Please take the time to read through our Day to Day Practice Policies.

Terms and Conditions

These provide the basis for the contract between the client and the Veterinary Surgery. If you require clarification on any of the below please do not hesitate to ask.

1) Appointments and consultations.

All appointments and examinations with the vet attract a fee. Clients and their pets are attended to by Veterinary Surgeons and Nurses during consulting hours by appointment. The charging process is based on the allocation of appointments, and/or the consultation process, with or without a pet present. Appointments are available in the morning, afternoon and early evening. Urgent cases will be seen outside consulting hours during the day, but you may be asked to sit and wait until a Veterinary Professional is available to attend to your pet. All prices are inclusive of VAT at the current rate. If you fail to attend an appointment without contacting us to inform us, on the third occasion of thisyour account will be stopped and no further services will be made available to you.

​2) Out of hours.

Our out of hours care is provided by Vets Now – Gateshead and Wear Referrals. Although we liaise with Vets Now – Gateshead and Wear Referrals for the provision of 24 hour care, Vets Now – Gateshead and Wear Referrals are separate businesses and therefore have separate pricing, over which we have no influence.

3) Estimates.

The practice can provide written estimates of probable costs for procedures and treatments. It is important to consider that treatments and procedures may not follow a conventional course and therefore an estimate may only be approximate. However, we will do our best to keep clients fully informed of costs during the course of treatment and will do so if the expected fee is to be more than 20% greater than the original estimate. In the case of some routine procedures we will give quotations. Some additional fees may be added to quotations for additional services and goods provided in unforeseen circumstances.

4) Payment.

All transactions (a transaction is defined as the transfer or sale of goods, services, treatments and fees from the practice to the client) are to be paid for immediately. The practice accepts cash, credit and debit cards and payment in advance. Payments are accepted by chip-and-pin cards only. In cases where a patient is admitted for disease investigation, surgery and/or treatment, payment is due at the end of the investigation/treatment.

5) Payment terms.

The practice welcomes prior warning of genuine inability to pay as specified in “4. Payment”. To pay in instalments, or in full at an agreed date, will only be offered in the instance where the pet will likely suffer catastrophic outcomes if the treatment is not provided immediately, and the prognosis is expected to be good as a result. This must be arranged at the time of transaction, prior to commencement of treatment. Fees for vaccinations and other routine procedures do not attract payment terms in any circumstances and must be postponed until payment can be made. If payment terms are not met, the outstanding amount will lead to our debt recovery process being initiated. If no payment terms have been agreed, or if no forewarning of inability to pay is received, interest and accountancy fees may be applied from the day the debt is incurred. Goods and services, which have not been paid for, will remain the property of the practice until payment is received in full. If patient records are requested to be released to another practice where the client owes money to Sore Paws Veterinary Clinics then immediate payment in full should be provided. Transferred records may include comment on non-payment.

6) Payment terms – insured pets.

Clients with insured pets which have incurred fees are required to pay Sore Paws Veterinary Clinic in full in accordance with point 4 above. Clients will be requested to make a claim to their insurers for direct payment to the client. However, in exceptional circumstances, where the full amount cannot be paid, then an agreement for payment arrangements must be made with the practice. In such circumstances the client must provide evidence of a valid and appropriate policy. Payment of the policy excess(es) and payment for all goods not covered by the policy are due at the time of the transaction and are the responsibility of the client. The insurance policy is a contract between the client and the insurer – the practice cannot adjust fees, complete claim forms with client details, advise clients or liaise between clients and the insurers. We reserve the right to charge for processing claim forms – fees for this service are not covered by such policies. In the event that a dispute arises regarding pay out by an insurance company, this is between the client and their insurers. Any sum outstanding remains the sole responsibility of the client.

7) Payment terms – defaults.

When a client of Sore Paws Veterinary Clinics has defaulted on a payment, either at the time of a transaction or on a payment agreement, for any reason, our debt recovery process will be initiated, and Veterinary Surgeons and staff employed by the company may not attend to any animal owned by that client, or attend to any animal registered at that client’s home address, until full payment is received. If the company agrees to retain a client with a payment default record, all future transactions will be expected to be paid in full.

​8) Payment – unsupported.

Any cheques returned by the bank as not honoured, any credit card payments not honoured and any cash tendered found to be counterfeit will result in the client record being restored to the original sum. Further charges added in respect of bank charges, administrative charges and interest charged on the original sum from the date of the transaction will be applied to the account. Full payment will then be due immediately. Fraudulent transactions will be reported to the police.

​9) Goods ordered.

Payment must be taken at the time of goods ordered by a client, for example repeat prescriptions, prescription foods, and these items must be collected within a reasonable time. Refunds of non-collected goods will not be given unless exceptional circumstances can be demonstrated and this is at the discretion of management..

​10) Medicine returns.

The practice does not accept the return of medicines for credit, refund or swap. There may be a charge for disposal of returned medicines. The return of non-medical products may be accepted in the original, undamaged package.

​11) Second opinions and referrals.

When another Veterinary Practice requires the details of a patient’s history for the purposes of a second opinion, a patient referral or if a client has changed practice, then the records will be passed directly to the second practice following consent from the client.

​12) Referral practice costs.

All fees incurred by a client at a referral practice are to be paid directly to the referral practice by the client.

​​13) Investigative care.

The care given to pets may require making specific investigations. The practice makes a charge for carrying out these investigations and interpreting their results.

​14) Prescriptions.

Repeat prescriptions should be ordered in advance. Drugs, and all other goods, are to be paid for at the time of collection or in advance (see also clause 10). Sore Paws Veterinary Clinics will provide written prescriptions for treatments prescribed by the Veterinary Surgeons at the practice, if requested for a fee. Clients may then present the prescription to a high street pharmacy, internet pharmacy or another veterinary practice to obtain the goods. All pets requiring on-going treatment with a POM-V (Veterinary Prescription Only Medicine) or POM (Prescription Only Medicine) are required to be examined by a veterinary surgeon regularly. The most common frequency is every six months. This examination applies to those clients who request a written prescription for their pet’s treatment and to those who purchase their drugs directly from us. All patients prescribed flea treatments are required to be examined at the clinic at least once.

​15) Reminders.

The provision of reminders for vaccinations and other services and products by Sore Paws Veterinary Clinics is a courtesy – there is no obligation on the practice or the staff regarding the consequences of failure to provide such reminders.

​16) Hospitalised pets – non collection.

If a pet which has been hospitalised at the clinic for treatment or surgery and is not collected by the owner, or the owner’s representative, within a period of two weeks after the agreed collection date, then the staff, (having used all possible means to contact the owner), will take measures to rehome the pet. Money owed to the clinic will remain outstanding. Additional boarding fees will be added daily and, in the event of the pet being collected at a later than agreed date, these fees, along with all other outstanding fees, will be payable before collection of the pet.

​17) Telephone calls.

The details (client name, date, time and reason for call) of all incoming telephone calls are noted in writing and all calls are recorded.

​18) Data protection.

Sore Paws Veterinary Clinics adhere to the Data Protection Act.

​19) Declining Registration.

We reserve the right to decline or remove registration and notice of this will be provided.

20) Abusive Behaviour.

We reserve the right to terminate telephone calls if our staff are feeling threatened or subjected to verbal abuse. We reserve the right to remove clients from our register and cease to provide further Veterinary services if we consider their conduct and behaviour to be unreasonable, threatening, or in breach of the above terms and conditions. Notification of this will be provided formally in writing.