Vets should be made to publish prices, competition watchdog says

Vets should be forced to publish price lists so pet owners can see costs up front and shop around for the best deal, the competition watchdog has said.

Owners are often unaware of prices or not given estimates for treatments that can run into thousands of pounds, its investigation into soaring vet costs found.

Vet prices have risen at nearly twice the rate of inflation, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) also found.

The British Veterinary Association (BVA) welcomed the call for more transparency, but warned if the CMA does not get prices lists right it could create “greater confusion for consumers”.

The CMA’s proposals included making vets reveal if they are part of a large group, capping prescription fees and banning bonuses on offering specific treatments.

It comes after a BBC File on Four investigation in April found vet bills had skyrocketed, and heard from whistleblowers inside the industry who blamed higher bills on big companies buying up practices.

Hundreds of pet owners contacted Your Voice, Your BBC News, with concerns over vet bills.

Vets and animal charities told the BBC in June pet owners are increasingly having their sick animals put down or they are delaying taking them for treatment to avoid spiralling vet bills.

Nicole Hawley, 26, got in touch via Your Voice, Your BBC News after receiving an unexpected £12,000 bill to treat her dog Ernie, after he inhaled a grass seed while out on a walk and it became infected.

“We were given two choices by the emergency vet, either put him down or pay an extortionate bill for surgery,” she told the BBC.

Ms Hawley was in the process of finding a different pet insurance provider for Ernie when he fell ill, meaning she didn’t have financial support.

She and her partner ended up taking out a loan to pay for the procedure, and used money they had been saving for their wedding.

“We didn’t have the money. But it took us five minutes to decide that we would find it from somewhere,” Ms Hawley said.

Many vets offer a monthly subscription which covers check-ups, vaccinations and regular flea and worm treatments for dogs and cats but the price and services included vary between practices.

Veterinary prices had increased by 63% over a seven year period, which was nearly twice the rate of inflation, the CMA’s Martin Coleman, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

“Many people were paying twice what they needed to for vet medicines,” he said.

“It’s not right to keep pet owners in the dark about key matters that affect them and their pets and their pockets.

“We’re often not being told up-front basic information such as who owns the practice, the price of commonly used services, and we’re not often given estimates of the likely price of treatment costing hundreds, even thousands of pounds.”

The CMA also found practices owned by large vet groups charge 16.6% more on average than independent vets.

Mr Coleman said the regulatory system was set up in 1966, “when the world of veterinary services was very different to the world that we have today.”

“There is regulation of individual vets, but there is no regulation of the businesses that own the majority of the practices in the country,” Mr Coleman said.

The BVA welcomed the recommendations for greater transparency and reform of the regulatory system, but president Dr Rob Williams said the association did have some concerns.

“In particular, we need clarity on the proposed introduction of comprehensive price lists, because how vet care is delivered is varied and complex and unless the CMA gets this right, it could end up creating greater confusion for consumers,” he said.

Francesca Verney, Veterinary Director at independent practice Pet People, contacted the BBC after a previous report on the price of vet bills.

“It’s frustrating to be thought of as us having the wrong motivations, being driven by money,” she told the BBC.

“If we’re going to do a CT scan on a dog, that machine has cost me a quarter of a million pounds, plus the staff to run it safely. It’s a big deal. We also have to anaesthetise animals for procedures that we would ask humans to lie still for.”

Dr Natalie Morris Webb, who owns Malthouse Vets in Shropshire, said if people were concerned about the cost of owning a pet “then they need to be thinking about this before they get the animal ultimately.”

She said owners should insure their pets.

“We love our pets so much but ultimately they are a luxury item and we need to accept the fact that they’re not cheap,” she told BBC Radio’s 5Live.

The CMA’s recommendations include:

• Making it easier for pet owners to access cheaper medicines online, including by requiring vets to tell pet owners about savings they make by buying medicines online
• Where a medicine is likely to be needed frequently, automatically providing a written prescription to enable the pet owner to purchase the medicine elsewhere
• Capping the price of providing prescriptions at £16
• Requiring vets to give pet owners clear price information when they are choosing a treatment, with prices in writing for treatments over £500 and itemised bills
• Making the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons to improve its ‘Find a Vet’ website to include pricing data
• Making vets give clear price information to pet owners arranging a cremation and pet care plans

Wednesday’s findings into the £6.3bn sector are provisional, with interested parties now having until next month to make submissions before a final decision is published next year.

After the decision, changes will be implemented through a legally binding CMA order, which is expected to come before the end of 2026. Smaller vet businesses given additional time to implement it.