Thank you for entrusting the care and attention of your pet to Paws Indoors Ltd. By accepting our services and/or purchase of goods, you contractually agree to Paws Indoors Ltd. Terms of Business as set out below. Please ask for further explanation/ clarification if required.
New Clients
We accept new clients who have completed our registration form online or over the phone and live within our catchment area. Registration is not confirmed until at least one pet has been booked in for a registration visit or regular consultation/vaccination. By registering, you give permission to Paws Indoors Ltd to contact your previous vet/s for any relevant medical history.
Consultations
Appointments can be booked between 9 a.m. and 5.30 p.m. Monday to Friday. Any appointments requested with less than 24 hours’ notice are made at the vet’s discretion and will incur an additional fee. At the vet’s discretion, appointments can be made for a Saturday morning between 8.30 and 12.30.
Appointment times cannot be guaranteed. We will do our best to arrive within half an hour either side of the agreed time and, where possible, will keep you informed of any delay. Emergencies – as judged by the vet on clinical, welfare or humane grounds, are always given priority, and in some cases, this means that less urgent appointments will need to be rearranged. We will attempt to do this with minimum disruption to existing appointments. Still, we cannot be held responsible for the consequences of appointments being cancelled or delayed owing to attendance at an emergency, road traffic or weather conditions. We reserve the right to charge a full consultation fee if we attend your premises at the agreed time and either you or your pet is absent.
24 Hour Emergency Service
When the surgery is closed, Paws Indoors clients can source emergency cover at Norwich Night Vets. You should call us on the usual telephone number, and this will give you the telephone number of our emergency service provider. Norwich Night Vet provide cover between 6.00 p.m. and 08.30 a.m. Monday to Friday, after 12.30 p.m. on Saturdays and all day on Sundays and Bank Holidays. Norwich Night Vet do not make house calls. Any fees charged by Norwich Night Vet should be settled with them directly at the time of treatment.
Inpatients
All inpatients are cared for at the static site in Hempnall. The duty veterinary surgeon checks them regularly throughout the day and night. The frequency and timing of checks will be based on the condition and level of care required by your pet as judged by the vet. Pets in the hospital are not monitored continuously except when under or recovering from anaesthesia.
Fees
All fees, diets and drug charges are subject to VAT at the current rate. Fee levels are determined by the time spent on a case and according to the drugs, materials, consumables, and diets used. Details of our fees and the cost of prescription medications will be provided on request. In giving instructions, either in person or by your agent, for an animal to be treated, you will be responsible for our charges. An itemised invoice is generated for every consultation, procedure, or transaction. Wherever possible, we can give an estimate of treatment costs. Please bear in mind that any estimate given can only be approximate – often, a pet’s illness will not follow a conventional course.
Settlement Terms
All fees are to be paid at the time of the consultation or when a pet is discharged home unless account terms have been agreed upon in advance. Where account terms are agreed, an invoice will be sent and should be settled within 30 days. Any invoice not paid within 30 days will incur an additional fee of 1.5% in respect of administrative costs.
Should it be necessary for further reminders to be sent, additional charges will be incurred. After due notice to you, the client, overdue accounts will automatically be referred to our Debt Collection Agency whose charges will be added to and payable with the invoice debt. Interest will also be charged on the full amount at a rate of 5% above the Bank Base Rate from the date the debt was incurred until payment is received.
Any account unpaid, 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 any discounts being removed and the 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. We accept cash, cheques, credit, and debit cards or can provide you with bank details for payment by BACS.
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 director. Please note that instalments or part-payments of any account may ONLY be sanctioned with the express permission of the director.
Pet Health Insurance
Paws Indoors Ltd strongly supports the principle of insuring your pet against unexpected illness or accidents. It is your responsibility to choose a policy that provides the level of cover that you require. Some companies offer annual policies and exclude ongoing conditions at the end of the year. It is the opinion of Paws Indoors Ltd that lifetime policies provide the best cover for pets. Unless otherwise agreed in advance, it is the responsibility of the client to settle our account directly with us as detailed in the settlement terms above and to reclaim any amounts covered by their policy from the insurance company concerned. Paws Indoors Ltd accepts no liability if your claim should be rejected in part or in full, and any outstanding invoices remain your responsibility. There is a fee for processing an insurance claim form for each new condition, but not for continuation claims. The fee is £25 (incl vat). This is not usually covered by insurance policies.
Prescriptions, repeat prescriptions and medication
Please give five days’ notice of your requirements for repeat prescriptions. If you prefer to receive a written prescription to be filled at a local or online pharmacy, this will be provided. The cost of a written prescription is £19 (incl vat). All veterinary practices are required to adhere strictly to current legislation and may prescribe POMVs only for animals under their care. (The majority of veterinary medicines fall into this category, including many flea treatments and wormers). It is a legal requirement and in the best interests of your pet that before we prescribe medication, we must ensure that we have examined your pet within a suitable time frame. Depending on the medicine and the individual case, this will usually be between 3 and 6 months, up to 12 months, for routine preventive health care. Newly arising conditions, even if similar to what a pet has had before, will require an examination before medicines can be prescribed. We are unable to give a refund against returned medication, but we can accept it back from you for safe disposal.
Ownership of Records
Case records, including laboratory results, radiographs, and similar documents, are the property of and will be retained by Paws Indoors Ltd. Copies with a summary of the history will be passed on request to another veterinary surgeon taking over a case or a referral centre. Case notes may also be passed on to Insurance companies on request, as this is a stipulation of your contract with the insurance company. The care given to your animal may involve specific investigations, such as taking radiographs or performing ultrasound scans. Even though we charge for carrying out these investigations and interpreting their results, ownership of the resulting record, for example, a radiograph, remains with the practice.
No addition or variation of these conditions will bind the practice unless it is specifically agreed upon in writing and signed by the director. No agent or person employed by or under contract with the practice has the authority to alter or vary these conditions in any way.