Veterinary practices: what the CMA's new Order requires and when

What has changed

The CMA made the Veterinary Services Market Investigation Order 2026 on 22 September 2026, after its market investigation into veterinary services for household pets. It is made under section 161 of, and Schedule 8 to, the Enterprise Act 2002. The Order came into force on 23 September 2026 and applies in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

The Order is law, not guidance. It sets out what veterinary businesses must tell pet owners, how they must price and bill, and how they must handle prescriptions and complaints. Most of its requirements apply from later compliance dates, so you have time to prepare. Limits on notice periods in out-of-hours contracts apply now.

The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) has given the CMA separate undertakings to support these requirements and monitor compliance. A separate Funding Order, made on 20 August 2026, requires veterinary businesses to pay a levy to the RCVS to cover that work.

Who it applies to

The Order applies to any veterinary business: a company, partnership or individual whose business includes providing veterinary services to pet owners for household pets. This covers first opinion practices, out-of-hours providers, referral centres, animal hospitals, diagnostic laboratories, pet crematoria, pet care plans and prescribed veterinary medicines.

Registered charities that do not provide veterinary services for household pets on a commercial basis are not covered.

Your compliance dates depend on your size:

• Large veterinary business: 15 or more first opinion practices and/or out-of-hours centres.
• Small veterinary business: fewer than 15 first opinion practices and/or out-of-hours centres.

If you buy another veterinary business or practice after your compliance date, you must bring it into line within 30 days of the acquisition.

Information you must publish

Most of this information must be on your website and available at your premises, for example on posters, leaflets or screens in the reception or waiting area. Online, it must usually be no more than two clicks from your homepage.

• Price list. Prices for each item on the CMA's standard price list schedule that you offer, using the exact names in the schedule rather than your own descriptions. Where the price depends on species or weight, you must show that.
• Parasiticide price list. If you sell flea, tick or worming products to pet owners, prices for the most common ones, with a link to the Veterinary Medicines Directorate's register of authorised online retailers.
• Practice information about the services each practice offers.
• Pet care plans. If you claim a plan saves pet owners money compared with buying its items separately, the Order sets rules on how you make and present that claim.
• Cremation options and prices, including the pet owner's right to arrange cremation directly or take their pet home for burial.
• Ownership information. If your practice is part of a group or network, the name of the group's main entity or its trading name. It must appear on your websites, storefront signage and pet owner communications, at least as prominently as the practice's own name.

You must also make a paper copy available on request. Later, you will have to send this information to the RCVS for its Find a Vet website. That duty starts 3 months after the RCVS has set up the service, or on 23 September 2027, whichever is later.

Estimates, bills and prescriptions

Written estimates. You must give a pet owner a written estimate when the vet assessing the pet judges that the treatment pathway is reasonably likely to cost £500 or more (including VAT), and more than £100 of that (20% of the £500 threshold) relates to treatment still to come. The threshold can change from 1 April 2028. The pet owner can say they do not want one. The estimate must be as accurate as reasonably possible and say what could change it.

Itemised bills. You must give pet owners an itemised bill, before or when you ask for payment, with enough detail for them to compare what they paid with any estimate and your published prices.

Written prescriptions. You must tell pet owners they can ask for a written prescription and could save money by buying medicines elsewhere, including online. This includes giving them the RCVS's written prescription literature, displaying the CMA's standard written prescription notice (at least A3, with your current fee) in waiting and consulting rooms, and giving the standard flyer when you first dispense an ongoing medication.

Prescription fee caps. From your compliance date, you must not charge more than £21.40 (including VAT) for a written prescription for the first medication, or £12.70 (including VAT) for each additional medication prescribed at the same time. The caps can change from 1 April 2028. You must also prescribe the same duration of medication whether the pet owner buys it from you or elsewhere. Controlled drugs are excluded from that duration rule.

Your vets, your complaints process and out-of-hours contracts

Professional independence. You must have written policies, training and monitoring so your vets and veterinary nurses can give independent, impartial advice and explain a range of treatment and referral options and their costs. Your targets, incentives or instructions must not stop them following the RCVS Code of Professional Conduct. This applies from 23 December 2026 for large businesses and 23 March 2027 for small businesses.

Complaints. Each practice and out-of-hours centre must have a written complaints process. If you cannot resolve a complaint informally within 10 working days, set steps apply. You must keep a log of these unresolved complaints; the CMA has published a template. You must also choose an approved alternative dispute resolution (ADR) provider that offers mediation free to pet owners, and take part in mediation in good faith when a pet owner asks.

Out-of-hours contracts. If you provide out-of-hours services to other practices, new contracts must not require more than 12 months' notice to end them or charge a termination payment when proper notice is given. You must not enforce those terms in existing contracts. This applies now. From 23 December 2026, you must also write to practices whose existing contracts contain those terms, telling them they can end the contract on no more than 12 months' notice without a termination payment.