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Insurance Claims Policy
We highly recommend that you insure your pets against the costs of veterinary care. We can now provide a very high level of veterinary medicine, with tests, treatments and equipment to match human medicine. However, this comes at a cost and even a cute and fluffy puppy can get himself in to trouble very quickly and require intensive emergency care and treatment.
We recommend you investigate all insurance options for your pet carefully, and don't be beguiled by a cheap deal - if it looks to good to be true, it probably is!
Please remember that any contract of insurance is between you and your insurer. Please ensure that you always refer to the terms and conditions of your insurance policy regarding any insurance claim.
Insurance Claims:
We ask that you settle your account with Leeds Veterinary Centre at the time services and products are provided and then reclaim any fees from your insurance company.
After your pet has received his or her tests and treatment, you need to get in touch with your insurance company and let them know that you would like to make a claim. You will either need to fill in a form online or by paper copy and then pass it on to us.
You only need to fill in the first few sections, regarding your details, your pet's details and why you brought your pet in to us.
We will complete the second section including diagnosis name, dates of treatment and the total costs. We can then provide all the relevant invoices that you are claiming for and your pet's history along with any treatment notes or results that your insurance company require.
We aim to complete all insurance forms as soon as possible, but usually within 10 working days of receiving them, providing we have all the necessary information from you and/or your insurance company.
Direct Insurance Claims
In certain instances arrangements can be made for your insurer to make their payment directly to us. This is entirely at the discretion of management staff at Leeds Veterinary Centre. For all companies other than Petplan we charge a fee of £20 for making a claim directly to your insurance company.
Please ask for details if you would like to be considered for this facility. This may only be sanctioned with the express permission of a senior member of staff.
You must advise us prior to any treatment if you wish for a direct claim to be submitted to your insurer. If you do not advise us in advance and receive agreement from the practice to complete a direct claim to your insurer you will be liable to pay our fees as they become due and may then seek to recoup the cost from your insurer yourself.
Please be aware that this offer only applies to particular insurance companies and even then only when sums involved are high enough.
You will be required to show proof of your insurance policy and premium payments, and to pay the excess (including any percentage of a remaining balance beyond the excess) and any excluded amounts at the time services or products are provided or upon demand.
You will also be required to submit a signed insurance claim form at the time of requesting a direct claim.
In the event that a claim is refused by the insurers, you will remain liable for our fees and the immediate full settlement of your outstanding account. In the event that an insurer fails to acknowledge our claim or respond to communications from us within 30 days we will treat this as a refused claim and seek to recover the full cost from you. You may, of course, seek to recover the costs directly from your insurer should this occur.
Pre-Authorisation of Insurance Claims:
Many insurance companies now also offer a pre-authorisation facility, where a proposed claim is submitted prior to any veterinary services or treatment being carried out. It is then assessed by the insurance company and they inform you whether they will cover the claim or not. In many cases this can be carried out before your pet receives non-urgent treatment and means it is more likely we will be able to offer to deal directly with your insurance company and claim payment directly from them.
If you would like to find out more about pre-authorisation of an insurance claim
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Firstly contact your insurance company to find out if a pre-authorisation service is available.
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Obtain and complete any paperwork or online forms that is required from your insurance company before sending it on to us to add test and treatment details and expected costs.
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Ask your insurance company how long it will take to process the pre-authorisation – this will need to be completed before your scheduled services and treatment.
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We will aim to process pre-authorisation requests as a matter of priority, so that your pet can receive their tests and treatment as soon as possible. Usually within 3 working days.
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Once we have sent back your pre-authorisation request to your insurance company, we will wait to hear from them or you will need to forward on to us the confirmation that they have received and approved it before treatment can commence.
Please note, even with a pre-authorisation approved by your insurance company and a direct claim agreed by Leeds Veterinary Centre, you will still need to pay your excess and any excluded services at the time of treatment.
Insurance Claims for Ongoing Conditions:
Where your pet is receiving ongoing treatment for one condition, you can continue to submit claims to your insurance company as a "continuation claim". There is often a question on the claim form asking if the condition is a continuation from a previous claim. This usually means that the excess is only taken once every policy year, although please be aware some insurance policies also require you to pay a percentage of the claim above the excess each time.
We can continue to process continuation claims for an ongoing condition. We request that you submit a maximum of one insurance claim form per condition per month in these cases, or less frequently if needed.
If you have requested a direct insurance claim from the practice and this has been agreed, we will still need you to pay anything that is not covered by your insurance (such as food, or a percentage of the claim) at the time of treatment and for each visit, and £20 direct claim fee if you are not insured with Petplan.