22nd September 2026
Pet owners are about to get greater protection when dealing with veterinary practices, following a major Competition and Markets Authority investigation into the way the UK's veterinary market operates.
The new rules begin coming into force from today, 22 September 2026, although most of the changes will be introduced gradually over the next 12 months.
The CMA began its investigation in 2023 after concerns that pet owners were not always being given enough information about prices, treatment choices or the ownership of veterinary practices.
Its investigation found competition problems in the market and concluded that reforms were needed to give pet owners more information and make it easier to compare prices and services.
For anyone with a dog, cat or other household pet, some of the changes could eventually make a noticeable difference.
Vet practices will have to be clearer about prices
One of the biggest changes is greater transparency.
Veterinary practices will have to publish clear price lists covering a defined range of commonly provided services. This information will need to be available online and at the practice.
Practices will also have to publish prices for commonly sold flea, tick and worm treatments and provide information about buying veterinary medicines from registered online retailers.
At present, the CMA says fewer than 40% of veterinary practices have prices on their websites, and even where prices are published they can sometimes be difficult to find.
The new rules are intended to make it easier for a pet owner to compare practices before deciding where to take an animal.
Prescription charges will eventually be capped
Perhaps the change most likely to attract attention is the introduction of limits on what vets can charge for issuing a written prescription.
From 2027, the maximum charge will be £21 including VAT for the first medicine and £12.50 for each additional medicine prescribed during the same consultation.
The limits will be adjusted for inflation in future.
Importantly, this is a cap on the prescription fee, not on the price of the medicine itself.
Pet owners will still have to pay for the medicine, but the prescription can allow them to buy it elsewhere, including from an online retailer.
This could be particularly important for animals requiring long-term medication.
The CMA says its research indicates that more than 70% of pet owners could save £200 or more a year on long-term medication by buying medicines online rather than directly from their veterinary practice.
More information before expensive treatment
Another important change concerns estimates.
Where treatment is expected to cost £500 or more, practices will generally have to provide a written estimate of the full cost, together with an itemised bill afterwards.
The estimate should include aftercare where appropriate.
There is an important exception for emergencies, when it may not be practical to obtain an estimate before treatment begins.
Vets will also have to provide information about reasonable treatment options and their likely costs, helping owners make decisions about what they can afford.
That does not mean the cheapest treatment will always be recommended. The CMA's rules are designed to ensure that veterinary professionals can give independent and impartial advice about treatment and costs.
Who actually owns your vet?
Another change could surprise some pet owners.
The CMA found that several large veterinary groups now have a substantial presence in the market, but many customers did not realise that their local practice was part of a larger chain.
Veterinary businesses operating more than one first-opinion practice will therefore have to make ownership information much clearer online, in their premises and in communications with customers.
The aim is straightforward: people should know who they are buying services from.
Complaints should become easier
The current complaints system was another concern identified by the CMA.
Under the reforms, veterinary businesses will have to establish clear and accessible complaints procedures.
Where a complaint cannot be resolved, practices will also have to engage in mediation in appropriate circumstances.
The aim is to give pet owners a clearer route when something goes wrong rather than leaving them uncertain about whom to approach.
Cremation costs will also be clearer
The new rules are not limited to veterinary treatment. Practices offering cremation services will have to give pet owners clearer information about the choices available and their costs.
That includes explaining the difference between individual cremation and communal cremation, together with any additional charges.
It is an area where people may be particularly vulnerable because decisions often have to be made at an emotional and difficult time.
When will the changes actually happen?
This is worth emphasising because today's announcement could otherwise be misunderstood.
The reforms are being introduced in stages.
Larger veterinary businesses, generally those with 15 or more first-opinion practices, will normally have to make changes sooner. Smaller businesses will generally have an additional three months to comply.
Price information and ownership transparency are among the earlier changes.
Prescription-fee caps and improved complaints arrangements follow later, while itemised billing, information about cheaper online medicines and potential price-comparison services will come later still.
Some changes will not be fully in place until 2027.
Will this actually make vets cheaper?
That is the more difficult question. The CMA is not introducing a general price cap on veterinary treatment.
It has deliberately avoided simply imposing maximum prices on vets because it believes that could have unintended consequences, including reducing incentives to invest in veterinary services.
Instead, the regulator is trying to make the market work more effectively by giving customers better information and making it easier to shop around.
The hope is that greater competition will put pressure on prices where there are genuine alternatives.
But veterinary treatment is not quite like buying a television or changing your electricity supplier. When a pet is ill or injured, owners may not have the luxury of comparing several practices before treatment begins.
That is why the requirement for clearer estimates and treatment options could be just as important as the prescription-fee cap.
A change that could matter to rural Scotland
The reforms apply across the UK, so they will also affect veterinary practices in places such as Caithness and Sutherland.
For rural pet owners, however, the ability to shop around can be more limited than it is in a large town or city.
There may only be one or two practices within a reasonable travelling distance, particularly for emergency treatment.
That makes price transparency useful, but it does not necessarily create competition where there are few providers.
Nevertheless, knowing what a practice charges, who owns it, what alternatives are available and what a proposed treatment is likely to cost should give pet owners more information before making decisions.
The CMA's veterinary investigation has therefore produced something rather more substantial than a new rule about prescription fees.
It is an attempt to change the relationship between vets and their customers.
Pet owners will not suddenly find that veterinary treatment is cheap. Nor will every bill fall.
But over the next year they should have more information, clearer prices, greater choice over where medicines are bought and a more structured route for challenging problems.
For an industry dealing with people who often regard their pets as members of the family, the CMA's underlying message is fairly simple: when the bill arrives, owners should be able to understand what they are paying for and why.