Need some advice after our Cat was killed

doggtired

A few nights ago our Cat was run over by a car and the driver took her to a local vet.Using the chip in the cat, the vet called my wife in the early hours of the morning, but as it was an unknown answer she didn't answer.
That morning my wife seached the unknown number, discovered it was a vets and gave them a call but it was to late and Tabitha had passed away. We arranged to collect her and were expecting a bill the following day.
The bill has now arrived and it's £900. We have absolutely no chance of paying that amount of money with only myself working at the moment and I'm unsure where we stand. I have no issues with paying for her pain relief and the time the vet spent with her but £900 seems an incredible amount for something we never actually agreed on or were warned about.
It's hard to write this and not sound callous but we're already coming to terms with losing part of the family and like everyone else, we just don't have that sort of money on hand.
Do we have any options here? Any advice would be really appreciated.
Thanks for reading

lincroft1710

Talk to the vet and explain your situation, they might compromise on the bill amount or offer a payment plan

Brie

Some of that is going to be for night time work being done.  So no different than day time but at a higher rate.  I assume they might have itemised it so you would be able to see what you might be willing to pay (pain relief) or not (emergency surgery??).

It's a difficult thing to discuss when it's emotional and unexpected.  Would writing a letter be easier?  Basically to tell the vet that as you didn't agree to anything you can't be considered liable for any costs but might be willing to contribute to their costs.  Tell them bluntly, if necessary, that their bill exceeds what you can pay.

Sorry for your loss.  I guess the one compensation is that the driver was good enough to try to help Tabitha and that the vet was caring enough to help as well.  Too many drivers just shrug and drive off.  

tealady

Can you claim off the drivers insurance?

fatbelly

From a contractual point of view, why would the contract not be between the vet and the driver?

MikeJXE

Probably because of the chip revealed the owner, it's not the drivers fault the cat was in the road or ran across it 

maisie_cat

I'm sorry about your cat, it's always heart breaking to lose a furbaby.
I think there is a legal obligation for vets to provide emergency care and they are entitled to be paid for it.
The animal's welfare overrides gaining owner permission, and they did try to contact you.
We had to pay for treatment in similar circumstances without giving express permission a few years ago, and I remember looking it up.
You may be able to come to an arrangement to pay, we weren't chased and they gave us some time, although it was nearer £500 if I remember rightly.

Undervalued

maisie_cat said:

I'm sorry about your cat, it's always heart breaking to lose a furbaby.
I think there is a legal obligation for vets to provide emergency care and they are entitled to be paid for it.
The animal's welfare overrides gaining owner permission, and they did try to contact you.
We had to pay for treatment in similar circumstances without giving express permission a few years ago, and I remember looking it up.
You may be able to come to an arrangement to pay, we weren't chased and they gave us some time, although it was nearer £500 if I remember rightly.

As I understand it, a vet is legally obliged to provide emergency first aid or euthanasia (at their discretion as to which) for a sick or injured animal, even if there is is nobody to pay the bill.

So, the question is did the treatment this vet chose to provide go beyond that? IF it did then there might be an argument that you are only liable for the minimum necessary to comply with the law.

However, your name and address was available via the microchip but you choose not to answer an unexpected call. Given that you had provided the number for emergency purposes that was clearly a mistake. Had you answered however the position wouldn't have been very much different. The vet would presumably have had to do various tests to establish how serious the injury was before an informed decision could be made? If the decision then was not to treat there may have been some financial saving but maybe not all that much?

Does the microchip and registration process include any sort of contract effectively authorising a certain amount of emergency care if the owner cant be contacted immediately? I don't know but it may well do.

Sad situation.

PennyForThem_2

I took a cat that had been a 'stray' around my garden for several years.  It was ill and I was prepared to pay.

It was chipped much to my surprise and shock.  The vet said as I was not the owner he could not do anything.  They tried to contact the owner as per the chip and came up with zilch as the owner had moved and not updated the database.  So in the end I paid what was needed.

diystarter7

Am I the only one that is confused re who pay?

The cat owner did not take the cat to the vet nor ask for treatment.
how on earth does the owner have to pay?

Who authorised the treatment?

Imagine you have a cat, its chipped,  car driver runs over cat and takes it to a vet - the bills comes to 30k, who pays - incredible thread unless I've totally missed the point which I doubt.

diystarter7

Tucosalamanca said:

diystarter7 said:

Am I the only one that is confused re who pay?

The cat owner did not take the cat to the vet nor ask for treatment.
how on earth does the owner have to pay?

Who authorised the treatment?

Imagine you have a cat, its chipped,  car driver runs over cat and takes it to a vet - the bills comes to 30k, who pays - incredible thread unless I've totally missed the point which I doubt.

What would you suggest as the alternative? Compulsory insurance for pet owners??

Perhaps you can afford to pay hundreds/thousands authorised on your behalf without your consent but I am certain most people can't and many are already on the breadline

FYI. Anyone who spends money on my behalf without my explicit consent will end up paying for it, trust me.

Thanks