Vets bill query

trudij

Oh I’m well aware that treatment estimates have to be fairly fluid - and external lab fees are always later because the lab does the test then charges after. I’ve worked in vet practice for 22 years - it’s rarely simple when you take an animal in for an appointment.

 BUT a vaccine is a set price. Nail clipping is a set price. Bloods are a set price when you know what you’re doing them for, it wasn’t a scattergun “ I’d like to run some to see what’s what because she’s poorly” it was a straightforward “ legally we need to check the liver and kidney function isn’t being compromised before we can prescribe you any more” - hence being able to have a rough idea what it was going to be before I went. I also get the wanting to double check the blood result by having the urine test ( as I stated many times - no issue with paying for that too, despite not being warned they would be sending it away, or given any kind of rough cost) 

What I wasn’t expecting was a final total for almost double, a chunk of which was for a test that I didn’t need to have for any reason other than double checking if the sample that got posted had waited around too long between the vets, the post and the lab and takes less than 15
minutes to produce and perform. 

And your vet should ALWAYS discuss costs with you if it’s extra to what is expected - I’m genuinely surprised that some don’t. 

My question was around this extra charge being handed to me after I had agreed the balance of the account with the senior partner who at the same time terminated our “contract”. 

As I said in the first post - if I’ve got to pay it then I will, but as far as I was aware, an agreed final
payment was just that - they don’t get to move the goalposts after. I wouldn’t be able to… 

sheramber

But was the agreed 'final' amount only for the bill you had received.

A charge coming on later would not be known at the time.

if you are unhappy about the second test the time to raise that was before it was done. Presumably yu agreed to it being done.

trudij

Had I have known they were going to charge me for it then I would have done. There was no indication when I was asked to bring the extra sample in that there would be a charge - even in the way she asked me. 

The results they had discussed to generate the other bill were the ones from the original urinalysis - they were aware of the charge before my final bill was made up. 

Aylesbury_Duck

You seem to have made your mind up, because anyone offering a contrary view is met with reasons why you don't think you should pay.  No one can state the definitive position because we haven't seen the contract, but there seems to be a consensus that the practice isn't going to pursue the £11 debt, so your decision is probably inconsequential.

trudij

1. At risk of doing just that - I’m not, but nobody is answering the actual question I asked - namely, if you’ve paid the amount you were told your balance was when you were also told you were being struck off that day - can they then hold you liable for a cost that they didn’t put on your bill at a later date? There must be a legal stance somewhere when your association with a business ends and the debt is paid to the best of your knowledge? 

The reasons for my issues with the practice are fairly inconsequential - I just don’t see why I should just blindly pay it when I paid the last bill in good faith that that was the end of it. 

JIL

Have you asked the vets, why when you were assured the debt was settled, there is now a new charge? Put it in writing that you want an explanation. Put the ball back in their court. 

I have just paid £6 to update my dogs chip. Like you, I was bothered by the charge rather than the amount. 

Aylesbury_Duck

trudij said:

1. At risk of doing just that - I’m not, but nobody is answering the actual question I asked - namely, if you’ve paid the amount you were told your balance was when you were also told you were being struck off that day - can they then hold you liable for a cost that they didn’t put on your bill at a later date? There must be a legal stance somewhere when your association with a business ends and the debt is paid to the best of your knowledge? 

The reasons for my issues with the practice are fairly inconsequential - I just don’t see why I should just blindly pay it when I paid the last bill in good faith that that was the end of it. 

The reason why no one has answered your question definitively is that no one other than you is in position of all of the facts.  We haven't seen your contract or the vet's terms and conditions, so we can only work on what you've told us, which isn't clear cut.  As for a legal stance, there are two things at play here as far as I can see.  One, any business can correct an error if that error was genuine, and two, your association may have ended, but I believe there is a period of up to six years where a business could pursue you for a genuine debt.  

Given all that, my best answer to your questions is that yes, if the £11 cost to them arose after they thought they'd issued a final bill, it's not unfair or unlawful for them to pass it on to you, and they have up to six years in which to do that.  In practice, I can't see them pursuing it.

sheramber

trudij said:

Had I have known they were going to charge me for it then I would have done. There was no indication when I was asked to bring the extra sample in that there would be a charge - even in the way she asked me. 

The results they had discussed to generate the other bill were the ones from the original urinalysis - they were aware of the charge before my final bill was made up. 

I have never known a vet do anything without charging.- even the vet I had used for regularly for20 years.

born_again

trudij said:

The amount is pretty irrelevant in the grand scheme of things - it’s more the principle - I agreed the price over the phone with the vet when he rang me, I kept to my side by paying that price when I said I would and then they changed the goalposts after. My question is can they change things after a final total has been agreed, not should I just cough it up for an easy life. 

 roughly how much I could expect 

So not even a fixed price quote then..

Which was the 1st visit.
Any visits after are a separate charge, even follow on appointments. Anyone that uses a vets should know that.

Just had one of our dogs with a eye ulcer. £55 for each visit + drugs, + a overnight stay for intensive treatment at one point. End bill nearly £2K (no they would not quote how much it might be at the start) as how long is a bit of string. Luckily we saved the eye. Or that could have been another £3K for a specialist clinic for further work

sheramber

trudij said:

1. At risk of doing just that - I’m not, but nobody is answering the actual question I asked - namely, if you’ve paid the amount you were told your balance was when you were also told you were being struck off that day - can they then hold you liable for a cost that they didn’t put on your bill at a later date? There must be a legal stance somewhere when your association with a business ends and the debt is paid to the best of your knowledge? 

The reasons for my issues with the practice are fairly inconsequential - I just don’t see why I should just blindly pay it when I paid the last bill in good faith that that was the end of it. 

if you want legal advice you need to consult a lawyer.