This document sets out the terms of the contract established between us (CSVC Ltd.) and you (the registered animal owner or individual requesting veterinary services) which comes into being when you register your animal with our veterinary centre or when you ask us to provide veterinary services. Should you have any queries regarding any aspect of these terms of business please do not hesitate to ask us for further clarification.
General Terms (applying to the provision of all goods and services):
Our commitment to you
We aim to provide the best veterinary care in both sickness and health, teach how preventative care improves and prolongs life, support and help our clients in all aspects of pet care and ownership, ensure financial returns to the practice to allow growth and development and provide a complete veterinary service that every pet deserves. We have Practice policies that have been developed to give your pet optimum care whilst complying with the codes of practice from the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, the Veterinary Medicines Directorate, the Health and Safety Executive and Environmental Health.
Fees
All fees, food and drugs are subject to VAT at the current rate and will be determined by the time and skill involved in treating a patient, taking into account the drugs, materials and consumables used. We try to provide clients with accurate estimates of the cost of procedures beforehand, but these will only be approximate. We will always endeavour to keep you informed of any changes that may lead to additional costs, at the earliest opportunity. If finance is a concern, please discuss this with a member of staff at the earliest possible time.
Methods of payment
Accounts are due for settlement in full at the end of the consultation, the discharge of your animal or upon collection of drugs/diets.
Your account may be settled using cash or a debit/credit card.
Settlement Terms
If for any reason your account has not been settled at the end of consultation, the discharge of your pet or upon collection of drugs/diets, a reminder will then be sent. In the event of non-payment, further reminders will be sent which could incur administrative costs. Overdue accounts, after due notice to you, may be referred to our Debt Collection Agency or the County Courts if satisfactory repayment arrangements have not been made with ourselves. This could incur you further costs whilst collecting the debts. Any cheques returned by our bank as unpaid, any credit card payment not honoured and any cash tendered found to be counterfeit will result in the account being restored to the original sum, with further charges added to cover our bank charges and administration costs. We reserve the right to refuse any treatment other than first aid to animals belonging to clients with long term outstanding accounts. Clients may be refused all treatment after appropriate notice has been given.
Ownership of records
All pet case records, diagnostic test results and interpretation and x-rays remain the property of CSVC Ltd. Records can be copied and on request, forwarded to another veterinary surgeon taking over the case. We have controls in place to deal with personal details and client records in accordance with the Data Protection Act. A copy of the case records and diagnostic test results can be provided to the registered owner of the patient for a charge.
Prescription and dispensing policy
Most of the medication that our vets prescribe can be dispensed directly from our surgeries at the time of your appointment in accordance with the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons and Veterinary Medicines Directorate guidelines. All Prescription Only Medicines (POM-V) are dispensed with the authority of the vet treating your pet. Prices (including VAT) of any medication prescribed are available on request.
Written prescriptions for veterinary medications are available on request. These must be authorised by a vet and can only be issued to animals under their care. We charge £20 for a written prescription, this covers the professional service of the vet authorising appropriate medication, dosage advice and updating and maintaining the necessary pharmacy records for your pet.
For those pets on long-term medication, we have a repeat prescription service, which lets you re-order medication or written prescriptions over the phone. To comply with the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons best practice guidelines, we must see your pet every three months (or more frequently if the specific medication requires it) for an examination and to ensure we carry out any diagnostic tests to monitor the efficacy and/or side effects of the drug. There are instances where flea and worm medication or POM-V medication used for preventative healthcare may also require your pet’s health to be checked six monthly before it can be dispensed.
Pet health insurance
Cottage Spring Veterinary Centre supports and encourages insuring your animal against unexpected illness or accidents. Details of insurance policies can be supplied upon request. Please be aware that it is your responsibility to settle your account with ourselves and then reclaim the fees from your Insurance Company.
Home visits
In most cases your pet will receive better treatment if it is brought into the surgery where we have the equipment, facilities and staff necessary to treat them. However, there are some cases when it may be preferable to provide treatment at your home. We endeavour to come out to your home at your convenience but we ask that you call the surgery in the morning so we can arrange this around other duties. There is an additional charge for a home visit. You will be provided with an estimate of fees when calling to book a visit.
Out of hours emergencies and inpatient care
All emergencies out of hours are dealt with by YourVets Smethwick.
The service is based at YourVets, 300 Londonderry Ln, Smethwick B67 7EW. For all emergencies after office hours please call the emergency line on 0121516999. Alternatively, if you ring our normal number after hours you will hear a recorded message giving this number.
In circumstances where emergency care is provided by a third party, any fees incurred during the out of hours times will be payable directly to that third party.
All inpatients at Cottage Spring Veterinary Centre are cared for by our qualified veterinary staff, who live on site. Where continuous veterinary care is required, and it is in the best interests of the patient, hospitalised animals may be transported to the emergency service where they can be more closely supervised by the emergency vet. If this is the case, we will telephone you first to discuss arrangements, and we will take care of all transportation.
Complaints
Whilst we hope that our service does not give you cause for complaint, if you do wish to complain please contact the Practice Manager in the first instance.
Variations in Terms and Conditions of Business
No addition or variation of these conditions will bind Cottage Spring Veterinary Centre unless specifically agreed in writing by a CSVC Ltd. Director. Additionally no agent or person employed by or under contract with CSVC Ltd. has the authority to alter or vary these terms and conditions in any way.
When you register with Cottage Spring Veterinary Centre (CSVC), request treatment for your animal, contact the practice by email, telephone or in writing we will collect and process personal information about you.
We understand the importance of looking after your personal information that you provide and this Privacy Notice sets out what personal information we collect, why we need to collect it, how we will use it and how long we will store it for.
How we will use your personal information
We will process your personal information as it is necessary for the performance of our contract with you to provide veterinary services. This will involve using your personal information to provide you with our products and services and to send you information related to the services we provide to you including appointment and vaccination reminders. Please talk to one of our members of staff if you would like to change how you receive these communications.
What personal information do we collect and why
Name – So that we can identify you and personalise our communications with you.
Address – So that we can identify you, register your animal with our practice send reminders, correspondence and information about our services directly to you and to send information about local animal health issues.
Email address – So that we can contact you about your animal, send reminders about your appointments, vaccinations, flea or worming treatments and or correspondence about our service and animal health issues.
Mobile number – So that we can contact you about your animal, send reminders about your appointments, vaccinations, flea or worming treatments and or correspondence about our service and animal health issues.
Telephone number – So that we can contact you about your animal.
Location information (such as postcode) – So that we can inform you about any animal health concerns we are aware of in your area.
Bank, debit or credit card details – So that we can receive payment for the services we provide if applicable.
Insurance policy number – So that we can communicate with your animal insurance provider if applicable.
Please remember to let practice staff know if any of the above information changes as soon as possible so that we have up to date records.
Data retention
We will keep your personal information for as long as you are a client of our practice and thereafter for as long as any legal claim may be made against CSVC or our colleagues and for as long as is required to comply with our legal and regulatory requirements including to the HMRC and RCVS.
Sharing your information
We are required to share your personal information in certain circumstances to ensure that we are able to provide you with services, obtain payment or correspond with your insurance provider. In each case we will only share the data necessary for the purpose and it will only be in relation to the specified purpose. Each third party is required to have in place comparable data security measures and to be fully compliant with the terms of the General Data Protection Regulations.
Who do we share information with and why:
Referral practices
When we refer an animal to a referral hospital or specialist, we need to share relevant information to arrange appointments, test, treatments and services.
Information do we share:
-Your name.
-Your address.
-Your email address.
-Mobile number.
-Telephone number.
Laboratories and Animal Crematorium
So that we can arrange tests, treatments and services and obtain results on your behalf.
Information do we share:
-Your name.
-Your address.
Your insurer
So that we can obtain permission to perform certain investigations and treatments at their expense. To arrange payment for investigations and treatments provided.
Information do we share:
-Insurance policy number.
-Your name.
-Your address.
Banks and payment service providers
So that we can deal with payments for the appointments, services, treatments and goods provided. To make refunds.
Information do we share:
-Your name.
-Your account details.
-Your address.
Credit reference and fraud prevention agencies
We may share your personal information with and obtain information about you from credit reference agencies or fraud prevention agencies.
Information do we share:
-Your name.
-Your address.
Debt collection agencies
If you fall behind with payments for the services we provide, we may engage a debt collection agency to recover the debt on our behalf.
Information do we share:
-Your name.
-Your address.
-Your outstanding balance.
Email providers, printers and mailing houses
So that we can send you reminders, administrative information relating to the way we provide services to you, information about animal health issues relevant to you and marketing communications if you have consented to receiving them.
Information do we share:
-Your name.
-Your address.
-Your email address.
Law enforcement agencies
If we receive a request in writing from a law enforcement agency, we may be required to provide your personal information.
Information do we share:
-Your name.
-Your address.
-Your email address.
-Mobile number.
-Telephone number.
-Location information.
-Bank, debit or credit card details.
-Insurance policy number.
Moving practice
If you decide to move to a new practice we will provide a copy of your animals records to the new practice when requested. If you do not want your records transferred, please speak to a staff member.
Information do we share:
-Your name.
-Your address.
-Your email address.
-Mobile number.
-Telephone number.
Keeping your data secure
We recognise the importance of keeping your personal data safe and we have in place security measures and policies to prevent personal data from being lost, used or accessed without our permission. We limit access to your personal information to those who have a genuine business need to know it. Those processing your information will do so only in an authorised manner and are subject to a duty of confidentiality.
We also have procedures in place to deal with any suspected data security breach. We will notify you and any applicable regulator of a suspected data security breach where we are legally required to do so.
Google Analytics Cookies
These cookies help us accurately estimate the number of visitors to our website and volumes of usage. Google Analytics stores visitor information in an anonymised form and the cookies used by Google Analytics do not store any sensitive data, or data which identifies you personaly.
Links to other websites
Our website and Facebook page may contain links to other websites of interest. However once you have used these links to leave our site you should note that we do not have any control over that other website. Therefore we cannot be responsible for the protection and privacy of any information which you provide whilst visiting such sites and such sites are not governed by this privacy statement. You should exercise caution and look at the privacy statement applicable to the website in question.
Your rights
The General Data Protection Regulation grants all data subjects the following rights without charge. These include the right to:
-Fair processing of information and transparency over how we use your use personal information;
-Access your personal information and to certain other supplementary information that this privacy notice is already designed to address;
-Require us to correct any mistakes in your information which we hold;
-Require the erasure of personal information concerning you in certain situations;
-Receive the personal information concerning you which you have provided to us, in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format and have the right to transmit those data to a third party in certain situations;
-Object at any time to processing of personal information concerning you for direct marketing;
-Object to decisions being taken by automated means which produce legal effects concerning you or similarly significantly affect you;
-Object in certain other situations to our continued processing of your personal information;
-Otherwise restrict our processing of your personal information in certain circumstances.
If you would like to exercise any of your rights, please contact the practice manager.
We will keep our privacy policy under regular review and we publish any updates in practice and on this website. This privacy policy was last updated on 15th May 2018.
How to contact us: email: enquiries@csvets.co.uk
phone: 01384 389045
post: 172 Mill Street, Brierley Hill, DY5 2TL
Please contact us if you have any questions about our privacy policy or the information we hold about you.
We don’t like long and boring legal stuff, but when joining the VIP Club you are accepting these terms and conditions. It is important to read them carefully, and please ask a member of staff if you have any queries.
If you would like a copy of these terms and conditions in larger print please ask at reception.
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- The VIP Club is a rolling annual preventative healthcare programme. The VIP Club is NOT an insurance policy.
- Membership of the agreement constitutes an agreement between you and CSVC Ltd. Membership and benefits are not transferable to another practice.
- You will receive discounted products and services during the course of your membership including, but not limited to, vaccines and flea / worming / tick treatments and a full health check with one of our vets. The vaccines and flea / worming / tick treatments are limited to a one year supply. Full details of what is included are available from the practice.
- The fee for your pet will be determined by its species, age and weight.
- Of course, your pet can still receive treatment outside the scope of the VIP Club and this will be charged in accordance with the practice’s normal fees, terms and conditions.
- These VIP Club terms and conditions should be read in conjunction with any additional information including, but not limited to, literature provided by the practice detailing what is included in the VIP Club. That literature forms part of these terms and conditions.
- Your responsibilities – you are responsible for following our vets and nurses guidance, and for ensuring your pet attends the practice regularly for the preventative healthcare checks which are included as part of your membership of the VIP Club. If we are unable to maintain your pet’s health because you haven’t followed guidance or attended the practice we may need to terminate your membership. Termination would be in writing as outlined below, and with immediate effect.
- Your membership fees will be collected by Direct Debit on a monthly basis.
- We use Easy Direct Debits Limited to collect Direct Debits on our behalf, and your bank statements will show a payment to Easy Direct Debits on behalf of Cottage Spring Veterinary Centre. For the avoidance of doubt, your agreement is with CSVC Ltd. Easy Direct Debits Limited merely provide support to the practice, which includes transferring your payments.
- Membership for each pet will renew automatically on the anniversary of the date that your pet joined the VIP Club.
- We will tell you in advance, in writing, if there is to be a change in membership fees on your renewal date. We will always give you at least 30 days notice of any change in fees as a result of our annual review.
- In between our annual fees review, your pet’s monthly fees may also change as your pet’s age / weight change. A change in fees due to a change in weight / age will take effect as soon as is reasonably practical. This applies to both increases and decreases in weight.
- After a failed Direct Debit payment, we will re-present our payment request to your bank after 3-5 working days.
- If the second payment request also fails, we will make a third and final payment request to your bank after a further 3-5 working days. If this payment request is unsuccessful your VIP Club membership will be cancelled automatically and your pet will no longer receive the associated benefits and discounts.
- If your VIP Club membership is cancelled automatically because of failed direct debits, your account will be reviewed and you will be charged the full price of any products and services received during the course of your membership, minus any membership fees received to date.
- Ending our agreement / cancelling your membership:
- You may cancel your membership on your anniversary date (which is the anniversary of the date you joined) by giving us not less than 30 days notice.
- If you cancel your membership before your anniversary date, we will review your account and, where applicable, charge you retrospectively the full price of any products and services received during the course of your membership, minus any membership fees received to date.
- We may end our agreement by giving you written notice as outlined below.
- Unpaid bills relating to your membership fees, treatment received or medicines dispensed will be handled in accordance with our standard terms and conditions (available on request) and may be referred to a third party debt collection agency.
- Notice:
- With regard to this agreement, either party wishing to give notice to the other should do so in writing.
- In writing includes emails, letters sent by post, or delivered by hand.
- When we write to you by post, we will use the address most recently provided.
- If you wish to write to us, please use the email address enquiries@csvets.co.uk or send letters to The Practice Manager, Cottage Spring Veterinary Centre, 172 Mill Street, Brierley Hill, DY5 2TL.
- Should you ever have cause to complain about the service you receive, please follow the practice’s normal complaints procedure (available on request).
How we use your information
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- Easy Direct Debits Limited and Cottage Spring Veterinary Centre will hold and use your personal data (as defined by UK data protection laws) for the purpose of administering your preventative healthcare plan.
- Both Cottage Spring Veterinary Centre and Easy Direct Debits Ltd may record and monitor inbound and outbound telephone calls for training purposes. These calls may also be referred to in relation to any future queries.
- We will take all reasonable precautions to ensure the security of your data. Your data will not be shared with anyone else unless there is a legal requirement for us to do so.
- You have the right to see your personal data. If you have any queries about the data we hold, or how we use it, please write to either Cottage Spring Veterinary Centre, 172 Mill Street, Brierley Hill, DY5 2TL or Easy Direct Debits Limited, 99 Holdenhurst Road, Bournemouth BH8 8DY.
Easy Direct Debits Limited is a company registered in England and Wales with company number 09633942 whose registered office is at Ebenezer House, 5a Poole Road, Bournemouth, BH2 5QJ
CSVC Ltd is a limited company registered in England and Wales with company number 10488166 whose registered office is at 172 Mill Street, Brierley Hill, DY5 2TL.