Lingfield Equine Vets – Terms and Conditions of Business (click to download)

Lingfield Equine Vets is a Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons accredited Equine Practice. Customer satisfaction is very important to us and we believe every horse, pony and donkey deserves the highest standard of veterinary care. We aim to be transparent in both the work we do for you and our terms of business. This will enable you to understand our obligations to you and yours to us. When you request our services you and we are both bound by the Terms and Conditions outlined in this document. If you have any questions, please contact a member of our staff for further explanation.

Fees:

All fees include VAT at the current rate and are determined by the time spent on a case in addition to the drugs, equipment and consumables used. Written estimates can be provided upon request and remain valid for a period of one month. Please bear in mind that any estimate given is an approximation as the progress of any illness or condition is not certain. You can be assured that the cost of prescription-only medicines is constantly monitored to ensure our prices are competitive.

Emergency Service:

Lingfield Equine Vets provide a 24 hour, seven day a week, 365 day a year veterinary service for emergencies. If you have an emergency out of working hours please call the office on 01342 300008. The answering service will then take an appropriate message and contact the duty vet who will be in touch within 10 minutes. If you have not heard back from the duty vet within this time scale, please call the same number again.

We endeavour to get a vet to an emergency within an hour of a call being made to the practice. If an emergency visit is required during working hours a discretionary surcharge may be applied due to the inconvenience this may cause other clients. Out of hours an emergency surcharge will be added to each visit. The out of hours surcharge varies depending on the time that the client contacts the out of hours emergency service, a list of the current emergency surcharge fees is available from our office team.

Payment Terms:

It is our policy that all clients need to build up a satisfactory credit record with us and will require payment at the time of treatment for at least the first three appointments.

We offer a 10% discount for immediate payment at the time of service for all clients.

Cancellation of an appointment within 24 hours of the appointment date and time will be subject to a discretionary cancellation charge.

Payment is due within 30 days of the date of the invoice. Cumulative interest at 5% per month will be added to all accounts that remain unpaid after 1 month from the date of the invoice.

When horses are seen at our clinic, clients are asked to pay on collection unless other arrangements have been agreed with a practice partner. If your horse is admitted to the hospital you may be asked to pay a deposit towards treatment within 24 hours of their arrival.

Failure to settle your outstanding balance within invoice terms will result in referral to our debt collection agency. Further charges, for which the client will be liable, will be levied in respect of costs incurred in collecting the debt. We may also inform other local veterinary practices of the reasons for referral of the debt to the debt collection agency.

Clients who are persistently late in paying will be required to pay all fees in advance or at the time of treatment and access to our veterinary services may be withdrawn.

Payment methods:

• Cash
• Cheques payable to Lingfield Equine Vets
• Credit/debit card (Switch, Solo, Mastercard, Visa and Delta – we do not accept American Express)
• Online or by bank transfer. Please reference online payments with the account holders surname and the horse’s name. Account No: 43351462 Sort Code: 09-06-66

Returned cheques and payments:

Any cheque which you issue which is returned unpaid or any credit/debit card payment which is not honoured, or any cash payment which is found to be counterfeit will result in your account being restored to the original sum. Additional charges may also be incurred in the process.

Inability to pay:

If at any point you find yourself in the unfortunate position of being unable to pay your account, please contact our accounts department immediately to discuss the situation.

Equine Health Insurance and Liabilities

Lingfield Equine Vets accepts no responsibility for accidents or incidents that occur whilst any equine is under our care. It is the owner’s responsibility to provide your own insurance cover.

Horse Health Insurance:

Lingfield Equine Vets strongly supports the principle of insuring your horse against illness or accident. The role of the insurance company is to reimburse you for fees incurred for veterinary treatment.

Indirect equine insurance claims refer to claims made by the horse owner or policyholder directly to the insurance company for covered expenses related to their horse’s health, injury or loss. In contrast, direct equine insurance claims involve the veterinary practice or service provider submitting the claim on behalf of the horse owner, with the insurer reimbursing the veterinary practice for the covered expenses incurred while treating the horse.

Whilst we ideally would request that all fees are paid directly to us we do offer the opportunity to make a direct insurance claim but please be aware there is a nominal ‘admin fee’ for this service payable on submission of the claim along with the policy excess. This accounts for the administration time and effort for handling the claim. We do not offer the opportunity for an direct claim if the total amount being claimed is less than £500.

We cannot guarantee that your insurance company will cover the costs of your horse’s treatment and you are therefore encouraged to contact them before any treatment has been administered. Prompt submission of claim forms will help towards obtaining prompt payment from the insurance company.

Termination of Services:

You may ask us to stop caring for your horses at any time. Alternatively, we may withdraw our services if: –
•You do not accept our advice
•We no longer have the expertise
•You fail to settle your account on time
•We are prohibited by law from doing any further work on your case
•If the relationship between you and us sadly breaks down

Under any of these circumstances we will serve notice in writing of imminent withdrawal of services.

Ownership of Your Horse’s Records:

All case records, x-rays, scans and similar documents are the property of, and will be retained by Lingfield Equine Vets. Upon request, copies of records with a summary of the history of your horse will be passed to you or another Veterinary Surgeon taking over your horses’ care and treatment.

Trainers/Livery Yards:

Please ensure that you have made a suitable agreement with the livery/training yard owner that gives them permission to call the practice and book appointments on your behalf and authorise the treatment of your horse. The account holder remains liable for any fees on the account irrespective of who booked the appointment as long as they were authorised on the account.

Equal Opportunities:

We are an equal opportunities employer and we are committed to providing the same high quality service to all our clients regardless of age, disability, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation.

Passports:

It is a legal requirement for all horses, ponies, donkeys and mules to have passports which should be available for the vet to check. If you do not have a passport we can help you obtain one. We strongly recommend that passports are signed by you the owner to confirm that the horse is not intended for human consumption. If a passport is not available a detailed record of your equine’s medical products must be retained. This information is available on your account documentation.

Prescriptions:

Prescriptions are available from the practice. We can only provide a prescription for an animal with a passport. You will be informed, on request, of the price of any medicine that may be dispensed for your animal or the price of a prescription for you to purchase the medication yourself. If multiple medications are required they each require a separate prescription and each will incur a prescription fee. The general policy of this practice is to re-assess an animal requiring repeat prescriptions every 6 months. The standard charge for an examination is available on request.

Complaints and Feedback:

Lingfield Equine Vets are committed to using comments (either positive or negative) from clients to continuously monitor and improve the services it provides. We appreciate feedback and hope that clients will speak up when standards of care either exceed or fall below their expectations. The partners review all comments received from clients and the information is then forwarded to the appropriate staff. In this way we can strive to continuously improve the quality of the service that we offer. Should you feel dissatisfied with any aspect of your experience with the practice please discuss it with your veterinary surgeon or a Practice Partner. 

Second Opinions:

While we endeavour to provide the highest level of care for you and your horse, if you wish to request a referral to or a second opinion from another practice we will, with your permission, forward on all clinical records promptly to that practice. 

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 Lingfield Equine Vets partners. Additionally, no agent or person employed by or under contract with the Practice has the authority to later or vary these terms and conditions in anyway.

Data Protection:

In holding and using data about you we will comply with the provisions of the Data Protection Act 2018. In instructing us to look after your horse, you authorise us to use that data in the course of the work that we do for you and also to send you from time to time in the future, free of charge, details of the services that we provide. We will, where specifically required, pass on to insurers details of clinical histories, case records and diagnostic images relating to your horse. It is your responsibility to ensure that the personal information that we have for you is up to date and accurate.

Limitation of Liability:

This condition applies to any claim by you, against us (including any successor business) and any past, present or future directors of this firm and/or any past, present or future employees of this firm. Such claim shall be limited in amount to £5000.00 for each and every claim, including claimants costs. All claims, whether made by one or more of the parties referred to above or by a third party, arising from the same act or omissions shall be regarded as one claim. For the avoidance of doubt, this limitation of liability shall apply to any claim for negligence, breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, breach of trust and or any liability whatsoever.

Zero Tolerance Policy: We take the safety and wellbeing of our staff and all animals in our care extremely seriously. Therefore, in entering into this contract you are agreeing to comply with our Zero Tolerance Policy, which can be found on our website or which you can request from the Practice. We reserve the right to refuse to supply Services to you if you fail to comply with our Zero Tolerance Policy.