Paying Your Dues

Hands up who pays their vet bills straight away? Hands up who pays them eventually? Hands up who pays them... never?

One of the hardest things in veterinary practice is getting the money in. Particularly hard for us as vets as we have received next to no financial management training. Most of us are, in truth, pretty bad business people. But then we didn't choose this career because of our outstanding financial acumen. And we definitely didn't pick it because we thought we'd get rich. There is an inbuilt sense of guilt amongst vets about actually asking for money. Being seen as caring, and demanding money for our services, seem like rather uneasy bedfellows.

For some reason horse-owners in particular are remarkably bad payers. They are renowned for their delaying tactics and dodges. We understand that emergencies happen and are sympathetic to the sudden unexpected big bill, but a lot of our outstanding debts are for things like vaccinations. Really? We even have a policy of asking for payment at the time of routine treatment, but there is all too often an excuse, and once we're already at your yard it would seem churlish to drive off again without vaccinating your horse just because you 'forgot your wallet' - after all we've already booked that time slot to you and used the petrol.

Most of these people do pay eventually, some spontaneously, some with a little gentle coercion from our office staff. Occasionally, however, there is a client who walks off and abandons their debt completely - this is a little harder to swallow, and I think the tale below is one of the ones that has stung me the hardest.

Poppy was a little old pony with chronic lung disease. Poppy was retired and living out her life quite contentedly. We'd discussed finances with her owner, but to be honest, even with a lottery win there would be no miracles for Poppy. She managed OK day to day on a cocktail of steroids and various other drugs which, while not cheap, were in the grand scheme of vet bills a drop in the ocean. Poppy's owner managed to keep chipping away at her bill - every time she got paid she'd send us a cheque and while her bill never got fully paid off I appreciated her difficulties and her efforts to keep on top of it. Inevitably the time came that we could do no more for Poppy. It was time to let her go. I had actually taken a rare day off the day the call came, but because I had been responsible for Poppy all through her treatment the owner wanted me and only me to be present at the end, and I felt it was doing my best to both the owner and the pony for them to have a familiar face there at such a stressful time, regardless of the inconvenience it personally caused me. The deed was done and the owner was, understandably, very upset. I sat on the ground in the paddock with her for over an hour talking with her about her pony's life and confirming that her decision had been the right one for the pony. I then sent the owner home with a friend to have a cup of tea whilst I waited for the knackerman to come and take Poppy away. I helped him load her up, closed the gate and drove home, physically and emotionally drained.

Perhaps I was naive, but I expected the £50 cheques to keep appearing until the debt was cleared. However the moment I squeezed the owner's shoulder and helped her into her friend's car was the last I ever saw or heard from her. The remainder of the bill for the drugs (not a huge amount) has never been paid and I have never received a penny for my services that day in putting Poppy to sleep. Our letters are returned as 'not at this address', the phone number is no longer connected, the debt collection company have drawn a blank and to all intents and purposes Poppy's owner has disappeared into thin air. I'll be honest, it feels like a kick in the teeth. I have invested years and many thousands of pounds in my education and training. The drugs cost the practice money and have all been bought and paid for. The cost of the drugs used to put Poppy to sleep is not insubstantial without even factoring in my time and petrol. I have to say that the emotional hit is worse than the financial hit. I put a lot of myself into caring for Poppy and supporting her owner. I fielded long telephone calls debating treatment options and prognoses at the expense, often, of my own free time. In short, I cared.

Now I'm sure most of you find the actions of Poppy's owner abhorrent. It is, after all, theft. Without factoring in any professional time we are probably around £300 out of pocket as a result of drugs and fuel not paid for. I have decided that there is little I can do except take it on the chin. However if you ever see a moment's doubt or hesitation in my eyes when you ask if you can pay your bill in installments you know why. Once bitten...