What a night :-(

M

missmatch

Well-Known Member
Joined
25 March 2012
Messages
710
Visit site
My poor boy is in hospital having lots of tests. Last night he seemingly colicked badly - called vet - and by the time the vet came he had severe spontaneous reflux. Vet sedated him, tubed him etc...and decided he had to go to the vet hospital. Rang up and booked him in - it was about midnight by then. About 10 minutes later the vet hospital rang me to tell me they would not see my horse without a 500 pounds cash deposit. I explained I didnt have 500 pounds and where could i get it at that time of night. My horse is fully insured for vets fees and I had a credit card. They refused my credit card and said it had to be 500 cash or debit card before they would look at my horse. My vet was not impressed and hes now in Oakham with all the wonderful vets there. Last night was devastating enough for us as at one point there was mention of grass sickness - I adore my boy so you can imagine how it felt but to be told that a vet would refuse to look at him without 500 is shocking. Hes insured, I pay my bills, what more could I do. Is this a common thing? I have never heard of it before :(
 
I cannot help with the question of ifs is normal, it certainly seems unethical and unkind!

I hope your boy makes a super speedy recovery (((hugs)))
 
Yes Ive heard of this. A friend of mines horse was needing emergency tendon surgery and I took her up there, unloaded her and the vet onsite said. You're nt insured with EandL are you? My friend said she wasn't, to which the reply was....'if you were then we'd have refused you'.

However, although this horse was insured elsewhere, the vet hospital wanted paying IN FULL after the op and stay rather than wait for the insurance payout...:eek:
 
We have recently started taking deposits along with expecting full payment on departure from un-insured cases. We didn't take this decision lightly but unfortunately there are a minority of referral clients who chose not to settle their invoices. Typically these clients turn up in the middle of the night with a seriously ill animal requiring pretty intensive investigation and treatment. Sadly many of these cases (despite our best efforts) result in death or euthanasia. The client ends up with a dead horse and a £5-6k vet bill.
We also have to deal with an increasing trend of insured clients who choose not to pass on the insurance money on to us.

We are not as strict as to demand either cash or debit card and would accept a credit card, but I suspect that the hospital involved have been caught out in the past by clients that have the financial ability to place a small percentage (say £500 of a £5k colic surgery) on a CC but cannot pay the outstanding £4500. It is very easy to run up a £5k bill for a sick colic in 2-3 days and especially at the weekend it is often impossible to be sure that a client is insured.

I don't for a minute doubt the probity of the OP but faced with some of the dishonest people we have to deal with I can understand why a practice may choose to do this for clients with whom they do not have an established relationship. It sounds harsh but in reality if you are a client who pays your vets bills on time you are currently subsidising a small but hardcore minority of poor and non-payers.
 
It does seem unfair and I am sure it was the last thing you needed in an already very stressfull situation.....

But....the insurance policy is a policy between yourself and the insurers, the hospital have nothing to do with this. Sadly more and more people get the payout from the insurance and dont then pay the clinic for work which has already been carried out, especially when the horse has sadly not made it.

Most hospitals will require 50% deposit for any surgical procedure, especially colics where the bill can rack up pretty fast and all hospitals I know require payment of the outstanding balance on discharge of the horse, exception being if the client is known, has a good relationship with the practice and can provide proof the horse is insured.

Too many owners now feel like it is the vet's duty, or hospital's duty to take on cases regardless of finances and although there is a duty of care, it isnt fair to expect vet clinics to treat animals for free, the cost of labour out of hours, drugs and procedures are all things which have to be paid for and with insurance companies taking on average 3 months to pay practices at the moment, it isnt financially viable to wait that long since in the meantime the cars have to run, the vets, nurses, office and yard staff have to be paid and the drug orders have to be placed...

Im not saying it is right, but I do understand why they required this deposit. However, I do think they should have accepted credit cards. Having said this, usually vets dont really know how to process payments as it is usually an office job and they probably didnt have any office staff at the time...

Hope your horse is ok and being well cared for x
 
I was asked to pay £1,000 the moment my pony was admitted with colic. I think I put it on credit card (it was either credit or debit), and I can see the need because I'm sure there are a few people who might get awkward about settling a bill if the horse didn't make it, but even so, it's well worth knowing about in advance.

Hope they can help your boy, and that he is soon feeling a lot more comfortable.

Sarah x
 
Even with insurance, unfortunately, there is no absolute guarantee that all costs will be covered and, in an emergency situation, no way for the vets to determine this is advance. I'm sure even now many vets have outstanding invoiced amounts that would surprise many owners. :(

Very upsetting and not at all what you need in the middle of the night. :(
 
Well I'm with KBIS and both our vets and Liverpool hospital took my horse, payment was never mentioned. They invoiced the insurance company direct. All I paid was the livery charges.
 
Sign of the recession hit times I guess, but very distressing. Surely the equine hospitals could tell the practices that refer cases to them, to ensure the owners are told they will be required to pay a % on arrival ?

How many people will have their handbag/wallet on them whilst rushing a horse to hospital at any time really. The most I would have on me would be a mobile and gone off pony nut.

In 2004 I had a horse go into a Gloucestershire equine hospital late at night on referal from my own vet.

No questions asked, my vet practice spoke directly with the NFU and the hospital the following morning after major surgery had been completed, I was not involved other than receiving updates from the hospital.

My horse didn't come home. Five days later I had a cheque and a very nicely worded letter from the NFU confirming they had paid both my vet and the hospital in full.

It is such a pity the NFU want out of horses.

Everything crossed for your horse OP - good luck.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top