AHC Pet Owner Terms and Conditions

You can download the AHC Pet Owner Terms and Conditions here

The Agreement between you and your veterinary practice

Welcome to your payment plan from your veterinary practice. The
agreement you have is with your practice which means you can enjoy the
benefits of preventative healthcare for your pet(s).

Your payment plan is administered by The Animal Healthcare Company
Limited (“The Animal Healthcare Company”) for and on behalf of your
veterinary practice. The Animal Healthcare Company’s role is to provide
administrative services to support the contract between you and your
practice. This includes passing your payments to your practice on a regular
basis. Please remember, your Contract is between you and your practice
and is not transferable to another. However, if you are considering
changing your practice, please contact The Animal Healthcare Company
who will advise you on how to re-register, ensuring your pet’s health is not
compromised.

The following points make up the ‘terms and conditions’ of your Contract
with your veterinary practice and are effective from 1st December 2021.
These are very important, and we strongly advise that you read through
them carefully, and keep them in a safe place, so that you can refer to
them in the future should you wish to. These terms and conditions should
be read in conjunction with your practice’s leaflet and any practice-specific
notes or requirements in the leaflet will form part of these terms and
conditions. In the event of a conflict, your practice’s leaflet and any
practice-specific notes or requirements in the leaflet will prevail.

1. Explanation of terms used
In this Agreement, ‘your Contract’ means the contract formed between
you and your veterinary practice which you have signed and which
comprises these terms and conditions, your Application Form and your
practice’s promotional materials and ‘your veterinary practice’ and ‘your
practice’ means the veterinary practice names on The Animal Healthcare
Company Application Form.

2. Plans, categories, and fees
The cost, content and delivery of the goods and services paid for by your
Contract are set by your practice. There is no insured benefit under your
Contract. PLEASE NOTE THAT YOUR CONTRACT IS NOT AN INSURANCE
POLICY.

3. Treatment to which you are entitled
Your Contract entitles your pet to receive routine treatment required to
maintain your pet’s health as prescribed by your veterinary practice. A list
of inclusions is available from your practice.

4. Treatment to which you are not entitled.
Your Contract is limited to the provision of routine preventive health care
and only entitles your pet to the treatment required to monitor its health,
as specified by your practice.

5. Treatment by another veterinary practice
Your Contract is with your practice. Where you choose for your pet to have
routine care or treatment provided by a practitioner independently of
your practice, your pet will not be covered by your Contract.

6. Payment
You must pay your monthly fee by Direct Debit in favour of The Animal
Healthcare Company as collecting agent for your practice. Any other
amounts due to your practice for treatment not covered by your Contract
are payable directly to your practice, your liability to pay the monthly fees
continues until your Contract is ended in accordance with these terms and
conditions and no refund of fees will be allowed except in the case of
administrative error or death of the pet or client.

7. Alteration of monthly fees and categories
Your practice will normally review your pet’s monthly fee once a year.
Your pet’s monthly fee will also change as different age and weight
thresholds are reached. Should your pet’s fees change you will be given at
least one month’s written notice.

8. Direct Debit changes
Following a decrease in monthly fee or variation in discount available to
you, your Direct Debit will be changed at the next available collection date.
Where you are given notice of an increase in your monthly fee, your Direct
Debit will be changed at the end of the notice period, unless in the
meantime you end your Contract. If you need to change your bank details
or any collection dates, please contact us 10 working days prior to the due
date for collection and we will make the change without charge. We will
charge an administration fee of £10 if any of your Direct Debit payments
are returned to us unpaid.

9. Renewal
Your Contract is a monthly contract, no renewal fee will apply, and your
contract will continue from month to month until it is ended, and we will
continue to collect your monthly payment until your Contract is ended.

10. Your responsibilities
You are responsible for ensuring your pet(s) attend(s) the practice
regularly and that you comply with the advice and treatment your
veterinary practice prescribes for your pet(s). If, in the reasonable opinion
of your practice, they are not able to maintain your pet’s health due to any
act or omission on your part, your practice may end your Contract
immediately by giving notice to that effect. If your personal details change
or your pet is lost or deceased, you should notify your practice and The
Animal Healthcare Company.

11. Ending your Contract
You may cancel your Contract by contacting your practice, giving not less
than 21 days’ notice, expiring on the last day for which payment has been
made. The practice may end your Contract by giving you written notice
expiring on the last day of a month, after not less than one month’s notice.
If you cancel at any time other than on an anniversary of joining the plan,
your practice may charge you either the outstanding amount for
treatment received or the monthly payments due until the anniversary of
your plan, whichever is lower.

12. Non-payment
If we are unable to collect your monthly payment, we will inform you
accordingly and attempt to collect the payment from your account within
10 days. You will be charged a £10 administration fee if any of your Direct
Debit instalments are returned to us unpaid. Your Contract may be
terminated if you default on 3 successive payments at your practice’s
discretion.

13. Refunds
If The Animal Healthcare Company (acting on behalf of your practice)
agree to refund your fees for whatever reason, your registration for those
months will be treated as unpaid and the conditions relating to a nonpayment will fully apply to you.

14. Variation of these terms and conditions
The terms and conditions of your Contract may be varied on one month’s
written notice given to you by us. If you do not wish the Contract to
continue regarding any variation notified to you, you may end it as
detailed in condition 11. If you do not do this by the time the notice
expires, you will be deemed to have accepted the variation.

15. Contract not transferable
As your Contract is between you and your practice alone, you may not
transfer it to another practice. If you need to change to another
participating practice, a new contract will be required, and the monthly
fees may be different.

16. Treatment outside of your Contract
Your Contract does not prevent you and your practice agreeing that they
will provide treatment outside your entitlement under your Contract. You
will be responsible for paying for such treatment directly to your practice.

17. Liability
The Animal Healthcare Company administer The Animal Health Company
registration and collects monthly fees on your practice’s behalf.
Your Contract is not with The Animal Health Company and The Animal
Healthcare Company accepts no liability to you whether in respect of
negligence, breach of contract, defective or unsatisfactory treatment or
otherwise in connection with any contract it administers on your practice’s
behalf. The Animal Healthcare Company has no obligation to pay to your
practice any payment fees not received by us, or any other monies owed
by you.

18. Disputes
If you are unhappy with any aspect of your pet’s veterinary care, you
should approach your practice directly.

19. Notices
Any notice given to you by your practice under these terms and conditions
is considered valid if The Animal Healthcare Company give it to you on
your practice’s behalf. Any notice given by your practice, or The Animal
Healthcare Company is valid if sent to your last known email address.

20. Your personal data
The main purpose for which we hold and use personal data is to enable us
to administer your Payment Plan. We also use personal data for marketing
research, to improve our services to you and our other customers, to
comply with legal obligations which we are subject to, to protect our
interests and for fraud detection and prevention.

Whilst administering you Payment Plan, we may receive and share
personal data with:
– Other relevant persons involved in dealing with your Payment
Plan. For example, your veterinary practice dealing with a query
regarding your Payment Plan
– Persons appointed by the Payment Plan holder and/or under a
Power-of-attorney for a period of time. For example, the pet’s
owner when different to the Payment Plan holder.
We may provide your personal data to persons who provide services to us
– this can include companies operating outside the United Kingdom and
the European Economic Area, and to persons engaged in fraud detection
and prevention. We operate strict procedures to ensure that your personal
data is kept safe and secure.

Where we have your agreement, we may use your personal data to
provide you with offers of products and services from The Animal
Healthcare Company and other carefully selected partners.
You have the right to know what personal data we hold about you, why we
hold it and what we do with it, how long we keep it and to whom we may
disclose it. If you wish to find out any of these things or to advise us of a
change to your personal data then please write to: The Data Protection
Officer, The Animal Healthcare Company Ltd, The Quorum, Bond Street,
Bristol, BS1 3AE. Please note that a small charge may apply.

21. Complaints Procedure
Should you have any cause of complaint about the administration of your
Direct Debit then please contact: The Animal Healthcare Company, The
Quorum, Bond Street, Bristol, BS1 3AE. Telephone 0117 3700 300 or email
pcp@premiervetallliance.co.uk.

22. Governing Law and Jurisdiction
You and we agree that this Agreement shall be governed by and construed
in accordance with the Law of England and Wales and you, and we hereby
irrevocably submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English Courts.

23. Home Delivery of veterinary and pet care products (Products)

Unless otherwise agreed, Products will be delivered to the address as shown
on the Agreement at scheduled intervals. We use reasonable efforts to
deliver Products within 14 days of the planned date of shipment. Delivery
may take longer. If there is likely to be a long delay, we will contact you by
email. We may cancel any order that cannot be fulfilled for any reason. If we
do so we will issue a full refund of any money paid for that order.

The packaging of the Products delivered may differ from that shown on our
promotional literature. We may switch types/brands of Products when
required. We will inform you of any such changes. You can refuse to accept
such substitutes, in which case we will offer you a refund or a replacement.

If any Products arrive damaged (or get lost on the way to you) we will at our
sole discretion refund or replace them. All damages must be notified to us
within 5 days of receipt or we may be unable to replace or refund. If you ask
for your delivery to be left somewhere or provide any other delivery
instructions, we will be unable to refund or resend items. We recommend not
leaving such delivery instructions wherever possible but requesting delivery
to you at an alternate address instead (such as a work address). Please note
that it is your responsibility to ensure the product can be delivered safely to
your address (i.e. away from children and pets) and once delivered is stored
safely and used as directed.

The Consumer Rights Act 2015 says Products must be as described, fit for
purpose and of satisfactory quality. During the expected lifespan of your
product you’re entitled to the following: (a) for up to 30 days after delivery, if
your Products are faulty, you can get a replacement or refund; and (b) for up
to six months after delivery, if they can’t be replaced, then you’re entitled to a
full refund, in most cases. Exceptions apply. Please contact The Animal
Healthcare Company as soon as possible if you consider any Product faulty or
not as ordered.

Nothing in this contract affects your legal rights under the Consumer Rights
Act 2015. You may also have other rights in law. Please contact Citizens
Advice or seek professional advice to find out more about your legal rights

The Direct Debit Guarantee

• This Guarantee is offered by all banks and building societies that accept instructions to pay Direct Debits.

• If there are any changes to the amount, date or frequency of your Direct Debit, Animal Healthcare Company Ltd will notify you 3 working days in advance of your account being debited or as otherwise agreed. If you request Animal Healthcare Company Ltd to collect a payment, confirmation of the amount and date will be given to you at the time of the request.

• If an error is made in the payment of your Direct Debit, by Animal Healthcare Company Ltd, or your bank or building society, you are entitled to a full and immediate refund of the amount paid from your bank or building society
  
• If you receive a refund you are not entitled to, you must pay it back when Animal Healthcare Company Ltd asks you to.
  
• You can cancel a Direct Debit at anytime by simply contacting your bank or building society. Written confirmation may be required. Please also notify us.