate given can only be approximate: Often a pet’s illness will not follow a predictable course and unexpected costs may be incurred owing to the condition’s complexity.

Settlement Terms
Any account with an outstanding balance will receive an invoice by email, or by post if there is no email address registered to the account. Invoices are due for payment by return. Where further reminders have to be sent we may add charges to cover the cost of administration. If accounts remain unpaid they will be referred to an outside agency for collection and further charges will be levied in respect of costs incurred in collecting the debt. Any cheque returned by our bank as unpaid, any card payments not honoured and any cash paid which turns out to be counterfeit will result in the original balance of the account being restored and any bank and administration charges added. In some circumstances, particularly if you have no long term credit rating with our business, we will ask for a deposit before commencing a treatment plan.

Insurance Settlement Terms
The business supports the principle of veterinary health insurance and on behalf of its clients will endeavour to deal with the administration. We reserve the right to make a charge for this service. It is your responsibility to settle our account in full and then reclaim the fees from your insurance company. We advise that you inform your insurance company and request a claim form before a treatment plan starts. In the event of long term conditions, claim forms should be submitted regularly.

Inability to Pay
If for any reason you are unable to settle your account in full at the normal time, we would ask you to discuss this matter without delay with a member of staff who will refer your account to a senior member of our accounts team for further review. Please note that part-payments may only be sanctioned by a senior member of the business. We reserve the right not to supply any medicines, diets or consumables for veterinary care if an account is not settled in full at the time of consultation or discharge. Where accounts are referred to an external debt collector for recovery costs will be recharged.

Ownership of Records
Case records are the property of, and will be retained by, Connaught House Veterinary Group. Copies of the records will be given upon clients request, to a veterinary surgeon who is taking over the case.

Ownership of Images
The care of your animal may involve the production of a variety of recordings and images e.g. X-rays, ECG’s. Even though we make a charge for carrying out and interpreting the results, ownership of the images remains within the practice.

Privacy Policy

What we require:
In order for us to provide a service to you we require some personal information, which you may give us verbally, by telephone, completion of a form or by e-mail or via our website. The information we require includes your full name, postal address, telephone number and e-mail address.

What we use your information for:
We use your personal information in order to provide you with:-
Our services and products
To communicate with you, about our services including booster, flea and worming reminders, advise if we are running any campaigns relevant to your pet’s health.
To send invoices, process payments and resolve unpaid bills, we may pass your details to debt recovery companies for collection of unpaid accounts.
Where you have instructed us, to submit an insurance claim on your behalf.
For collection of statistical information for in-house use.
Where we are required for legal or regulatory purposes we will release your personal data.

Sharing your information:
We share your information within the Connaught House Veterinary Group and our sister practice Taylor and Marshall. We sometimes use external providers to process information on our behalf. This may include mail, reminder services and debt recovery. We use an external provider to maintain our Website and IT system. Where we use external providers to process your information we ensure they have appropriate safeguards for the protection of your data.

Storage of Data:
Your personal data is stored on a secure server. Card payment data is not stored electronically. Telephone calls may be recorded.

Retention of Data:
We will only keep information for as long as it is relevant and necessary for the purposes for which it was collected.

Your Rights:
Upon your request we will supply your personal information and your pet’s clinical history to another Veterinary Practice.

Access to Information:
The data protection act gives you the right to access the personal data we hold about you. You can exercise your right of access in accordance with the act.