Insurance and Payment Options
Insurance claims
Please pay us at the time of treatment and claim back the funds from the insurance company yourself. You will need to check with your insurance company about your level of cover, any exclusions you may have and what excess you will need to pay. We will do our best to help with this process, but insurance companies often prefer to deal with the policyholder.
Some insurance companies may require pre-authorisation prior to treatment. Please make sure you read your policy information fully before attending an appointment.
Direct claims
Although we do not routinely make direct claims from insurance companies, they can be arranged with certain insurance companies where they reimburse us directly. Direct claims cannot be requested at the time of collection of your pet, after treatment has already been given and should be discussed with your vet prior to any investigations or treatment being undertaken.
Please be aware that direct claims often necessitate quite lengthy preparation, which may delay possible investigations and surgery. We can only process direct claims for accounts over £100. They also require a significant amount of work and administration time by our team and therefore an administration fee of £20 applies for processing a direct claim.
Deposit policy
If your pet is staying with us for hospitalisation, surgery or further investigations, you will be asked to pay a deposit of 50% of the upper end of the estimate that the clinician gave you. Please note that our estimates are anticipated costs for treatment, not exact quotes.
Payment Options
Cash and major credit/debit cards are accepted.
Payment will be required at the time of consultation or on collection of your pet. A fee is charged for post-operative examinations and repeat consultations.
Please note we do not accept American Express, Solo or Diners cards.
Don’t worry – we will reimburse the £200 on RSA customer claims
Royal Sun Alliance (RSA) underwrite pet insurance policies for Argos, Homebase, John Lewis, Marks & Spencer, MoreThan and Tesco. They have chosen to bring in a list of preferred referral providers. At Eastcott Veterinary Specialists we’ve chosen not to be on the list at this time as we do not believe that limiting choice is in the best interests of pets or their owners.
The RSA may apply an additional £200 excess charge if your specialist veterinary referral centre which is not part of the RSA Preferred Referral Vet Network.
We don’t believe owners should be penalised for choosing the best care so, to support RSA policy holders, Eastcott Veterinary Referrals will reimburse the £200 charge. It’s all part of our commitment to ensuring you can make the right choice for your pet.
For any question on insurance claims or payments please call us on 01793 528 341 or email enquiries@eastcottvets.co.uk