Terms and Conditions

How we work 

At Dilliway & Bosley Equine Veterinary Practice Ltd (DBEV) customer satisfaction is very important to us and we believe every horse, pony and donkey deserves the highest standard of veterinary care, irrespective of age or breed. Every owner deserves exceptional customer service from a friendly professional team. We aim to be transparent in both the work we do for you and our terms of business. We have provided below the important details that you should know before choosing us as your Equine Veterinary Practice. This will enable you to understand our obligations to you and yours to us. When you request our services you and we are bound by the Terms and Conditions outlined in this document. 

If you have any questions, please contact us. 

Opening an Account 

When choosing Dilliway & Bosley Equine Veterinary Practice Ltd to care for your horse for the first time, you may be asked to pay for services or goods at the time by credit/debit card. We may also require your permission to contact any previous veterinary practices to obtain your equine’s medical history and to check that you do not have any outstanding accounts or a negative credit history. 

Our Fees 

Our professional fees are determined by the time spent on a case and the drugs, resources, materials, and consumables used. All fees, consumables and drug charges are subject to VAT at the current rate. We are always happy to provide written estimates for any procedure should you require one, however please bear in mind that any estimate we give can only be approximate, as often a horse’s illness will not follow a predictable or standard course. You can be assured however that the cost of prescription-only medicines is constantly monitored to ensure our prices are competitive. 

Our Payment Terms 

• We will generally request payment in advance for certain services, such as vettings or large surgical procedures. Payment is due within 30 days of the date of the invoice. 
• To offset the cost of late payment to us and to minimise the risk to our service levels, we will charge all clients a non deductable administration charge of £10.00 on invoices that remain unpaid after 30 days from the date of the invoice. Thereafter, non-refundable interest at a rate of 2% of the total outstanding balance will be charged every 4 weeks until full payment has been received. 
• All hospital patients are asked to pay at collection unless other arrangements have been agreed with the DBEV vet in charge of the case. If your horse is admitted to hospital you may be asked to pay a deposit towards treatment within 24 hours of their arrival. 
• If an outstanding balance is not paid within 60 days of any treatment and no formal arrangement to discharge the debt has been agreed, this will result in referral to our debt collection agency. Further charges may be levied in respect of costs incurred in collecting the debt. We may also inform other local veterinary practices of the reasons for referral of the debt to the debt collection agency. Should this situation occur, clients who have outstanding debts with us must prepay for services or goods with a credit/debit card or cash. Clients who are persistently late in paying will also be required to pay all fees in advance or at the time of treatment and access to our veterinary services may be withdrawn. 

Payment Methods – making it easy for you 

Our aim is to make payment as easy as possible for you. 

You may settle your account using: 

• Online or by bank transfer. Sort Code: 30-98-45 Account: 84382060. Reference: your invoice number. 
• CHEQUE with current banker’s card. 
• CREDIT/DEBIT CARD in person or over the phone (Switch, Solo, Mastercard, Visa & Delta – we do not accept American Express.) 
• CASH 

Returned Cheques and Payments 

Any cheque which you issue which is returned unpaid or any credit/debit card payment which is not honoured, or any cash payment which is found to be counterfeit will result in your account being restored to the original sum. As you would expect, additional charges may also be incurred in the process. 

Inability to pay 

If you find yourself in the unfortunate position of being unable to pay your account, please immediately contact our office staff to discuss the situation. 

Equine Health Insurance and Liabilities 

Liabilities: Dilliway & Bosley Equine Veterinary Practice Ltd accepts no responsibility for accidents or incidents that occur whilst any equine is under our care. It is the owners responsibility to provide your own insurance cover. 

Payment and Insurance: 

Dilliway & Bosley Equine Veterinary Practice strongly supports the principle of insuring your horse against expected illness or accident. The role of the insurance company is to reimburse you for fees incurred for veterinary treatment. Even when insured, your veterinary charges and fees must be paid by you initially and are due for payment on presentation of the invoice. You then claim the fees from your insurance company. Under very specific circumstances Dilliway & Bosley Equine Veterinary Practice Ltd can arrange for Insurance Companies to make payment directly to us. This arrangement must be agreed before or at the time of treatment with a Dilliway & Bosley Equine Veterinary Practice Ltd and with your insurance company. We cannot guarantee that your insurance company will cover the costs of your horses treatment and you are therefore encouraged to contact the insurance company to verify cover before any treatment has been administered. Many policies insist on this and failing to do so will invalidate your policy. 

Livery Yards/Training Stables 

Please ensure that you have made a suitable agreement with the livery/training yard owner that gives them permission to call the Vet on your behalf and authorise treatment for your horse. Our Policy for horses on livery/training yards, is to invoice the animal’s owner directly. Where livery yard/stables do arrange a veterinary service or purchases of goods from us, it is assumed that permission has been given by you for this service or goods to be provided. If this is the case, you will be invoiced and responsible for prompt settlement of that account. If you have a written agreement with the yard/training stable, that invoices will be initially settled by the yard/training stables, then that livery yard/training stables is responsible for ensuring accounts are settled on time. They also become liable for any late payment action. Their terms and conditions for this service are between you and them and not the responsibility of Dilliway & Bosley Equine Veterinary Practice Ltd. 

Disputes and Complaints 

Any dispute or complaint with the fees or service presented must be put in writing to accounts@dbequinevets.co.uk within 30 days of receiving the invoice or service. Where any dispute is not proven and as a result the payment is late, the overdue accounts procedure will become effective. Therefore, clients are always advised to settle their invoice on time, and if there is a dispute this payment is made without prejudice.   To make a complaint, please contact accounts@dbequinevets.co.uk and you will be sent a copy of our complaints procedure.

Ownership of your Equine’s Records 

Although we are treating your horse, all case records, x-rays, scans and similar documents are the property of, and will be retained by DBEV. Whilst you are free at any time to see these records and even though a charge may be made for the investigations and interpreting the results, ownership of the resulting record e.g. an x-ray or ultrasound scan remains the property of the practice. Upon request, copies of records with a summary of the history of your horse will be passed to another Veterinary Surgeon taking over your horses care and treatment. 

Data Protection 

Our guarantee to you: we will only use client details for the purpose of our business. We will not intentionally pass, without your permission, any details on to 3rd parties, unless specifically detailed above. We will aim to accurately maintain your contact preference details on our databases. 

Your responsibility: you will provide us with correct and updated personal information to allow us to provide our services to you in a timely and efficient manner. None of your personal details will be passed on without your permission. 

Passports 

All horses, ponies, donkeys and mules must have passports which should be available to our vets to check. We strongly recommend that passports are signed by you the owner to confirm that the horse is not for human consumption. If a passport is not available, a detailed record of your equine’s medicinal products must be retained. 

Termination of services 

You may ask us to stop caring for your horses at any time. Alternatively, we may withdraw our services if: 

1) the relationship between you and us breaks down.  Under these circumstances, we will provide you with notice in writing.   A letter informing you that you have 7 days veterinary cover from us before we withdraw emergency cover.  This letter will be sent to you recorded delivery

2) we are prohibited by law from doing any further work on your case 

Intellectual Property, Copyright and Trademarks

This Site, including this legal notice, contains material including text, photographs and other images, which is protected by copyright and/or other intellectual property rights. All copyright, trade marks and other intellectual property rights in the material comprising this Site are owned by or licensed to the practice.

Any reproduction or use of such trade marks and other intellectual property rights, save as permitted hereby, is strictly prohibited and may result in civil and/or criminal liability. Any trade mark, copyright or other intellectual property notices contained in the original material must not be removed from any material copied or printed off this Site.

Save as expressly permitted, no part of this material may be reproduced in any form including storing it in any medium by electronic means whether or not temporary or incidental to some other use. Commercial use is not permitted. Particular terms relevant to the use of downloadable material are as set out below. Certain materials contained on this Site are intended to be downloadable for certain purposes.

Variation in Terms and Conditions of Business 

No addition or variation of these conditions will bind the practice unless specifically agreed in writing by a Dilliway & Bosley Equine Veterinary Practice Ltd. Additionally no agent or person employed by or under contract with the Practice has the authority to alter or vary these terms and conditions in anyway.