We welcome new clients to the practice. Details of any historic illness or treatment your horse may have experienced should be provided upon registration. Previous practices will be happy to provide a copy of your horse’s medical history. It is important that you request this information on our behalf as soon as possible.
Booking an appointment or otherwise engaging our services indicates your acceptance of our terms and conditions.
The law says a vet can only prescribe prescription-only medicines (POM-V) for a horse that is under their care, after a clinical assessment. This means the vet has taken responsibility for your horse’s health and has enough up-to-date information, from examining your horse and from its clinical records, to prescribe safely.
For repeat medicines, our practice policy is that your horse should usually have been seen by one of our vets within the last six months. This reflects the Veterinary Medicines Regulations, under which a written prescription is valid for up to six months (28 days for controlled drugs). The law doesn’t set a fixed time since your horse was last examined, so the vet will always decide whether they have enough current information or need to see your horse again first, depending on the medicine and your horse’s condition. For some medicines, such as antibiotics, the vet will normally need to examine your horse at the time.
You can ask us for a written prescription instead of buying the medicine from us, and buy it from another vet, a pharmacy or a registered online retailer. Please allow time for a vet to review your request. For more details, see our Terms of Business or call us on 01270 660014.
In certain situations we understand that requests will be made by persons acting on your behalf, such as a stable manager or stable owner. In giving instructions either in person or via your agent for an animal to be examined or treated, you agree to be responsible for associated fees and charges. We cannot accept instructions from anybody under 18.
We want you to be happy with our service. If something isn’t right, please tell the vet at the time or call us on 01270 660014. Most concerns can be sorted out quickly.
For a formal complaint, please write to Sophie Coombes, Practice Manager, at info@tomwaltersequine.com or by post. Sophie reviews complaints together with Tom Walters. If your complaint is about Sophie, please email it to the same address, marked for Tom’s attention. If you find writing difficult, just call us and we’ll help.
We will acknowledge your complaint within 5 working days and send a full written response within 10 working days. If you’re still not happy, you can use the free, independent Veterinary Client Mediation Service.
Full details are on our Complaints page.
Clinical notes, radiographs and similar medical records are owned by the practice. The fees charged for these services are for carrying out investigations and interpreting results. The resulting documents and images remain the property of the practice and will be retained by Tom Walters Equine.
Upon request we will send copies of clinical histories to referral practices and to any new practice with which the client chooses to register, subject to requisite settlement.
Information pertaining to pre-purchase examinations remains the property of the individual instructing the practice and will not be shared with any third party, including the vendor, without express written permission.
It is practice policy to encourage all our clients to consider adequate insurance for their animals. We do not sell insurance and cannot advise clients on the merits of specific policies. Clients are reminded that animal insurance is a contract between themselves and their insurance company.
In the majority of cases we are able to liaise with and accept payment directly from insurance companies on your behalf, however we reserve the right to request payment directly from clients regardless of their insurance status.
We will provide all information requested in expediting claims, however it must be understood that we are not obliged to negotiate with any insurance company on your behalf.
You should be aware of the financial and chronological limitations of your insurance cover. It remains the responsibility of the client to monitor expenditure relevant to the condition(s) under treatment.
If an insurance claim is unsuccessful you will be expected to pay any costs associated with the care of your animal.
The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards were established to help organisations that process card payments to prevent card fraud. The standard applies to all organisations that store or process cardholder information and applies to all payments accepted in person, on the phone and online. We comply with all requirements of the standard.
We don’t offer credit accounts or payment plans. When you register, we send you a secure link to save a credit or debit card with our payment provider, Blink. Blink meets the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS). We can only see part of your card number, and your card details are not stored on our systems.
By signing the card payment authority on our registration form, you allow us to take payment from that card after each visit:
The 5% discount applies to all our fees. Please make sure at least £200 is available on your card before each visit. Full details are in section 3 of our Terms of Business.
We ask that invoices are paid in full when they are raised, as set out in our payment terms. We may ask for payment in advance for routine services such as vaccinations, dentals, passports and microchipping, and for a deposit for investigation visits. We refund the deposit if you cancel with at least 2 working days’ notice.
If a card payment is declined, we will contact you straight away and ask for your new card details.
If an invoice isn’t paid when due, we will remind you in writing and give you at least 14 days to pay or contact us. After that, we may stop providing further non-emergency services until the account is paid. We will always meet our legal and professional duties to your horse, including emergency first aid and pain relief. After a final written warning, we may pass the debt to a debt collection agency or claim through the County Court.
We do not add debt collection fees or charges for reminder letters. If we have to claim through the court, we may ask for the court fees and any other costs the court allows. If you are a business client, we may also claim interest and compensation under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998.
If you are struggling to pay, please talk to us early on 01270 660014. We would much rather agree a way forward. Full details are in sections 5, 6 and 16 of our Terms of Business.
Out of hours fees are charged when a veterinary surgeon visits out of normal office hours, which are 8.30am – 6pm, Monday to Friday.
In order to keep our costs as low as possible and to be able to pass these benefits on to you, we do not offer credit accounts.
A detailed invoice is provided for every consultation, procedure or transaction.