The Vet Van Limited (‘we’, ‘us’, ‘our’, ‘ours’) is a limited company registered in England and Wales with the registration number 16780927 and whose registered office is 12 Bourges View Park, Maskew Avenue, Peterborough, PE1 2FG. This document sets out the terms of the contract between us (The Vet Van) and you (the registered animal owner or individual requiring veterinary services).

 

We love caring for your pets and appreciate your understanding of our policies to ensure a smooth and efficient service. Please review the following details carefully.

 

Services

 

We will provide veterinary services to you during our normal business hours. We will also provide emergency veterinary services to you outside our normal business hours either ourselves or by referring you to another local practice or veterinary service with whom we have an appropriate arrangement. We may change our normal business hours from time to time – please see our website for current opening hours.

We reserve the right to provide any veterinary services at our discretion and at any time. We will carry out the veterinary services by the time or within the period which you and we agree. If you and we have agreed no time or period, this will be within a reasonable time.

We are unable to provide services to minors under the age of 16.

Reminders are provided as a complimentary service to our clients. We accept no liability for any loss, damages or costs which may result from the failure of a client to receive a reminder.

Online Booking & Cancellation

 

We appreciate life happens and sometimes you may need to alter an appointment. If more than 24 hours’ notice is given, no fee will be charged.

If an appointment is cancelled within 24 hours, or the pet is unavailable during our scheduled appointment time, the full fee (consultation + call out fee) will be payable. The Vet Van reserves the right to charge a cancellation fee if you miss or cancel an appointment without sufficient notice. The cancellation fee will be applied to your account.

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When booking online you are making an appointment request for your preferred day and time. Once we have the list of booking requests for the day we allocate clients a 2 hour window based on their location. This helps to improve our sustainability and environmental impact as a business. This also allows us to keep our costs comparable to ‘bricks and mortar’ vet clinics who have no travel costs. Clients are permitted to change to another day if the time given is not suitable until we can find a mutually suitable time.

 

Priority booking is available for clients who would like to select the hour the vet comes on their chosen day. This comes at a premium cost. An estimated time of arrival is given within 1 hour of the client’s chosen time.

Urgent Vet Visits (Within 24 Hours)

Although the system will allow booking up to 2 hours before the appointment time, please avoid booking urgent same day appointments on the website. The list for the day will have already been made and additional bookings could then affect our punctuality for pre-booked clients. If you need to make an urgent booking request for a same day appointment please Whatsapp us, call us on 07362 485 071, or use the Lupa chat function.

 

Emergencies and Out of Hours Policy

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Being a mobile practice we have limited resources available to provide emergency and critical care. If your pet is collapsed, struggling to breathe or bleeding profusely please take them to the nearest vet clinic immediately. All clients should familiarise themselves with their nearest day clinic and 24 hour vet hospital for this reason.

If your pet needs to be seen urgently or you are unsure where your nearest clinic is please contact us by telephone (07362 485071). If this is out of our normal operating hours you will be directed to our out of hours provider. During operational hours, emergencies may be directed to one of our partner practices. Several practices are available during the day. On Saturdays please contact Medivet Bretton (01733 333444). Our out of hours provider for true emergencies only is Vets Now Peterborough (01733 665587). Details of out-of-hours care, including contact details, address and the estimated price of an initial consult can be obtained on the website

 

If you require an emergency euthanasia service (evenings and weekends) we may be able to provide this for you (subject to availability). In the first instance please call and leave a message or Whataspp and we will advise you whether we can accept the booking or direct you to another provider.

 

 

Booking of Multiple Pets

 

Please ensure you book all animals in at the time of appointment request. Only one call out fee will be charged per visit. Consultations are charged on a per-pet basis (£65 per consultation).

 

Prescription Policy

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Prescriptions are available. You may obtain Prescription Only Medicines, category V (POM-Vs) from your veterinary surgeon.  Alternatively, you may ask for a written prescription and obtain these medicines from another veterinary surgeon or pharmacy. Your veterinary surgeon may prescribe POM-Vs only for animals under his or her care. A written prescription may not be appropriate if immediate treatment is necessary.

You will be informed of the price of any medicine that may be prescribed for your animal. Frequency of patient examination is 3 or 6 months, depending on the type of medication, individual circumstances and the opinion of the veterinary surgeon. Schedule 3 drugs are Home Office regulated. With the exception of Phenobarbital, these medications can only be prescribed in 28-day instalments and animals must be examined every 3 months.

 

In-patient Care

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We do not have our own hospital facilities due to the nature of our business. We also do not hold appropriate licenses to allow transportation of patients. Should your pet require hospitalisation, the veterinary surgeon will inform the client of the procedure for the continuous care of your pet.

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Referrals

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We are happy to facilitate the request for a referral or second opinion. Veterinary surgeons will recognise when a case or a treatment option is outside their area of competence and may refer to a Specialist, Advanced Practitioner, or other Veterinary Surgeon whom they are satisfied is competent to carry out the designated treatment.

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Veterinary and Nursing Students

Students may occasionally be involved in the care of your pet. You will have the opportunity to give consent and you can withdraw this consent at any time.

Parking Requirements and Property Access

Please ensure access to your property. If you know your property is particularly difficult to locate please advise us in advance where possible.

Availability of Client for Appointments

Please ensure you are available 1 hour before or after the scheduled appointment.
You are welcome to call the vet to confirm the time on the day of the appointment.

 

Preparing for the Appointment (for Cats)

Ensure that your cat is ready for examination in an enclosed room with no hiding spots.
If the cat is not available or the vet cannot access the property, the full consultation fee will be charged. If your cat is nervous please book a pre consult planning telephone consultation with us to discuss further.

We kindly request that your cat be placed in a ground floor room with minimal hiding spots for their examination. If the cat is located in an upstairs room, particularly in a bedroom, we reserve the right to refuse to examine them in that area, and they must be brought down to a ground level room. Your cooperation ensures a smooth and efficient examination.

Location Restrictions

Home visits are available within the following localities: Stamford, Barnack, Bainton, Ashton, Helpston, Glinton, Castor, Ailsworth, Etton, Maxey, Northborough, Market Deeping, Langtoft, Baston, Barholm, Greatford, Braceborough, Thurlby, Manthorpe, Bourne, Toft, Witham on the Hill, Carlby, Essendine, Ryhall, Belmesthorpe, Uffington, Casterton, Tinwell, Ketton, Collyweston, Easton on the Hill, Wittering, Kings Cliffe, Yarwell, Nassington, Stilton.

 

Estimated Arrival Times

Appointment times are approximate due to the nature of our work. Please ensure you are available within 1 hour before or after the estimated arrival time (ETA).
If the vet is delayed by more than 20 minutes, we will try our best to contact you to inform you of the new ETA.

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Pre-Visit Consultation for Nervous Pets

We are happy to see pets who find visiting a vet clinic frightening. Please consider booking a pre visit telephone consult if you have any questions as to how best prepare for the visit.

 

Smoking is prohibited

For the health and safety of veterinary staff smoking or exposure to unventilated rooms with smoke is prohibited.​

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Complaints or Feedback

 

We’re committed to providing the highest standards of care. As a small business our clients benefit from direct interaction with the vet and clinic owner.  This helps to reduce the level of complaints that may be experienced in a larger practice and generally our clients are satisfied with our service. However, we understand that from time to time we may not always get it right. Where clients have reasonable feedback or complaints, please give us a call or send us an email for the attention of the clinic owner. Where a complaint involves a member of staff that is employed by the clinic, we may require up to 10 days to investigate the matter.

 

Behaviour

 

We take a zero-tolerance approach against intrusive, offensive, violent or aggressive behaviour. Examples of behaviour that we deem unacceptable are: making malicious allegations about our staff or other clients; derogatory racial or sexual remarks; offensive sexual gestures or behaviour; using violent, threatening or abusive language (including swearing and offensive remarks); violent, threatening or abusive behaviour towards our staff, our clients or pets in our care; theft and other criminal activity; and non-compliance with the practice’s health and safety requirements.

Please note that we have the right to refuse to provide you services. We reserve the right, at our discretion, to decline to supply veterinary services, and/or to terminate our contract with you if you or any person accompanying or connected with you engage in any such behaviour, whether in our practice or when speaking to our staff via telephone, email or through our website. We understand that not all animals will respond to treatment as hoped which can be very distressing and will take this into account when dealing with such behaviour.

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Our staff are supplied with Lone Worker technology at all times and are fully traceable and trackable.

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Loss or damage

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We are not responsible for any loss or damage that is not foreseeable. Loss or damage is foreseeable if either it is obvious that it will happen or if, at the time the contract was made, both we and you knew it might happen. We are also not responsible for any damages resulting from you acting contrary to or failing to act in accordance with the instructions of us or our staff. If you purchase products from us (including medication), we will not be liable for your use of any products otherwise than in accordance with their instructions or as directed by our staff.

Our products and services are intended for domestic and private use only. If you use the services or any products that we supply in providing the services for any commercial, business or re-sale purpose we will have no liability to you including for any loss of profit, loss of business, business interruption, or loss of business opportunity.

We do not exclude or limit in any way our liability to you where it would be unlawful to do so. This includes liability for death or personal injury to human beings caused by our negligence or the negligence of our employees, agents or subcontractors; for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation; or for breach of your legal rights in relation to our services.

Subject to the above exceptions, our liability to you for any damages, losses, claims, costs or expenses arising out of our supply of any products or services shall not exceed: (a) if the supply of those goods or services are covered by our public liability or professional indemnity insurance, the limit of that insurance for each claim or series of connected claims; and (b) if the supply of those goods or services are not covered by our public liability or professional indemnity insurance, the value of the total fees paid or payable by you for the products or services in question.

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Settlement Terms

 

Accounts should be settled at the time of consultation. Please ensure that you have sufficient funds prior to booking. We do not offer credit.

A reminder will be sent if an account  is not settled within seven days. This will include an additional administration fee in respect of the administrative costs incurred. Additional charges will be incurred if further reminders are required. These however, may be deducted at our sole discretion if payment is made promptly. After due notice to you, overdue accounts will be referred to our debt collection agency and further charges will be levied in respect of costs incurred in collecting the debt (these include, but are not limited to, the production of reports, correspondence, court fees, attendance at court, phone calls and home visits).

 

Ownership of records

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Case records, including ultrasound images, clinical notes, laboratory records and similar documents, are our property and will be retained by us. Part of the fees charged will be for the interpretation of such images or laboratory reports. A summary of the history will be passed on to another veterinary surgeon taking over the case. Should you wish to obtain a copy of the case records or radiographs, we will provide these on payment of an appropriate fee.

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Estimates

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We will provide written estimates as to the probable costs of a course of treatment. Please bear in mind that any estimate given can only be approximate as it is not always possible to predict how a pet’s illness will progress. In the event you are not present ae will treat your pet as is necessary for the prevention of pain and suffering.

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Insurance Claims

 

You must advise us prior to any treatment if you wish us to submit a claim directly to your insurer in respect of our fees. If you fail to do so, it is your responsibility to pay our fees at the time of treatment and then reclaim them from your insurance company. Please note that the The Pet Plan is not an insurance policy.

Direct claims are available for claims over £500. An administration fee of £25 per condition per policy year applies to direct claims. This fee accounts for the administration time involved in processing insurance claims.

For new claims or conditions, this fee must be paid before we are able to process the claim.

Please note that this administration fee is non-refundable and is not covered by most insurance companies.

Clients are responsible for ensuring that the total claim amount exceeds their policy excess and is sufficient to justify submission of a claim.

Kindly allow up to four weeks for us to process your claim.

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Nail Clipping and Anal Glands

 

These are charged as an additional extra to the cost of the standard health consultation unless you are enrolled on The Pet Plan.

 

Social Media

 

We love sharing stories, videos, and photos of our wonderful pet and clients on social media. You will have the opportunity to give consent during a visit and you can withdraw this consent at any time.