What happens if you can't afford vet bill?

[witchycat2]

Not happening to me, but a scenario of someone else has got me wondering.

What happens if your dog is injured and the treatment would cost say, £5k, and you literally can't pay it and have no insurance?

Does the vet put the dog to sleep? Do they seize the dog? Do you have the debt collectors round?

Lots of vets won't do that anymore - too many people are not paying up and it takes AGES for the vets to get restitution. Most of the time they end up out of pocket.

Its quite rare to find an animal is sick and the only options are either £5k treatment or pts, there are often less gold-standard but affordable option (such as amputation rather than a complex fracture repair) and charities who will help in some circumstances. The animal trust is a not for profit and do surgeries at reduced cost.

it is also a reality that except for the super rich, everyone has a monetary limit, whether that’s because they have maxed out their insurance or can’t or won’t spend that much on an animal, particularly as there is not guarantee that throwing money at treatment will ensure it’s successful (and often high cost treatment goes hand in hand with a poor prognosis or risk of treatment failure, often because the animal is already very sick and the treatment is not simple/routine). A lot of the art of veterinary practice is trying to get the best outcome for a pet within a budget a client has.

I actually asked this of my vet whilst my dog was being treated for arthritis (she is insured). The vet said it is now more common for people to be unable to pay due to cost of living and not having insurance .Gave an example of a young dad which had to be pts because the family were only able to find £1,000 of a £6,000 bill. Sadly the dog only had a broken leg which was easily treatable. 😭

Dog not a dog

Dog not a dad

As an animal lover with 3 insured dogs, I don’t agree with you because not everyone likes animals so why should they pay? Also, the nhs isn’t in a good way for people,

Some vets use debt collection companies to recover debt.

There are various scenarios - I've seen them all.

Hypothetical situation - dog hit by a car, leg broken, complex fracture.

Hypothetical £5k bill for initial stabilisation, x-rays and referral to specialist for surgical repair with pins and plates. Gold standard option, as close to full recovery as possible.

Can't afford that? Cheaper option would be to amputate the leg.

Can't afford that? Could try charities to see if they can contribute towards the bill. The RSPCA where I am often cover up to 25% if eligible, with the condition that the dog is neutered at the same time if they aren't already.

Can't afford amputation with charity assistance? Euthanasia. Yes vets have an obligation to provide emergency treatment and to prevent suffering, euthanasia is a viable option for that.

In other scenarios, I've seen the animal signed over to the vet, who will fix the animal up at their own expense and either keep/rehome. There's a reason why vet surgery employees usually have various broken pets! In other cases, pets have been signed over to rescue centres who have covered the treatment and then rehomed.

Most practices legally can't take payment plans as they don't have a consumer credit license. If you have a bill that you don't pay, they will pass it over to debt collectors.

"In the ideal world, there would be tighter regulations over the cost of surgery and ongoing treatment"
Do you mean price capping? In a free market economy for what is a non essential/luxury service?

"with insurers under a legal obligation to pay out for claims "
They do have legal obligations. Insurance is a contract. Not insurance company's fault if owners fail to read the small print first or let it lapse and restart or change insurer after the first signs of a pre existing condition start

". (though perhaps with exemption applied to pre-existing conditions)."

Why the "perhaps"?? Of course pre existing conditions are exempt. You can't drop a Ming vase on concrete then ring up the next day to insure it. Insurance companies have the 14 day exclusion on everything but the 4 weeks' free pup/kitten insurance you can get from the breeder or vet for this reason.

The same as any other private service I suppose, you don't have the money then you can't access their professional services and would need to surrender your pet to a charity or have it euthanised.
I could really do with some physio right now but I can't afford it so I can't get it.
I also need a fractured tooth repaired but need to save up since I can't afford it right now and don't want to take on debt. I certainly don't expect the service provider to take on the debt, not that they would.

@powershowerforanhour It is quite obvious from my post that I am advocating price capping. Treatment of a pet for injury or medical conditions is far from a 'luxury' service, and is indeed a necessity for the continued welfare of the animal. There is clear evidence of profiteering at the owner's expense ( as shown in my case) by some vet practices, particularly those run by larger chains and corporations. Price capping would be a sensible measure to prevent this.

Most vets offer a payment plan but imo it depends on the reason for the bill and the outcome. If cancer then pts. Why should the vet suffer because somebody can't afford to look after their pet?

From what I've seen a lot of people go down the crowdfunding route with some success surprisingly. Pet insurance should be compulsory or a blocked account with money in to cover bills a bit like a rental bond.

But it is your choice to go to a corporate vet rather than a private practice. I wouldn't touch a corporate with a bargepole. Both my canine and equine vets are private practice as the corporates, especially those belonging to PE houses, are a complete rip off with bottom line their driving force. Many vets leave these practices as they don't treat staff very well either.

In many areas, corporates are the only option - or they are for out of hours care. I fully agree with price capping.

my cat had FIP which until recently was always fatal. But now there is a treatment which ironically came about because of COVID as FIP is a coronavirus.

But the treatment costs approximately £4000. She started on the treatment but in the meantime she deteriorated to the point that her blood cell count was dangerously low, and the vet was recommending a blood transfusion. But that would have cost an additional £6000, and sadly there has to be a limit.

The vet said we had two choices, Have her put to to sleep or give the treatment another day to work. I took her home that night and in the middle of the night I fully intended to have her put to sleep in the morning. But by morning she was brighter so I held on, and within a couple of days she was visibly better, so I persevered with the treatment (which I took out an interest free credit card for). Three months later you would never know she’d been ill. In fact she’s quite the celebrity down at our surgery because of her miraculous recovery, and also because apparently most people can’t justify the treatment and so they go straight to euthanasia.

I think payment plans with a vet is an option not available anymore due to people simply not paying. Problem with compulsory insurance is what limit do you have to have?

i had £12k limit for my cat and including cremation it went over the limit by £1.98. The vet decided to write it off.

Due to many defaults in the practice i was blacklisted and it was impossible to get any appointments for my other cat or any advice/treatments due to the write off they did

not sure how you price cap an optional/professional service.

@BotterMon Unfortunately it is not my choice. We live in a rural area where the nearest vet practice (almost 10 miles away) was taken over by a huge chain two years ago. Before then, it was a family run practice that specialised in both small pets and farm animals. Since becoming a chain, prices for treatment and surgery have increased by almost 40%, whilst service standards have plummeted, so the usual story. The next nearest vets is 30 miles away, and owned by the same chain. Not everyone lives somewhere where there is a choice.

I my experience, situations resulting in very large vet bills are usually the kind where euthanasia should be one of the options on the table anyway just because the impact of recovery on the animal and the outcomes mean that euthanasia might be the kindest option. It’s not always true and I’ve known friends who have had big surgeries on dogs who have intestinal blockage etc that have racked up big bills and had uncomplicated recovery.

we had a family dog who was hit by a car two decades ago (driver at fault, dog was sitting on the pavement and driver lost control) and the damage on the X-rays meant that whilst a supervet style treatment option might have been possible, the trauma for the dog meant that letting her go was ultimately kindest.

I think you’ve quoted my message in error - I didn’t suggest anyone else should pay.
My point was that even if you have insurance for your pet(s) it doesn’t necessarily cover all treatment that your pet may require. I’m fortunate that a) I was in a position to pay the cost of my dogs surgery that the insurance I had wouldn’t cover and b) my vet did offer a payment plan as an option which avoided me needing to put the cost of the surgery on a credit card.

I've just had my renewal through with Many Pets, £10pm higher with reduced benefits for my 6yr old dog no ongoing health issues and no claims. It is their 'regular' policy and at £726 a year it is more than my house or car insurance which are high end products

I want to change provider but there is the 14 day exclusion criteria with new providers, so will have to pay an overlap I guess.

Edit is text added below:

So in the context of the post, pet insurance is becoming more and more unaffordable for a lot of people. As insurance becomes restricted in what it covers as well so you are paying a premium for insurance plus having to pay for all routine treatments and dental not covered by a lot of policies.

Our vets are independent and offer payment plans for regular clients. Other than that it’s borrowing if you can. PTS is the last option and I know people who have chosen that.

Just don’t do what an acquaintance did. Asked me for advice as her cat wasn’t eating and was lethargic. I told her to take to vets. But she’s old and they will charge me £x and she’ll die anyway. Not necessarily. But it’s a lot of money. Well yes but that’s the choice we make. Cat died a week later having suffered that long. Acquaintance jetted off on an expensive holiday a week later 😐 I’m glad she thought another would be ‘too expensive and heartbreaking’. She regularly flies abroad for a bit of sun. Priorities.

The vet I used allowed me to pay in 2 or 3 instalments. They knew me well though and I volunteered for Cats Protection so they knew they would see me again.

I watch The Supervet, they seem to have a fund for work that isn't covered by insurance, but I'm sure it is only for the more complex cases that benefit the vets as much as the animal.

I really don’t think so. If everyone in the country was rolling in it, perhaps, but we’re not. It’s a choice to have pets- and a responsibility. Wildlife is slightly different.

No way would I pay tax for this.

I would have taken that to court, what disgusting insurance company was that? Hope your dog is ok now.