Pet health care plans discount on treatments

33Fizz69

Hi there does anybody know what are consumer rights are in the UK if you decide that you do not want your pet to have regular annual booster vaccinations that cost £85. the surgery I said that is not taken off of our monthly amount as it is our choice ( as other pet owners there had also asked) I don't believe that can be right under our consumer rights. For example I had a bill recently for blood test of £178 so I believe if my cat has not had 2 booster vaccinations at £84 I should be getting that free or at least £84 off please could anybody advise thank you Jason Knight 

SensibleSarah

Just to clarify, are you saying that you pay the vet a monthly fee as part of a scheme, which includes certain treatments/preventatives i.e. annual boosters?
If the above is the case then the money you pay for the scheme is totally seperate from any vet bills for tests/treatment that aren't part of the preventative scheme, so won't be tranferable to another type of treatment. It'll all be in the terms of the scheme that you signed up for. If you choose not to have your pet take the vaccine that you've already paid for then that's your decision but the vet won't be under any obligation to apply that as credit on another separate bill.

Personally, I've never used one of these schemes apart from a one-off 'vacc for life' as they tend to end up costing more in my experience i.e. cheaper to get things like flea and worming treatments online as and when needed rather than from the vet as part of this kind of scheme, and boosters are a once-a-year thing that I can budget for. I have multiple pets though (2 dogs and 3 cats currently) so 5x monthly schemes would be crazy expensive on top of everything else they cost me to look after. 

Mnoee

It's sold as a bundle - like a meal deal or anything else similar. If you don't want the vaccines or the drink, there's the option of paying for the other things seperately. They're allowed to offer a bundle at a certain price, and it's up to you to do the maths and figure out if it's cheaper to buy only the things you want seperately. You can't force them to give you money back for bits of the bundle you don't want. 

Katiehound

I certainly wouldn't be buying their package.

Annual booster- that's it.
I buy all the worming tablets & a few flea/tick treatments online. Generally my dogs don't get fleas, so why would I be subjecting them to loads of chemicals?
yes, you usually get a discount off treatments but fortunately we rarely darken the door.
Fingers crossed I have healthy hounds!
At 15 my old girl no longer gets a booster... reckon she has had enough to last a long time.

TBagpuss

No, you are not entitled to a discount and it doesn't breach your consumer rights. The pacakges are pretty clear on what they include, if you chose not to take all of the elements on offerthat's up to you.

(Persoanlly, I've chosen to join for the first year, as I got the numbers and it worked out as slightly cheaper than paying separately, because mine gives a discount on spaying/neutering amd microchipping, plus my most recent kitten didn't have the best start in life so the extrahealth checks earlyt on were useful. However I don't plan to renew next year as for the flea, worm and vaccines it's generally cheaper to pay as you go along.

OP - it's up to you what you decide, byut check the terms of your pet insurance as to whether it is valid if you don't have regular checks and boosters, and also remember that kennels / catteries will require pets to be fully vaccinated (and if you don't lkeep up with the boosters, that does normally mean it tkaes a month / 6 weeks to get them fully vaccinated again, which could be a problem if you needed to put them into a cattery / kennell at short notice. Obvisouly if you have a pet sitter or other arangements then that may not be a consideration for you!)

sheramber

Why take out a fixed package with the vet if you don't want to take up all parts of it?

The parts of the scheme are not optional. You are entitled to them all.

If you choose not to use all parts then that is your choice.

It sounds like you need to discontinue paying into the scheme if the other elements of it are not worth the cost you are paying.

Novice_investor101

I signed up to my vet’s Dog health plan at £17pm. Proved invaluable when I got my 9 week old puppy in September, he was ill for the first couple of weeks & I had 4 vet consultations. It included worming treatment (we think the little devil never actually ate his 8wk worming tablet, which is why he was ill with roundworms) & second vaccinations. I only paid for 1 vet consultation & the rest was all covered on his plan, which I’d not even started paying for at that point. 

Just the two vet consultations would have been £100 alone, they didn’t charge for one of them as it was a re-consultation on the same illness. His worming paste wasn’t the one included in the plan but they allowed it at no cost because he was tiny & couldn’t have the one in the plan. 

He has all his regular puppy checks in his first 12 months included & will be getting a discount on the neutering when due. Boosters etc included. 

The flea & worm treatment might be cheaper online but the plan includes 2x vet & 2x nurse consultations a year & that peace of mind is welcome.