Payment & Insurance

In order to provide the highest possible standard of care for your pet, we require the best drugs and materials available and a lot of expensive equipment, all funded by the fees you pay. We try to keep our fees reasonable but also realistic. To help keep administration costs to a minimum, we ask that payment is made at the time of treatment and we are pleased to accept most major credit cards and cheques with a bankers card.

ASHWOOD VETERINARY CLINIC

TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS

Thank you for entrusting the care and attention of your pet to the Ashwood Veterinary Clinic. This letter details our Practice Terms and Conditions.
Some aspects of the Terms may not be relevant to you and we request that you ask for further explanation/clarification if required.

FEES
All fees, diets and drug charges are subject to VAT at the current rate. Fee levels are determined in addition to Practice overheads and facilities by the
time spent on a case and according to the drugs, materials, consumables and diets used. Our written fee list is available on request. You will receive a detailed fee note for every consultation, surgical procedure or transaction with us.

METHODS OF PAYMENT
Accounts are due for settlement at the end of the consultation, the discharge of your pet or upon collection of drugs/diets. You may settle the account using:
- CASH
- CHEQUE with current Bank Card
- CREDIT/DEBIT CARD – Switch, Solo, MasterCard, Visa, Delta.

ESTIMATES OF TREATMENT COSTS
We will happily provide a written estimate as to the probable costs of a course of treatment. Please bear in mind that any estimate given is only approximate – often a pet’s illness will not follow a conventional course.

SETTLEMENT TERMS
Should an account not be settled within 14 days then a reminder would be sent with an additional accounting fee in respect of administrative costs incurred. Should it be necessary for further reminders to be sent, further
charges will be incurred. These, however, maybe waived if payment is made promptly. After due notice, to you the client, overdue accounts will be referred to our Debt Collection Agency and further charges will be levied in respect if costs incurred in collecting the debt, such as production of reports, correspondence, court fees, attendance at court, phone calls, home visits, etc. Any cheque returned by our Bank as unpaid, any Credit Card payment not honoured and any Cash tendered that is found to be counterfeit will result in the original account being restored to the original sum with further charges added in respect of bank charges and administrative costs together with interest on the principal sum.

VETERINARY MEDICINES REGULATIONS
The Veterinary Medicines Regulations 2005 came into effect 30th October 2005 and implement various regulations by the DTI and VMB. Veterinary drugs will be placed into new distribution categories and Veterinary Surgeons can now supply prescription only medicines prescribed by other Veterinary Surgeons, as well as supplying their own prescriptions.
Your Veterinary Surgeon may prescribe POMVs only for animals under his care. To comply with this law, the general policy of this practice is to reassess any animal requiring repeat prescriptions at a maximum interval of 6 MONTHS. This may reduce with the condition being prescribed for and the individual circumstances.
Further information on the prices of medicines is available on request and you can be informed on request of the price of any medication that may be prescribed for your animal. Prescriptions are available from this practice and you may obtain prescription only medicines from your Veterinary Surgeons or ask for a prescription and obtain these medicines from another Veterinary Surgeon or pharmacy. A prescription may not be appropriate if your animal is an inpatient or immediate treatment is required.
Updated 4.11.2009

INABILITY TO PAY
If, for any reason, you are unable to settle your account as specified, we ask you to discuss the matter as soon as possible with the attending Veterinary Surgeon.

PET HEALTH INSURANCE
Ashwood Veterinary Clinic strongly supports the principle of insuring your pet against unexpected illness or accidents. Please ask for details about insurance from any member of staff. Please be aware that it is your responsibility to settle your account and then reclaim the fees from your Insurance Company.

COMPLAINTS AND STANDARDS
We hope that you never have recourse to complain about the standards of service received from Ashwood Veterinary Clinic, however, if you feel that there is something you wish to complain about, please direct your comments in the first instance to the attending Veterinary Surgeon.

OWNERSHIP OF RECORDS
Case records including radiographs and similar documents are the property of, and will be retained by Ashwood Veterinary Clinic. Copies with a summary of the history will be passed on request to another veterinary surgeon taking over the case and to requesting insurance companies.

 

OWNERSHIP OF RADIOGRAPHS AND SIMILAR RECORDS
The care given to your animal may involve making some specific investigations, for example taking radiographs (x-rays) or performing ultrasound scans. Even though we make a charge for carrying out these investigations and interpreting their results, ownership of the resulting record, for example a radiograph remains with Ashwood Veterinary Clinic.

 

 

 

No addition or variation of these conditions will bind the practice (Ashwood Veterinary Clinic) unless it is specifically agreed in writing and signed by one the practice partners.

No agent or person employed by, or under contract with, the practice (Ashwood Veterinary Clinic) has the authority to alter or vary these conditions in any way.

 

ASHWOOD VETERINARY CLINIC
448 LICHFIELD ROAD
FOUR OAKS
SUTTON COLDFIELD
WEST MIDLANDS
B74 4EP

0121 308 1128
www.ashwoodvet.co.uk
 

 

Pet Insurance helps ensure you can give your pet the treatment it deserves
 

Did you know?
 

1 in 3 pets may require urgent veterinary attention this year
 You are more likely to claim on your pet insurance than your household policies
Technological advances mean vets are able to do more for pets including using the latest diagnostic tools which can be expensive
Third party liability cover for dogs is increasingly important in case of legal action ( this may be covered on your household policy we suggest you check).

What to look for when choosing a pet insurance policy
 

Not all pet insurance is the same ~ there are 3 main types of policy
 

Lifetime or Covered for life:
Cover is provided up to a set amount for vet fees each year which is renewed at the start of each policy year. As long as you continue to renew the policy without a break in cover there is no time limit on how long you can claim for each illness or injury.Problems are covered for life eg diabetes or allergies.
 

Time –limited policies
Cover is provided up to a maximum per condition and there is a 12 month limit on how long you can claim for each condition. This means that ongoing conditions such as allergies arthritis or diabetes are only covered for the first 12 months and after12 months these conditions will be excluded from your policy cover.

Maximum Benefit
Cover is provided up to a maximum amount per condition but there is no limit on how long you can claim. The remaining benefit reduces each time you claim until cover for that condition is exhausted.

It is worth also checking a number of things before you choose your policy:
Will the company insure your pet in to old age. Check benefit levels & excesses.
Check the company will not place exclusions at renewal for conditions that occurred in the previous year
Check the company will cover congenital or hereditary illness ,dental treatment or behavioural problems. A pet insurance specialist is always recommended.

Practice Facilities

The partners have always believed in investing in facilities- other Practices achieve higher personal profits from smaller poorly equipped premises- this has never been Ashwood's policy. Examples of some of the equipment and costing that the practice has invested in over the years in order to provide the best service we can, include-

 

X-ray machines £38000 ( Main clinic) X-ray machine £9500 ( Branch clinic)  Automatic Xray Processors (2) £8200 Schein Dental machine £5000   Operating Tables (3) £4500 Flexible Fibreoptic £4500 New Autoclave £3600 Computerised Record System £30000 ECG £2000 Dental Ultrasonic Machine (2) £800 Haematology Analyser £3800 Biochemistry Analyser £5500 Bacterial Incubator £400 Microscope (2) £800 Additional Kenneling £900 Refurbishment of Branch Clinic £55000 Equipment Upgrade £22500