To query this charge on the vets bill?

[cricketmum84]

Our little cat has just got over a serious illness with a huge bill. We are up to the limit on insurance police (£4000) but I've just reviewed the latest claim and wondering if it would be U to challenge a big charge on there. Would be interested to know what others people would do?

Basically she collapsed at 8.15am on a Saturday morning. I phoned our vets and spoke to the emergency services to let them know i was on my way with her.

Another emergency arrived just before us and took priority so we were sat in the waiting room for around 30 minutes.

By the time we were called in the vet hospital had opened for normal business. Doors unlocked, shutters up etc.

Checked the bill and we were charged £280 for an emergency call out appointment??

Is this right?? Or should they have taken into account that we were actually seen during normal opening hours??

Obviously the insurance have paid for it rather than us. However she still needs ongoing medication and tests that we need to pay for now we have exhausted insurance.

Is your cat likely to get better?

Re: the question it is worth a try to argue the point.

I absolutely love our vets, they are brilliant and in my eyes they can do no wrong - but yeah, I would query that.

There was no call out anyway - you called the out of hours number but she was seen within surgery hours, on surgery premises - so £280 seems a bit steep?

You can query it politely I'm sure. If it helps, the last time my dog was seen as an emergency - call to out of hours vet who then met us at the surgery at 10pm on a Sunday night - the call out charge was £68. That would have been about 8 years ago.

Anyway I really hope your little cat is OK and makes a swift recovery.

I guess the fact is they did get there early to see you ? And would have done if the other emergency did not have priority?

I would query it, can't hurt. They may say that you still went in as an emergency at the start of the day though, and it was an emergency appointment even if in opening hours as they fitted you in at short notice.

If they charged the other family £280 as well, that’s a nice earner

She is getting better thanks both :) it turned out she had been poisoned and had acute kidney injury but the last bloods came back normal. She's only 2, she spent almost 2 weeks in hospital and really has made a miraculous recovery.

I think it we were still under the insurance maximum I wouldn't be so bothered and would just let it go. I feel a bit like they have charged more because they know the insurance would cover it.

As it is we still have 4 months of blood tests, regular check ups and medication to fund until the next policy year but I suppose that is a risk you take with pets!!

Absolutely query it!

If you arrived before normal surgery hours I would think it would still be a call out fee. But there's no harm in asking.

I would query it. They were charging you for an out of hours appointment which you didn't get. And also making the most of you having insurance. From experience you will always get a lot more appointments that are suddenly necessary if you are insured than if you are not. Tell them that your insurance is no longer covering the condition and that you feel it is unfair to be charged OOH prices for an emergency appointment that they did not provide.

Glad she's getting better!

Interesting point you make about the bill being greater as it is covered by insurance - I can be very naive and lacking in cynicism about such things (I have a sweet foolish notion of believing the best in everyone), but years ago my dog ruptured a disc and after all options under our vet were exhausted (and insurers told us all of her treatment was excluded), she was eventually referred to Noel Fitzpatrick.

The final bill for the MRI and surgery with him was £3800, and I had to get a loan to pay for it. When I updated the vet and told her how much it was, there was a stunned silence before she wryly remarked, "Blimey. If she was insured that wouldn't have been less than £10k."

So there it is, directly from a vet...you might be right! Just query it, in a pleasant fashion...

I'd definitely query it. I feel they do tend to include more things if they think the insurance will just cover it.
My poor cat who died last year ended up leaving a huge bill and I was too upset to query it. As she was older, the insurance only paid part of the bill and I was left to settle the rest myself. There was all sorts of things in the requested itemised bill that I googled and it had no use in her treatment at all.

Exactly the same happened to me. I raised it and was given the normal rate. They pointed out that we wouldn’t have been seen so quickly though.

If it’s paid, it’s pointless.

My vet charged £50 for ‘helping to load’ the horse, by smacking its bum, while the yard owner risked life and limb getting in front with a bucket and nearly getting squished. I was fuming with him and told him he was taking the piss. He said he ‘had to charge for something’ which REALLY fucking riled me! I argued back saying he’d done nothing to help. He removed the charge.

Yep at the end of the day Ivycat is still with us and doing amazing and that is the most important thing... but I am convinced now that they charge for more when the animal is insured and @Blutopia yep agree completely with what your vet said (also I bloody love Noel Fitzpatrick!!!)

There's a few bits on there that are making me a bit they have charged for a new cannula every day even though I know for a fact it was only changed 3 times in 2 weeks as I visited regularly.

@Doormat247 I'm sorry about your cat 😢

Thanks @cricketmum84. Still raw even though it was over a year ago now.
So glad your cat is on the mend, must have been such a worrying time

I am glad to report that Noel in the flesh is very tall, very charismatic and has beautiful hands.

I should add, however, that whilst he is kind and clearly cares for his patients, he is very matter of fact (as you would expect a surgeon to be), and is nowhere near as soft, smiley and sentimental as the TV show would have you believe. He is a businessman and a highly skilled surgeon, he doesn't need to make friends. That's what I got from him anyway.

That said, he was always pleasant, sympathetic and gentle with my poor dog when she was in agony, and he fixed her.

but I am convinced now that they charge for more when the animal is insured

Common in many places, from vets to tradesmen to retail. We had an insurance claim for a carpet and when they found out insurance was paying they said the fitting price was more for insurance. I suspect it is because there is extra admin involved and longer payment terms but not entirely sure.

I have a cat with me that I am caring for because the insurance ran out. I was present at all of the vet and hospital visits and I could see how many 'follow up visits' were suggested, for no reason whatsoever.

Cat could have had more medical attention and treatment if it hadn't been for those extra vet visits. Now there is no insurance there is less treatment offered and I am having to practically fight to get what is needed (and pay for it).

RVN here.

I would query the out of hours fee, if you weren't actually seen out of hours.

Regarding the cannula fees.... IVs are not changed every day, once every 3 days is standard practice. They are however flushed checked and rebandaged every day and that might be what the charge is for.

In my experience vets don't charge extra if someone is insured, it's not the done thing in the profession.

I have known vets to miss charges off a bill if they know someone is short of money, but this is at their discretion and if there is a practice manager they would get in trouble for it.

Veterinary overheads and equipment are expensive. Contrary to popular belief vets aren't in it for the money. If they were they would have chosen a different profession!