Pet insurance can help you pay for veterinary fees if your pet becomes injured or ill and gives peace of mind that you are able to afford the veterinary care they may need.

Although we are unable to recommend specific companies, we do highly recommend that you take out an insurance policy that will cover for potential lifelong illnesses, that has a renewable yearly limit. It is important to check the small print on your policy to ensure you are aware of any exclusions.

We ask that the cost for veterinary care here at VH is paid for at the time of treatment, and you are then able to claim the money back from your insurer yourself. Where a pet is admitted to the hospital for a procedure or investigation, we ask you to pay for 50% of the estimated cost prior to investigations starting, and the rest to be paid on collection of your pet.

Direct Claims – A direct claim is where the insurance provider pays the veterinary practice directly as opposed to the policy holder making the payment and having the claim amount paid back to themselves. In some situations, we can authorise a direct claim if all of the following applies:

• the treatment estimate reaches £500.00 or above
• if we have successfully completed an insurance claim from this policy before
• you have been a client of VH for more than 12 months
• You can show us your policy document
• You pay us your compulsory insurance excess as well as the insurance form administration fee at the time of the procedure and prior to the claim being submitted.

If any of these cannot be confirmed, we will follow our usual policy for payment which requires you to pay half of the estimate and the final balance on the day of the procedure.

In the event of a direct claim being agreed we also request the policy holder to sign a ‘Direct Claim Agreement’. This states that in the event of the insurer not making full or part payment, you the policyholder will be responsible for settling the full account balance upon being made aware of the insurer not making the full or part payment. It is recommended that you request a pre-authorisation agreement from your insurer so you know they will approve the claim.

We understand that times are difficult, however, to continue providing the best possible care for your pets we must request that account balances are settled in full as quickly as possible.

Administration Fees

There is a charge for the administration of insurance claims due to the amount of time it takes our staff to complete them. We also send your completed claim form directly to your insurer unless you request otherwise – this means that once you have completed the front of your claim form and handed it in to us you can sit back and relax knowing that we’ll take it from there.

New Claims – a condition that has not been claimed for before – there is a charge of £10.00 per condition.

Continuation Claims – a ongoing condition that we have submitted a claim for previously – there is a charge of £5.00 per condition.

One of the many advantages of being a member of our VHCP (Veterinary Hospital Care Plan) is that all insurance admin fees are included, and this is unlimited for the duration of your pet(s) being a member of the plan.

A lot of insurance companies provide online services (for example Petplan and Many pets), please feel free to contact your insurer to discuss the different ways you can submit your pets claim.

Animal Friends – if your pet is insured with Animal Friends Pet Insurance, we can complete the claim online using just your policy number and policy holder details without the need for a physical claim form.

Please feel free to contact us to discuss any other insurance queries you may have. Please note we are not permitted to recommend insurance companies however we can try and help with any questions or queries regarding all the different general policy differences-we understand it can be a bit of a minefield!

We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for supporting us as an independent veterinary practice; your trust and loyalty means everything to us and there is nothing we love more than taking care of your pets’ wellbeing.