Do I query this vet charge?

[travellinghopefully12]

Two months ago my cat had complete renal failure. It was horrendous. They think he ate Lilies or antifreeze or something he found outside. Anyway, the emergency vet team was wonderful and saved his life when his pottassium was 900 which was high enough for him to have a heart attack.

This all happened over a weekend, so he was admitted Friday night/released Sunday with instructions to go to our own vets on Monday. We have comprehensive cat insurance or we literally wouldn't have been able to pay and he would have died. We bloody love that cat, and are grateful for all they did for him.

Anyway - we got a letter a few weeks ago saying the insurance company will only pay for emergency admittal. OK, fair enough, he only had one, but then we got another letter saying he had multiple emergency admittals. This is because the emergency vet changes from VetsNow to PDSA every morning and back again every night. We have a charge of £100 for each time this happened as although he was in the same place he was 'transferred' each time. Do I query this, or suck it up and pay it? I don't have the money right now, but I can make a repayment plan with them paying half this month, half next. Just wondered if this charge is correct?

Thanks,

In my vast experience of claiming for my cats if the vet visits are related to the same problem you pay the deductible once.
In your case,id call your vet and ask him to send in an explanation to the insurance company which should clear up the matter under no circumstances would I be paying the deductible multiple times.

I would query it , do you have separate bills from the PDSA and from Vets now , because even in that scenario you should be able to claim the Vets now as 1 and PDSA as 1 so you would only be charged 2 excesses iyswim . Which vet filled out the form or did you give both a form to fill out ?

It was Vetsnow - at the time we didn't realise they changed over during the day, as communication was consistent. As I say, I am very glad they saved his life as he was on the brink of a heart attack and had my partner not taken him in when he did I think he would have died. They really pulled out all the stops, but the bill is a shock as we already paid the excess and had cat insurance.

That's odd. My cat was admitted for two nights with Vets Now. Who also saved her life. I was only charged one admission fee. Vets now were brilliant. Was not very impressed with the PDSA at all.

It sounds as though someone at the vet has cocked up - they shouldn't be readmitting the cat every evening and morning just because the vet covering the session changes, surely?!

I would also query it. You only took him once to the Vets for emergency admittance, what they did afterwards (transfer in/out etc) is not your concern. If they were going to charge you £100 every time they swapped between themselves, then they should of made it clear at the outset.

I have used Vets Now before unfortunately and they are a big bunch of robbing gits. They charged my £400 before they would even look at my cat one Boxing Day. They then phoned me at 8:05am the next morning to ask why I hadn't collected my cat and taken him to my own Vet? I didn't know I had to. Oh yes, Vets Now only look after the animals until normal Vets open at 8:00 and I needed to get there ASAP and pick him up. They never mentioned that when they admitted him the day before!!

Our Vets don't use them anymore after receiving many complaints, they now provide out of hours services themselves.

They did save his life. They just didn't explain they switched practice during the day and would charge a readmittance fee. I am really confused. Their switch board says to call the out of hours service to ask them tonight, although they seemed pretty swamped when we were in. I simply cannot afford another £300 on top of his continued treatment, unless I pay it in installments. I feel conflicted as they saved him then messed us around.

Query it - the vet should be able to ring the insurance co and explain. My vet is the same in that all animals get taken to an out of hours vet at nights & weekends & then brought back for regular hours.
They probably just call it "admission" because technically they are admitting again, it's just the insurance company taking it too literally and not applying common sense.

OK, thank you. I called the main number and they said to call back in clinic hours, so I am going to do that. I really hope we get it sorted, otherwise I will make a repayment plan.

I would definitely question it too. If it is a correct charge they must have had it refused by insurance companies before, in which case you definitely should have been advised your insurance may not pay for it. I can see why the insurance company would question paying it to be honest.
I would start the call reiterating how happy you were with the service, but ask them if these charges are a mistake. If they are not, then could someone explain why they are so much money when your cat was in the same hospital the whole time. If they still don't budge then ask why you weren't warned your insurance may not cover them (as I said before this can't be the first time it's happened!).
Good luck!

I would query it at well. At worst, you have to pay but it could be a mistake or just be something the insurance company needs a letter confirming.

I'm glad your cat was able to be saved. One of my cats had something similar and sadly he wasn't so lucky.

I would definitely query it as it sounds unreasonable to be honest. My view is that, they should tell you before slapping on unexpected charges and if they don't, they can expect to see my smiling face asking questions.

It does work. I did get back a ridiculous 50 pound charge at the vets for a 2 min "check up" before he got a shot. We'd literally been in for his annual exam a week or so before so considered him adequately checked out already!

I would query it, that isn't on

VetsNow are awful.