Vet bill query...

Nudibranch

Nudibranch

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My horses are on a health care plan so I just have a monthly direct debit. Always worked well. One of them was due their jab on on 1st October. I called to make an appointment and was given 24th September. All seemed fine.
Then the next day I received an invoice for £48 so I queried it, assuming they'd somehow missed he was on the plan. Oh no - apparently his plan runs until 30th September and as he was jabbed last year on 2nd October this is "additional". I mean ffs! I have no idea when their plans run from and to as the direct debit just rolls on.

I have queried it again, stating that they gave me the date and didn't say anything about it being "early". They know full well how vaccinations work and for passport/competition purposes you can't go over. I assume most horses gradually creep "backwards" each year. Mine always have. They haven't replied yet (it was Friday pm to be fair). Do I stand my ground or grudgingly pay the £48 and accept that I've effectively wasted a year's vaccination? I really resent paying tbh, especially given they will only prescribe pergolide for 3 months at a time when the majority seem to do 6.
 
Well that sounds very annoying and unfair .. does your plan include one vaccination per year then ? Is your vet independent or owned by a big company ? Have they been recently taken over by a big chain ? I would be inclined to move to another more independent and more flexible vet if I could … unless I really liked them .. my vet was happy to give me 6 months worth of Pergolide too
 
Fire sign said:
Well that sounds very annoying and unfair .. does your plan include one vaccination per year then ? Is your vet independent or owned by a big company ? Have they been recently taken over by a big chain ? I would be inclined to move to another more independent and more flexible vet if I could … unless I really liked them .. my vet was happy to give me 6 months worth of Pergolide too
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They are an independent. I mean we moved a couple of years ago so I lost my amazing, amazing vet of many years, so nobody is ever going to come close, but this takes the biscuit.
 
I'd be really cross, but I think most vets moved to having to do 3monthly checks not so long ago. I may be wrong, so double check, but I'm sure something changed fairly recently meaning they had to do this.
 
Stand your ground, it’s fairly common practice for this to happen with equine flu vaccs.

The only time they’d have a point is if you’d cancelled the plan and weren’t renewing it for another year but that doesn’t sound like what’s happened here?

If response still not satisfactory request to speak to practice manager.

The plan is clearly being marketed as covering the annual vaccs and so should function as described
 
Nudibranch said:
My horses are on a health care plan so I just have a monthly direct debit. Always worked well. One of them was due their jab on on 1st October. I called to make an appointment and was given 24th September. All seemed fine.
Then the next day I received an invoice for £48 so I queried it, assuming they'd somehow missed he was on the plan. Oh no - apparently his plan runs until 30th September and as he was jabbed last year on 2nd October this is "additional". I mean ffs! I have no idea when their plans run from and to as the direct debit just rolls on.

I have queried it again, stating that they gave me the date and didn't say anything about it being "early". They know full well how vaccinations work and for passport/competition purposes you can't go over. I assume most horses gradually creep "backwards" each year. Mine always have. They haven't replied yet (it was Friday pm to be fair). Do I stand my ground or grudgingly pay the £48 and accept that I've effectively wasted a year's vaccination? I really resent paying tbh, especially given they will only prescribe pergolide for 3 months at a time when the majority seem to do 6.
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I’ve had exactly the same problem in the past. The vet administrator ‘tweaked’ the plan each year so it was covered by the plan, which worked until the plan ended, then I had to pay that extra last jab that had been shunted down the line.

I always book jabs a week before the deadline just in case the vet has to shunt me because of an emergency.
 
Can I just have a quick rant on behalf of the OP?……..

Firstly, no please do not pay this additional charge. If your practice cannot align commercial models with profitable service delivery maybe they need a skilled individual to sit with them and take them through such using really simple language and a few worked examples, with a calendar.

They also need to begin valuing, or maybe even paying for practice leads with critical thinking to solve these wrinkles.

This issue could have been solved by sending you a quick note acknowledging the date was prior to the 12mth anniversary and showing how they had made such an adjustment and issuing you a zero cost invoice.

I love our vets but am so frustrated hearing about how customers are the baddies creating poor mental health situations for Vets, when if they just managed their practices and customer communication to a market standard a lot of the friction would subside.

As it stands now, if it’s an emergency - get the Vet. If it’s not, allied health professionals are getting the business or important visits such as vaccinations are being delayed because we just don’t want to deal with them as a business.

To be clear, love our Vets but not how they run a practice.
 
I'd stand my ground first, too. However, if there's been some 'administrative' change which states one jab a year and within the payment year, then I don't think you stand a chance and will have to cough up. Or, ... your vet might be prepared to tweak things. Good luck and keep us posted.
 
When the plan renews will depend on when you started the plan, and it will include a set number of things per year, eg 1 vaccination, 4 wormers/WEC + whatever else frills. It will be in the T&C. Unfortunately if you already had a vacc within this plan year, technically you are liable to pay the extra. Was the previous year vacc within the previous year plan? You could appeal to the Practice Manager for some leeway, but this will be discretionary, because if you don't carry on the plan you will in effect be having a free vacc.
 
Landcruiser said:
When the plan renews will depend on when you started the plan, and it will include a set number of things per year, eg 1 vaccination, 4 wormers/WEC + whatever else frills. It will be in the T&C. Unfortunately if you already had a vacc within this plan year, technically you are liable to pay the extra. Was the previous year vacc within the previous year plan? You could appeal to the Practice Manager for some leeway, but this will be discretionary, because if you don't carry on the plan you will in effect be having a free vacc.
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Agree with this.

Re-read the Ts and Cs. The devil is in the detail.
 
Bonnie Allie said:
Can I just have a quick rant on behalf of the OP?……..

Firstly, no please do not pay this additional charge. If your practice cannot align commercial models with profitable service delivery maybe they need a skilled individual to sit with them and take them through such using really simple language and a few worked examples, with a calendar.

They also need to begin valuing, or maybe even paying for practice leads with critical thinking to solve these wrinkles.

This issue could have been solved by sending you a quick note acknowledging the date was prior to the 12mth anniversary and showing how they had made such an adjustment and issuing you a zero cost invoice.

I love our vets but am so frustrated hearing about how customers are the baddies creating poor mental health situations for Vets, when if they just managed their practices and customer communication to a market standard a lot of the friction would subside.

As it stands now, if it’s an emergency - get the Vet. If it’s not, allied health professionals are getting the business or important visits such as vaccinations are being delayed because we just don’t want to deal with them as a business.

To be clear, love our Vets but not how they run a practice.
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I’m not replying to diminish your point because it is so frustrating as a customer to deal with tiny niggly ‘re read the contract’ problems like this BUT… the vet that you are dealing with day to day is most likely not the one drawing up these deals if part of a corporate, or even independent practice. So when these vets, who are not getting paid as much as you think BTW!, are trying to go about their day and are usually in it for the animals sake, have to deal with customers complaints about policies that have nothing to do with them, alongside numerous other emotionally taxing issues a day, you can see why they harp on about mental health! The issue is usually higher up in the management, not with the vet you are dealing with day to day. But I completely understand your point, and it is very frustrating but I’m sure it’s equally as frustrating to vets who are now more and more seeing a decline in care of animals due to the cost of living. Mental health is a very serious issue, and I think everyone would benefit from being a little bit more courteous to one another.
 
ester said:
The simplest solution might be to request that you bring the start of next years plan forwards by the difference? We do this with work stuff.
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But she’ll still have the same problem next year unless you take a gamble on your horse having their jabs exactly 365 days apart…..and what happens if that falls on a weekend?
 
Well, I've just searched my emails and found I joined the plan on 16th September. I cant find anything anywhere (including t&cs which are very generic and don't include much detail) about any start dates; 16th, 30th, 1st or otherwise so I'm not actually sure how they would expect me to know that information even if I had thought it needed checking. I have re-queried again, as Gmail had hidden their response, which is still basically you had the vaccination early and you've used x y z from the health plan so you've saved money...hardly the point.
 
This sort of thing works fine for dog & cat health plans as their vaccs tend to drift in the opposite direction as you’ve got more leeway for them not needing to be within exactly 12 months of the last one but as horse vaccines do tend to drift earlier every year due to needing a restart if late IMO this should have been anticipated in the designing of a health plan for horses.

The common sense thing to do would be just to say the vaccine can’t be given more than say a month before due if being done on the plan and if plan is cancelled less than X months after annual vaccine then client liable for cost? (Or for you not being able to have a vaccine given on the plan until it’s been running a certain amount of time eg 6 months to avoid this issue cropping up?)
 
Svyvp said:
I’m not replying to diminish your point because it is so frustrating as a customer to deal with tiny niggly ‘re read the contract’ problems like this BUT… the vet that you are dealing with day to day is most likely not the one drawing up these deals if part of a corporate, or even independent practice. So when these vets, who are not getting paid as much as you think BTW!, are trying to go about their day and are usually in it for the animals sake, have to deal with customers complaints about policies that have nothing to do with them, alongside numerous other emotionally taxing issues a day, you can see why they harp on about mental health! The issue is usually higher up in the management, not with the vet you are dealing with day to day. But I completely understand your point, and it is very frustrating but I’m sure it’s equally as frustrating to vets who are now more and more seeing a decline in care of animals due to the cost of living. Mental health is a very serious issue, and I think everyone would benefit from being a little bit more courteous to one another.
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Spot on. That’s exactly what I’m saying. Vets are client facing using their technical expertise to solve complex problems. So employ and pay for business skilled admin staff who understand workflow, costs, pricing, revenue and profitability. These back office staff should also have superior customer experience skills as well.

Agree - mental health is key and that’s why successful businesses protect their workforces with quality back office staff and processes to manage the golden goose customer and allow the frontline technical staff the space to be their best.

I disagree that there is a decline in the care of animals, what I do see is additional choice we have in the care of our animals. Vets should be at the centre of the ecosystem of care but experiences such as the one the OP has described and the subsequent response from the practice will push vets further from the centre, making them a transactional choice only.

Not the vets fault but definitely not the customers fault either. Practice management needs to come up to a far greater standard.
 
We have these plans for a new dog as the saving on castration makes it worth it.

For horses which always have to be vaccinated sooner than the spot on anniversary (nobody is going to risk trying to get the exact anniversary date every time!) then surely this is always a problem.

My vacs are usually 2-3 weeks prior to the deadline so if the vet can't make it or some other disaster then I have time to reschedule
 
Reading this has just put me completely off signing up for these plans. I'd always wondered what would happen in a situation like this having had a similar shock with insurance when the horse dared to have a birthday between the first date of being insured and the renewal date. The claim, which had been approved before treatment was subsequently rejected on this basis leaving me with a large unexpected bill 😡
 
3OldPonies said:
Reading this has just put me completely off signing up for these plans. I'd always wondered what would happen in a situation like this having had a similar shock with insurance when the horse dared to have a birthday between the first date of being insured and the renewal date. The claim, which had been approved before treatment was subsequently rejected on this basis leaving me with a large unexpected bill 😡
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Just don’t sign up in the same month as the vaccines are due and you won’t have this problem!
 
Bonnie Allie said:
So employ and pay for business skilled admin staff who understand workflow, costs, pricing, revenue and profitability. These back office staff should also have superior customer experience skills as well.
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Completely agree with this, our horse vets have I think two back office staff who are fantastic at handling all this stuff. If an invoice arrives and I don't think it's quite right for whatever reason, I phone the main number, talk to one of them, sort it out, and they'll run it past the vet in question to make sure everyone's opinions more or less add up. Then a new invoice is issued. With good staff it doesn't have to be complicated.

I do think though, that this is much easier for practices with some degree of autonomy. If the practice is part of a big chain who are hammering financial targets then it must be very hard for the vets and the admin team. Personally I think that one of the key factors driving vets' poor mental health has to be the takeover of the industry by private equity firms.
 
Tb
TheMule said:
Just don’t sign up in the same month as the vaccines are due and you won’t have this problem!
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Tbh even this doesn't work - the one in question was originally December vaccs and they have crept back (mostly due to fitting into vet availability!) over time to September. Which is partly why I dont understand why they're being so rigid - I've always gone with what suits them in terms of dates etc.
 
Really the vets just need to be transparent about it. The creep of dates still means it's only going to happe once every 12 years plus. So the vets need to build it in to financials, knowing a proportion of customers will be claiming extra, or clearly specify only one set of boosters is included per year (rather than some foggy term like annual boosters). It's really only when it comes as a suprise like in this instance it causes an issue.
 
Im on a health plan and each year vaccine has been done early, usually about 2 weeks for 3 horses and have never had this issue. So it definitely doesn't apply to all plans.
I would only expect to pay if o went 6 monthly like fei requirements.
 
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