How to make a Veterinary Professional Negligence Claim
Introduction
For most of us, a pet is not just an animal; it is a cherished member of the family. We place an immense amount of trust in veterinary professionals to provide our beloved companions with the highest standard of care when they are sick or injured. The devastation, anger, and grief that follow when that trust is broken, and you suspect your pet has been harmed by negligent treatment, is profound.
It’s not just domestic pets who matter deeply to their owners. You may own high-value animals such as a prize breeding bull, a thoroughbred racehorse, or even Percy the Prize Pig, all of whom represent not only financial investment but also emotional attachment and professional pride. When these animals are harmed or lost due to veterinary negligence, the consequences can be both emotionally distressing and financially devastating.
Navigating the aftermath of such an event is an incredibly upsetting experience. You are left with questions, a sense of injustice, and uncertainty about what to do next. While the law has its limitations in how it views an animal, the right to hold a professional to account for their actions is absolute.
This guide provides you with a clear, compassionate overview of the legal process for making a professional negligence claim against a veterinarian in the UK.
Understanding Professional Negligence in Veterinary Care
It is important to first understand what veterinary professional negligence means in a legal sense. A tragic outcome does not automatically mean that negligence has occurred. Medicine, both human and veterinary, carries inherent risks, and sometimes treatments fail despite the best possible care.
To succeed in a professional negligence claim, you must be able to prove three key elements:
- Firstly, you must establish that a duty of care was owed, which is straightforward as a veterinary surgeon automatically owes this to their client and patient;
- Secondly, you must show there was a breach of that duty, meaning the care provided fell below the standard of a reasonably competent veterinary professional; and
- Thirdly, you must prove that this breach caused harm or loss, drawing a direct line from the vet’s negligent act to the injury, deterioration in condition, or death of your pet.
Proving all three of these is essential; without one, the entire claim will fail.
The Standard of Care: What is Expected of a Vet?
The law does not demand perfection. A vet is not negligent simply because another vet might have chosen a different course of treatment. The key legal test is whether the vet acted in a manner consistent with a responsible body of professional opinion. In other words, could the vet’s actions be supported by a group of their peers, even if others would have acted differently?
To determine this standard, we look to several sources. The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) Code of Professional Conduct sets out the principles and standards expected of all vets in the UK. While a breach of the Code is not automatically proof of negligence, it provides a powerful benchmark for what constitutes acceptable professional practice.
Common examples of treatment that may be considered a breach of the duty of care include a misdiagnosis resulting from a failure to perform adequate tests or from misinterpreting results, which in turn leads to a harmful delay.
It can also include surgical errors, ranging from operating on the wrong limb to leaving foreign objects inside an animal, as well as anaesthetic mismanagement such as administering an incorrect dosage or failing to monitor a pet properly.
Furthermore, prescribing or administering the wrong drug or dosage, or a failure to obtain your informed consent by not adequately explaining the risks and alternatives of a procedure, may also constitute negligence.
The Need for an Independent Expert Opinion
Let us be clear on the single most critical component of any potential claim: your belief, however strong, is not enough to prove negligence in the eyes of the law. The courts are not veterinary experts and, most likely, neither are you. Therefore, to assess whether a vet’s conduct has fallen below the required standard, the court relies almost entirely on the opinion of other veterinary professionals.
In practice, this means it is necessary in almost every case to obtain a formal report from an independent, qualified veterinarian who will act as an expert witness. This expert will be instructed to review your pet’s complete clinical history, along with your account of what happened, and to provide their impartial, professional opinion on the care that was provided.
This expert report must confirm two things: that the standard of care fell below that of a reasonably competent vet, and that this failure caused the negative outcome for your pet. Without a supportive report from an independent expert, a claim for professional negligence simply cannot proceed. Arranging this expert evidence is one of the first and most important steps we could help you take.
The Practical Steps to Take If You Suspect Negligence
The process for raising a concern should follow a clear sequence. Your absolute priority should always be your pet’s health, so the first step is to seek a second opinion and any necessary treatment from a different veterinary practice. Concurrently, you should raise a formal complaint in writing with the original veterinary practice, which gives them the opportunity to investigate internally and provide you with an official response.
It is also important to understand the role of the regulator, the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS). You can make a complaint to the RCVS, but their remit is to investigate a vet’s professional conduct and fitness to practise. They have the power to discipline a vet but cannot order them to pay you compensation. A complaint to the RCVS is about professional standards, whereas a negligence claim is about securing financial compensation.
Once these preliminary steps are taken and supportive expert evidence has been obtained, the formal legal route begins by following the Pre-Action Protocol for Professional Negligence. This involves your solicitor sending a detailed “Letter of Claim” to the veterinarian. The vet’s insurers will most likely then investigate and provide a formal “Letter of Response,” with the aim of encouraging a settlement before court action becomes necessary.
The Difficult Question of Compensation (Damages)
This is often the most difficult part of the process for pet owners to come to terms with. Under the law in England and Wales, animals are legally classified as “chattels,” which is a legal term for personal property. This has a significant and often upsetting impact on the compensation you can claim. The law does not currently award compensation for the grief, emotional distress, or bereavement you suffer from the loss of a pet. This can feel incredibly frustrating and unjust, but it is the established legal position.
A successful negligence claim will therefore focus on recovering your quantifiable financial losses. This can include the fees you paid to the negligent vet for the failed treatment, the costs of any additional or corrective treatment your pet required from another vet, and the purchase price or “market value” of your pet if they sadly passed away or their value was diminished (this does sound formulaic, we know). In some limited circumstances, other directly related costs, such as the cost of cremation, can also be included.
Conclusion & How We Can Help
The loss of a beloved pet is a devastating experience, and to feel that it resulted from a breach of trust by a trusted professional only deepens the pain. The law in this area can feel impersonal and has clear limitations, especially concerning the emotional impact of your loss. We are here to help you.
If you require help, we offer a no-cost, no-obligation 20-minute introductory call as a starting point or, in some cases, if you would just like some initial advice and guidance, we will instead offer a one-hour fixed fee appointment (charged from £250 plus VAT to £350 plus VAT* depending on the complexity of the issues and seniority of the fee earner).
Please email wewillhelp@jonathanlea.net providing us with any relevant information ensuring that any call we have is as productive as possible or call us on 01444 708 640. After this call, we can then email you a scope of work, fee estimate (or fixed fee quote if possible), and confirmation of any other points or information mentioned on the call.
*VAT is charged at 20%
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This article is intended for general information only, applies to the law at the time of publication, is not specific to the facts of your case and is not intended to be a replacement for legal advice. It is recommended that specific professional advice is sought before relying on any of the information given. © Jonathan Lea Limited.