Thank you for choosing Milestone Veterinary Centre to care for your pet. The following information outlines our practice’s Terms and Conditions. If you need further explanation, please don’t hesitate to ask one of our staff.
Appointments
We offer both vet and nurse appointments throughout the day for your convenience and these are by appointment only. Charges will apply depending on the type of consultation and whether medication or further testing is required. A fee maybe charged for missed appointments for operations and consultations.
Out of hours
All out of hours emergencies for pets belonging to clients of Milestone Veterinary centre are attended to by our own vets and nurses at the main surgery, Swift Industrial Estate, Kingsteignton, TQ12 3SH
Fees
All charges/fees are payable at the time of treatment and you (as the owner) are liable for any fees incurred during the diagnosis and treatment of your pet, even if your pet is brought to us on your behalf by a third party such as a relative, friend or neighbour. All fees are inclusive of VAT at the current rate. Our Charges are determined by the time spent on a case plus medication, materials, consumables and diets used. A detailed invoice will be offered at the time of payment showing a full breakdown of charges incurred.
Estimate of treatment costs
We will be happy to provide a written estimate of the probable costs of a course of treatment. Please bear in mind that any estimate given can only be approximate as often a pet’s illness will not follow a conventional course. We will endeavour to contact you on the telephone numbers you have provided to notify you of any significant increase to the original estimate should this arise, but if we are unable to contact you we will treat your pet as necessary to prevent pain and suffering.
Payment methods
Fees are due at the end of each consultation, on discharge of your pet and upon collection of drugs and other items being collected.
We accept all major debit & credit cards, cash, cheques, apple pay and payments by BACS.
Settlement terms
If a bill is not paid on the day we will telephone you (as the owner) to ask for payment within 7days. In exceptional circumstances and with known clients we will discuss the option of setting up a payment plan but only at the Directors discretion. These planned repayments are collected by direct debit over a maximum of 12 months and an administration fee of £28.50 applies. Monthly statements will be sent to you to keep you informed of the account balance whilst in debt.
Account queries & outstanding debt
If you have any queries about the charges on an invoice then please contact the accounts department with 30 days of making payment.
If you think it is likely you will have difficulty paying your bill, it is important to speak to your case vet about this at the time of the treatment or to the practice manager if the issue arises after the treatment has finished.
If a bill remains outstanding and there is no agreement for payment in place, we will send invoices and reminder letters by post and attempt to contact you by telephone. If we have received no payment for a period of over 2 months, we will add a £21.50 surcharge and refer your account to our debt collection agents. Monies outstanding will continue to accrue charges and late payment fees until the account is cleared.
Insurance claims
We strongly support the principle of insuring your pet against unexpected illness or unforeseen accidents. Please check the small print of your policy for ‘life time cover’ as some insurance policies will only cover each new condition for a fixed period of time after which it will be excluded from cover.
In most cases we would ask that you pay the bill to us as soon as treatment has been administered, then you can claim the costs from your insurance company and in this situation we will waive our administration fee (classed as an in-direct claim).
However, we will allow direct claims from known clients. In this case you would need to pay the excess amount as shown on your policy and sign the claim form to say that the insurance company should pay us directly, this type of claim incurs a charge of £20.00 per condition per year payable at the same time as the policy excess.
The insurance agreement is between you and your insurance company and if your claim is declined or not fully paid for any reason then the outstanding balance will remain your responsibility.
Prescriptions
The policy of this practice is to re-assess an animal requiring repeat prescriptions every three to six months, but this may vary with individual circumstances. The charge for this re-examination is our standard consultation rate.
Upon request, we can also supply a written prescription under the same terms as above, this is also a chargeable service.
Clients are requested to give 48 hours advance notice for repeat prescriptions.
We strongly advise the regular use of routine anti-parasitic medication. These products in-house are Prescription Only Medicines and legally we are only able to dispense such products if an animal has been examined by one of our Veterinary Surgeons or Nurse in the last 12 months. We may therefore be required to examine your pet prior to dispensing. We offer a free nurse consultation for this purpose and these must be prebooked beforehand.
Medicine returns
The practice does not accept the return of medicines for credit, refund or swop. The return of non-medical products may be accepted in the original, undamaged package. Special orders for clients will not be available for a credit or refund if the product isn’t suitable or remains unused.
Complaints
While we hope that we can meet your expectations, there maybe a time when things do not go as you would hope. We would like to be made aware of these issues so that we can continue to improve our service and do what we can to make things right for you. If you would like to make a complaint, then please email the directors on info@milestonevets.com or write to us at Unit 12, Swift Park, Kingsteignton, TQ12 3SH. WE will look into what happened and respond to your concerns within 3 working days.
