fees over-ran vet insurance

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horseynana

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Need advice! My vet has overrun on my boy's vet fees by £1,200 even though we had rung quite a few times stressing we only had £4,000 worth of vet cover on our policy and could not go over this as pockets were empty, we had already paid a fair bit out in cash before submitting a claim. We were repeatedly told not to worry, but eventually had to make decision to PTS. Where do we stand on this, feel very unhappy about situation as other additional costs have to be met as well that we knew were going to be extra. Am I within my rights to refuse to pay additional vet fees over the £4,000 or do I just have to suck it up and cough-up. Was thinking of speaking to another vet practice to ask their opinion but obviously they may not want to offer opinion. Very sad situation but not helped by feeling vets have done very well out of it :(
 
I did not want to read and run and just want to say that I hope you find a way. It's horrible enough to of sadly lost your horse. No doubt youve been through the mill already and really do not need money worries added to it too.
 
Depends. If pts cost over ran I'd pay. And if anything else was necessary I'd pay (call out/required pain relief etc).

If vet bills that were not necessary and told not to run over I'd probably refuse... But only if I had in writing or good witness and it wasn't something they couldnt interpret wrongly. Ie don't over run on vet bills testing for x. And then asking for y to be tested. Also remember that the vet treating is unlikely to know values of things and how much you've run up or agreed with the practice, they're out to treat a horse and if you've asked for something to be done or they suggest something and is agreed they won't question bill.

Have you got a full break down of the bill or just lump sum? I'd ask for a breakdown and then talk to them with the facts about which parts of the bill you aren't happy with.

It's hard to put a cap on bills though and you can't really limit each call to x amount as don't know what will happen so they shouldn't have promised it.

Sorry about your horse x
 
Sorry to hear about your horse :-/ I've had a similar situation (though I didn't cap the fees, they went quite a lot over the insurance, more than I expected) a breakdown should help as some things aren't covered (I had to pay 1/2 fees for livery at the vets) and so much but not all the pts is paid. Unless your horse was with you not at vets? I was kept informed of the costs but not in the detail I would in future ask for. I was warned by vets the outlook wasn't good and i was adding to my bill but may not have a horse to take home, just had to be sure before deciding not to continue. I know of a fair few people who have been allowed to pay off in instalments especially if they are longer term customers of the vets. My vet was great as at 1st the insurance didn't pay out as much as we expected and vets wrote a letter to them, I think this has meant a further pay out which has reduced the amount outstanding (I'll find out by end if week). I'm not sure where you would stand with refusal to pay, maybe if you called and were worried about the amount, expressed your stress about it as you thought it was all within your cover amount and don't know where you're going to get the money from they will look into it for you, all the best. It's horrible to have to deal with especially when you have no horse at the end either x
 
If I were you I'd ask to speak to the practice manager or equivalent and calmly, without losing your temper or having to resort to shouting, explain that you feel let down by the practice for them not keeping you up to date on where your bill was at and warning you when you were approaching your insurance limit. Did they provide estimates of costs for procedures / tests done when they were seeking your consent to do them? (if you asked they should definitely have done so although they should really have something in place for this anyway without you having to ask) Could be something to bring up if they didn't or if they ran significantly over on what they said. You'll probably still end up paying at least some of the outstanding amount but it may be that some kind of agreement can be reached if you feel you've been kept in the dark a bit with the costings. If you're not satisfied with the response I would then submit a formal complaint in writing.
 
Oh golly I really don't know. What a crappy situation for you to be in :( I don't have vet insurance on any of my horses so I pay as I go. IMO insurance muddies the waters and absolutely vets charge more when they know clients have insurance. If I was you and couldn't afford the personal cost then I think I'd go into the vet practice and just lay it out on the table for them.
 
As PJ says, your best chance of having the unauthorised spend over the insurance maximum is to produce the written evidence eg e-mails, letters, etc. If you don't have anything in writing I'm afraid you may just have to pay up. There's a chance you may get some % off as a goodwill gesture if you're lucky but I wouldn't count on it. Everything to do with a hefty insurance claim, put it in writing even if only an e-mail saying something like "Just to confirm I've got this straight, you'll be doing.....".
 
if you have written evidence or able to recall specific conversations on specific dates etc, I would gather this together and maybe have a meeting with the head honcho at your vets, may be suggest to them that you may be inclined to have a chat with a solicitor, if they are uninterested in showing a gesture of good will. You will incur more expenses but a solicitor's letter may be enough to convince the vets that they should pay you something. Other than that, you might just have to write it off to experience.. I'm sorry to hear about your horse, a very sad situation for you.
 
It is a horrid situation to be in. But if this was your car, and the mechanic had gone over people would be saying don't pay, you had a verbal aggreement.
Exactly who did you talk to about the insurance limit, and when?
I would have a chat with the practice, that is not just a little over, that is a lot, and they must have known.
I would also agree that the bill racks up far quicker if you are insured, which is one of the reasons we don't, we keep them very accountable, and negotiate at the time.
 
I would protest the overspend very strongly (yet politely) if you are sure that you were clear re your instructions. In my personal experience, vets can get a little carried away when they know it is an insurance job...

Id also check insurance incase there is any pts cover.

If my protest didn't work and I was sure I was in the right, I would still pay the bill, but I wouldn't use that practice again.

Good luck.
 
We had this situation. My daughter stressed to vet's that she had a budget of £4k total including her big excess. They assured her that everything could be managed within this budget - cue forward 2 months and following pony's operation - we were up to £4,100 and then the biills for coming out and dressing op site at £213 per visit. By that time we had had 2 visits and the staples were not yet out. I went mad and rang them and just ranted. It meant they visited for the staples removal foc and halved one visit bill. They knew they were in the wrong - we were very explicit to start with and whilst I was happy to stump up extra when the pony got an infection I was not happy for the agreed procedures to go way over budget. I also had to query some of the exorbitant 'admission' to horspital charges and nursing for a day pre op? I ask you.

I think you need to have a seriious talk with them. I think quite rightly if they kept reassuring you by saying 'don't worry' that you had every right to believe you were in budget. If they said we will be going over but are happy to take payment by installments that would have been different altogether.
 
Really feel for you.
I always tell my vet insurance is 5000 per incident but its a maximum not a target!Also state that I am not willing to keep paying for xxxx treatments afterwards.I would to a certain extent but not telling them that as they are known for being a bit over zealous in procedures if know insurance involved.
Talk to vets and see what happens.Friend recently had this problem with vets and said to manager she was told a certain cost and it went 1500 over that.Practice cut some of bill.
I now ask for a quote on certain procedures - not an estimate.
Hope you get it sorted.
Hugs on loss of your horse
 
It very much depends on how much proof you have that you specified not to go over the limit, & what procedures took it over the limit/ what time period the costs over your maximum were accrued. I had one that went 500 or so over the insurance, but by that point in treatment I had ample time to know exactly where the cost was up to, & a pretty good idea of what the further costs would be, so in a case like mine there was ample opportunity for me to stop further treatment if I had chosen to. Whereas all costs accrued in a small amount of time when there has been no chance to keep on top of the total, with written proof you had a max limit would be different.
 
More time to reply now. I was screwed over by a vets that have a bit of a reputation for getting every penny out of the insurance that they can. Do your vets have similar reputation, or are they well respected.

Firstly, as my previous post, if the extra over costs are for some kind of emergency, then I don't think you have much of a leg to stand on; however, if it is all for "normal" procedure stuff, you may have some comeback.

Firstly, did you get a written quotation/estimate for the work required on your horse. This should have been provided, and you should have then stipulated what money was available to spend on your horse.

Horse goes into horsepital. Did you sign a consent form? If so, did this say anything about money on it? If you didnt sign a consent form the vets are in the wrong.

Horse then stays in horspital for required amount of time, and has his operation. Did they ring you when they were approaching the limit stipulated? No? Again they are in the wrong by doing this.

Horse then comes home, and vet insists on a couple of visits to see how horse is doing. Spending more money, that you think will be covered by insurance. Again, in the wrong.

Did they administer any medication to your horse that's not licensed for use in horses, with out getting your prior permission? If they have done, this is also wrong.

After having been screwed over once, unless emergency, I would now always write to the vet/referral practice saying how much is available to spend on the horse, and ask for an estimate/quotation (and remember under contract law these are the same thing).
 
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