Thank you for entrusting the care of your pet to Quarry House Vets. Here we set out our practice terms. These terms include important information – please read them carefully.

By buying veterinary products or services from us, you accept and agree to be bound and abide by these terms.

Our Terms

These are our terms and conditions on which we supply veterinary services and/or goods to you when you are a consumer.

Other terms that apply are our Privacy Policy which applies when you provide us with any personal data. Our Privacy Policy explains what personal data we collect and how we use it.

Also our Complaints Policy which explains how you can make complaints about our veterinary services and how we deal with them. Both of these can be found on our website and practice notice boards. Please read these terms carefully before you register to receive goods or services from us.

Our Information

We are Quarry House Veterinary Centre, trading under the names of Quarry House Vets, Albany Vets and St James Vets. Our registered address is Quarry House Vets, 148 Teignmouth Road, Torquay TQ1 4RY and are VAT number is 141091995. Our contact details are on our contact us page.

Contacting you: If we have to contact you we will do so by telephone or by writing to you at the email address or postal address you provided to us upon registration with us. (When we use the words “writing” or “written” in these terms, this includes emails).

Our contract with you: Our acceptance of your registration will take place when the practice confirms to you that we have accepted your registration, by way of taking a registration fee (which will be deducted from your first consultation) at which point a contract will come into existence between you and us. We will provide you with a copy of these terms when you register. They can also be found on here and on the practices’ notice board. 

Our veterinary services

We will provide our veterinary services in accordance with the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (“RCVS”) Code of Professional Conduct.

Our veterinary services will be provided by suitably trained and/or qualified staff. This will depend on the nature of the veterinary service being provided in each instance. Veterinary services may also be provided by or with the involvement of other staff as part of their training and development (such as student vets, nurses and animal care assistants) under the supervision of a suitably trained and/or qualified member of staff. You have the right at any time for them not to provide or be involved in the care of your pet.

We provide veterinary services during our normal business hours. We may change our normal business hours from time to time – please see our website for our current opening hours.

We will also provide emergency veterinary services to you outside our normal business hours either ourselves or by referring you to a veterinary service with whom we have an appropriate arrangement. Fees charged out of hours vary with the time of day or night. A veterinary surgeon and a nurse are on duty throughout the night to ensure continuous patient care.

We will provide veterinary services to you at our practices. We may also provide veterinary services to you at other premises where we need to access additional or specialist facilities (such as MRI scanners) or to provide emergency veterinary services to you outside our normal business hours. You must comply with any health and safety instructions that apply at those premises, and you are responsible for any belongings that you bring to or leave at those premises. We may, at our discretion, agree to provide veterinary services at any other location that you request (such as your home). You are responsible for making sure that they are safe and accessible by our staff.

It is your responsibility to make appointments to receive veterinary services and goods. You can do so in person, or by contacting us on our above phone numbers. We reserve the right to refuse to provide veterinary services if you attend our practice without an appointment or if you are not present at our practice in time for your appointment.

Normally we will agree a treatment plan with you after an initial consultation and in advance of any further treatment. However, we reserve the right to provide such veterinary services as are reasonably necessary, in the professional judgement of our staff acting in the best interest of your pet, without first agreeing a treatment plan with you (such as in an emergency). 

We can accept and rely on instructions and information from your representatives who bring your pet to us. This includes, for example, your family members, dog walkers, pet kennels and pet sitters. You can contact us at one of our addresses, email address or phone numbers to let us know who is authorised or not authorised to represent you. However, we reserve the right at our discretion to refuse to accept instructions from them (such as if they are under 18 years old or we reasonably believe that they are not authorised to represent you) or we may ask for proof that they are authorised to represent you.

We reserve the right to decline to provide veterinary services to you, at our own discretion. You are free at all times and at your own cost, to seek or request a second opinion on or concerning any veterinary services that we have provided. 

We are not responsible for delays outside our control. If our supply of the veterinary services or goods are delayed by an event outside our control then we will contact you as soon as possible to let you know. We will not be liable for delays caused by the event, but if there is a risk of substantial delay you may contact us to end the contract and receive a refund for any services or goods you have paid for but not received.

We have ownership of your pet’s medical records. This includes all test results, x-rays, MRI scans and ultrasounds. You may ask us to provide a copy of your pet’s medical records to another veterinary service provider by verbal or written request to our practice phone numbers or our email address. We will process your request within a reasonable period of time. We reserve the right at our discretion to charge a reasonable fee for doing so, and require that you pay that fee and any other outstanding sums before doing so.

Pet insurance is your responsibility. We strongly support the principle of insuring your pet against unexpected illness or accidents. Although you do not need pet insurance to receive our veterinary services, we recommend that you take out appropriate pet insurance for your pet with a reputable insurer.

Prescriptions

Prescriptions and repeat prescriptions may only be issued by our staff who are qualified and authorised to do so. We may, at our discretion, refuse to issue prescriptions for pets that are not registered with us. Prescriptions may only be issued following a clinical assessment of your pet. We may, at our discretion, require an updated clinical assessment of your pet before issuing a repeat prescription – please make your prescription request in sufficient time to be able to arrange an updated clinical assessment if required. We will advise you of availability and costs before dispensing any medicinal or pharmaceutical products. You are responsible for collecting it from our practice.

We may charge you to issue written prescriptions or repeat prescriptions. Those charges are necessary to cover, for example, the time, responsibility and professional insurance costs involved. We will advise you of the costs before issuing a written prescription.

Safeguarding our staff, clients and pets

We take the health, wellbeing and safety of our staff, our clients and pets in our care very seriously. We therefore take a zero-tolerance approach against intrusive, offensive, violent or aggressive behaviour. Examples of behaviour that we deem unacceptable are:

• Using violent, threatening or abusive language (including swearing and offensive remarks); Derogatory racial or sexual remarks;
• Violent, threatening or abusive behaviour towards our staff, our clients or pets in our care;
• Making malicious allegations about our staff or other clients;
• Offensive sexual gestures or behaviour;
• Using violent, threatening or abusive language (including swearing and offensive remarks); 
• Violent, threatening or abusive behaviour towards our staff, our clients or pets in our care;
• Theft and other criminal activity; and
• Non-compliance with the practice’s health and safety requirements.

We reserve the right at our discretion to decline to supply veterinary services or goods, to ask you to leave our premises and/or to terminate our contract with you if you or any person accompanying or connected with you engage in any such behaviour, whether in our practice or when speaking to our staff via telephone, email or through our website or social media accounts. We understand that not all animals will respond to treatment as hoped and that this can be very distressing, will take this into account when dealing with such behaviour. 

Your rights to end the contract

You can end your contract with us at any time. When your contract with us ends, you will be responsible for collecting your pet from us (if it is in our care) and for paying any outstanding debts you have with us. To end the contract with us, please let us know in person, by telephone or by email.

Our rights to end the contract

We may end the contract immediately at any time for any of the following reasons:

• if the information that you provided to us on registration or at any time is inaccurate, incomplete or misleading;
• if you break any of the terms of the contract;
• if you do not comply with safeguarding our staff, clients and pets;
• if you do not make any payment to us when it is due and you still do not make payment within 7 days of us reminding you that payment is due; or
• you do not, within a reasonable time of us asking for it, provide us with information that is necessary for us to provide the services.

We may end the contract at any time for any other reason. We will write to you to let you know at least 30 days before the contract ends. We will refund any sums you have paid in advance for services which will not be provided. We may also withdraw services. We may write to you to let you know that we are going to stop providing particular services. We will let you know as soon as reasonably possible and will refund any sums you have paid in advance for services which will not be provided.

If you are unhappy with our service. We are committed to providing an exceptional standard of service and care. We realise, however, that things can go wrong and there may be occasions when you feel your expectations are not met. We hope that if this is the case you will give the practice a chance to put it right. Most issues can be sorted out easily and quickly, often at the time they arise and with the person concerned. If your issue cannot be resolved in this way and you have any questions or complaints about the veterinary services that we have provided to you or about any of our staff, please refer to our Complaints Policy. This can be found on our website.

We are under a legal duty to supply services that are in conformity with this contract. Nothing in these terms will affect your legal rights.

Price and payment

Where possible, we will agree a price estimate with you before providing veterinary services. If we believe that the price estimate will be exceeded, wherever possible we will discuss this with you and agree a revised price estimate before continuing to provide veterinary services. However, we reserve the right to provide such veterinary services as are reasonably necessary, in the professional judgement of our staff acting in the best interest of the animal under our care, without first agreeing the price estimate or revised price estimate with you (such as in an emergency). 

The price payable for the veterinary services that we provide will be calculated in accordance with our standard price and rates at that time. That is the case even if that is higher or lower than any price estimate agreed with you. Price estimates are not intended to be a fixed or maximum price for veterinary services. Our prices and rates are inclusive of VAT unless specified otherwise, in which case it will be added as appropriate. We will provide you with an invoice of the price payable by you. 

When you must pay depends on what veterinary services that we provide:

• For the sale of goods (such as prescriptions and travel documents) you must pay for them at the time that we provide them to you.
• For the provision of out-patient veterinary services (where your pet is not left with us), you must pay for them at the end of your appointment; and
• For the provision of in-patient veterinary services (where your pet is left with us), you must pay for them on discharge of your pet.

We may at our discretion require that you pay for the whole or part of the veterinary services in advance. Where you have a valid pet insurance policy, we may at our discretion agree to make a claim for payment directly to your insurance company. You agree to provide us with any information that we request about that policy. We may charge a fee for completing, submitting and/or managing a claim for payment on your behalf, and you agree to pay us on request at any time for that fee and for any amounts that the insurance company has not paid as at the date of our request for payment.

You may pay the price payable to us by cash, debit card or credit card at one of our practices. We are unable to accept payments by cheque. We may take further action to recover overdue payments. If any amounts payable to us are not paid when due then, without prejudice to any other remedies available to us, we may at any times refer any overdue accounts to our debt collection agency for recovery and add additional charges to your outstanding account in order to recover fees and costs in connection with the collection of the sum you owe, including but not limited to administration costs and debt collection agency fees. We may refuse to supply further veterinary services to you. 

If you are unable to pay for the veterinary services that we provided, we are only obliged to fulfil our minimum legal responsibilities and professional regulatory obligations in respect of the animal under our care. If you have a valid Pet Care Plan for your pet at the date that we provide the veterinary services:

• Where your Pet Care Plan includes the cost of any veterinary services, you will not be required to pay the practice for those veterinary services (up to any limits set out in your plan); and
• Where your Pet Care Plan includes discounts on the price of veterinary services, we will apply those discounts to the price that you are required to pay for those veterinary services (up to any limits set out in your plan).

Our responsibility for loss or damage suffered by you

We may be responsible to you for foreseeable loss and damage caused by us. If we materially fail to comply with these terms, we may be responsible for loss or damage you suffer that is a foreseeable result of our breaking this contract or our failing to use reasonable care and skill, but we are not responsible for any loss or damage that is not foreseeable. Loss or damage is foreseeable if either it is obvious that it will happen or if, at the time the contract was made, both we and you knew it might happen, for example, if you discussed it with us during the sales process.

We do not exclude or limit in any way our liability to you where it would be unlawful to do so. This includes liability for death or personal injury to human beings caused by our negligence or the negligence of our employees, agents or subcontractors; for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation; for breach of your legal rights in relation to the services; and for defective products under the Consumer Protection Act 1987.

We are not liable for business losses. We only supply goods and services for domestic and private use. If you use the services or any goods that we supply in providing the services for any commercial, business or re-sale purpose we will have no liability to you for any loss of profit, loss of business, business interruption, or loss of business opportunity.

We are not liable for your use of any products otherwise than in accordance with its instructions or as directed by our veterinary surgeon. Veterinary medicinal diet feed, should only be used where recommended and by way of regular monitoring by a veterinarian. The veterinarian should be visited regularly during the feeding for check-up examinations and without delay in the event of deterioration in the animal’s condition.

Subject to the above exceptions, our liability to you for any damages, losses, claims, costs or expenses arising out of our supply of any goods or services shall not exceed:

• if the supply of those goods or services are covered by our public liability or professional indemnity insurance, the limit of that insurance for each claim or series of connected claims; and
• if the supply of those goods or services are not covered by our public liability or professional indemnity insurance, the value of the total fees paid or payable by you for the goods or services in question.

Your personal information and how we use it

When you visit our website or order any goods or services from us, we will collect personal data about you. We will only use your personal information as set out in our Privacy Policy.

Other terms

We may transfer this agreement to someone else. We may transfer our rights and obligations under these terms to another organisation. We will always tell you in writing if this happens and we will ensure that the transfer will not affect your rights under the contract.

You need our consent to transfer your rights to someone else. You may only transfer your rights or your obligations under these terms to another person if we agree to this in writing. Nobody else has any rights under this contract. This contract is between you and us. No other person shall have any rights to enforce any of its terms.

If a court finds part of this contract illegal, the rest will continue in force. Each of the paragraphs of these terms operates separately. If any court or relevant authority decides that any of them are unlawful, the remaining paragraphs will remain in full force and effect.

If we delay in enforcing this contract, we can still enforce it at any time. If we do not insist immediately that you do anything you are required to do under these terms, or if we delay in taking steps against you in respect of you breaking this contract, that will not mean that you do not have to do those things and it will not prevent us taking steps against you at a later date. For example, if you miss a payment and we do not chase you but we continue to provide you products or services, we can still require you to make the payment at any time. These terms are governed by English law. We may amend these terms from time to time. We recommend that you check them each time you use our website or engage our services to make sure that you are aware and understand the terms that apply at that time. 

These terms were last updated in July 2022.