Vet wrongly informed me insurers had authorised treatment, went ahead and now won't refund me

[vetchargesquestion]

To cut a long story short, my dog needed a dental scale and polish. My vet put in a form to obtain pre-authorisation from the insurers (which does unusually cover scale and polish if for medical reasons). Shortly afterwards the vet told me the pre-authorisation had been granted and I therefore went ahead with the treatment - costing £500 (yes I know!).

When I did not receive reimbursement from the insurers I contacted the vet and they admitted the treatment wasn't authorised because they hadn't sent in the form and then, when they did send it in (after the op), the insurers queried the claim and have refused to cover the treatment.

Vet is now saying sorry, even though it was their mistake, because the treatment was necessary 'and you'd have gone ahead with it anyway' (big assumption there) they're not going to refund me.

Before I go in all guns blazing, do you think the vet is right? I'd have thought they would at least offer a partial refund - after all, part of the £500 is just profit to them. They're obviously not interested in retaining my custom that's for sure, as I'm off once I've got this sorted!

Grateful for any views.

gobblers the vet has admitted they didn't send off the pre-auth form. It was a mistake and I accept that (we all make them) but it is their unwillingness to accept responsibility for their mistake that I'm objecting to.

My deleted post was really about the insurance angle and I thought it was going off-piste a bit (this point about the pre-auth form is quite straightforward really).

I agree, the points you raised about the insurance are totally moot if the vets didn't send of the form in the first place.

I hope you manage to get it sorted out sounds as though they are terribly in the wrong.

It seems to me that this could be a breach of the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 - these replaced the Trade Descriptions Act 1968.

Your transaction with the vet should be covered but worth checking online or with your local Trading Standards.

You agreed to have the treatment done based on information given to you by the vet. Had they told you it wasn't, or might not be covered, you would have made a different transactional decision - ie waited until checking with your insurer, delayed until you had saved or not bothered all together. Either way you made your decision based on misleading/false information given by the Vet staff.

If the service offered by the vet is covered by the Regulations then they have committed a criminal offence and could be prosecuted - worth pointing that out when you go back to discuss a refund!

Good luck...

Thank you very much for that additional angle practicalpet and I will look into it. I agree that customers of vets are probably classified as 'consumers' and therefore entitled to statutory consumer protection.

Link to RCVS Discussion of fees
www.rcvs.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/code-of-professional-conduct-for-veterinary-surgeons/supporting-guidance/communication-and-consent/

sunshine thanks for the link - most helpful