Written prescriptions in the UK are capped at £21.40 for the first medicine and £12.70 for each additional one, VAT included. The cap starts on 23 September 2027 at practices with 14 or fewer sites, and on 23 June 2027 at businesses with 15 or more. The same legally binding Order requires every practice to publish prices for 36 named services and to provide a written estimate before any treatment likely to cost £500 or more. It is the Veterinary Services Market Investigation Order 2026, enforced by the Competition and Markets Authority.
Four numbers that carry the reform
Thirty-six is the count of services the price list must cover, from a standard consultation to cremation. Five hundred pounds is where a written estimate becomes mandatory, aftercare included, emergencies excepted. Twenty-one pounds forty is the ceiling on a first prescription, twelve pounds seventy for each extra medicine in the same consultation. Three months is the head start small businesses get over the six large groups — CVS, IVC, Linnaeus, Medivet, Pets at Home and VetPartners — which own more than two-thirds of UK practices.
Average vet prices rose 63% between 2016 and 2023, and the CMA estimates the cost to owners at around £1 billion over five years. Before the inquiry, fewer than 40% of practices published any prices, and only 29% of owners given advance price information for non-routine treatment received it in writing.
Who must comply, and when
The Order was made in September 2026, after an investigation opened in September 2023 and a final report on 24 March 2026. Deadlines are staggered by size, and the CMA can issue directions or impose a financial penalty.
| Stage | Large groups (15+ sites) | Small businesses (≤14 sites) | What changes |
|---|---|---|---|
| In force | 22 September 2026 | 22 September 2026 | Out-of-hours contracts: notice of 12 months maximum, no exit fees |
| First wave | 23 December 2026 | 23 March 2027 | Group branding, practice information, the 36-item price list, flea and worm prices, care-plan itemisation, cremation prices, complaints and mediation |
| Second wave | 23 June 2027 | 23 September 2027 | Written estimates at £500, itemised bills, prescription awareness and provision, own-brand disclosure, prescription fee caps |
The deadline owners care about most, the prescription cap, arrives last. A small practice without a price list in early 2027 is not necessarily breaking the rules; it may still be inside its window.
What has to be on the price list
Schedule 1 names the 36 services: consultations, common procedures, diagnostics and end-of-life options. A practice must price each service it offers, and nothing it does not, on its website and at every branch. Where price varies with the animal, the list uses six standardised categories based on species and weight, so a 3 kg cat and a 6 kg cat can be compared. The figure must be the typical price for a straightforward case, with a line warning that complications cost more. The first booking confirmation must state the consultation price and link to the list. A separate list covers the practice's most-sold flea, tick and worming products, with a link to the VMD register of online retailers.
The prescription cap, line by line
£21.40 covers the first written prescription, whether the medicine is prescribed inside a consultation or outside one; each further medicine in the same consultation adds up to £12.70. Both include VAT and apply across the UK with no regional variation. They are frozen until 31 March 2028, then adjusted for CPI each 1 April, with new figures published by 14 February.
The cap is a ceiling on paperwork, not on medicine. A practice cannot refuse a prescription you ask for: from the second wave it must give a hard copy by the end of the consultation, or a digital copy within two working days, which may be sent straight to an online retailer. Nor may it write a shorter supply period on the prescription than it would dispense itself — an anti-circumvention rule covering POM-V medicines but not controlled drugs.
Why £21.40 matters more than it looks
More than 70% of owners buy long-term medication from their practice, and the CMA calculates that many could save £200 to £300 a year buying the same products from a licensed online pharmacy, even after the prescription fee. Practices charging £30 or more per prescription were the direct target.
The medicine itself does not get cheaper on the shelf. Independent vets told the BBC that losing part of the drug margin will push consultation and procedure prices up instead. That is why the price list matters as much as the cap: one constrains the paperwork, the other is where the money may reappear.
The £500 estimate and the itemised bill
Any treatment reasonably likely to cost £500 or more, aftercare included, needs a written estimate before it starts; emergencies are the only exception. The final bill must be itemised, so monitoring, drugs, consumables and a dressing appear as separate lines. Cremation has its own rule: every option, add-ons included, must be priced up front, and the cheaper communal option must be offered. The CMA puts the excess on individual cremation at around £100 per animal where competition is weak.
A seven-point checklist for the next visit
- Before booking, compare the consultation and dental prices with two practices within a 15-minute drive.
- Check that the booking confirmation states the consultation price and links to the list.
- Ask for a written estimate for anything beyond a consultation; never accept £500 or more without one.
- Ask whether the practice belongs to a group — after the first wave, the branding must say so on the door and online.
- For repeat medication, ask for a written prescription and price it at two retailers on the VMD register.
- Ask the fee before the prescription is issued: £21.40 first, £12.70 for each additional medicine.
- Ask for an itemised bill, and for the communal cremation price when choosing end-of-life options.
What the rules still do not fix
The published price is a typical-case price, so a cat with a complication can still cost more than the number you compared. Nothing caps the medicine itself, or a procedure. The RCVS levy funding the comparison service — £150 to £250 per practice to set up, £450 to £550 a year after — may be passed on. Transparency slows a 63% rise only if owners compare: a price list nobody opens changes nothing. For what the rise already did to three bills, see the vet price inflation breakdown, the annual exam tiers, or the cost calculator; prescription diets are priced separately in what rose in 2026.
This article explains UK consumer rules and published CMA figures. It is not veterinary advice and does not replace a diagnosis or treatment plan from your own vet.
Frequently asked
Can my vet refuse to give me a written prescription so I can buy the medicine online?
No. From the second-wave deadline the practice must provide one when asked: a hard copy by the end of the consultation, or a digital copy by the end of the second working day, which can be sent to an online retailer if you prefer. The fee is capped at £21.40 for the first medicine and £12.70 for each additional medicine in the same consultation, VAT included, and the practice may not shorten the supply period compared with what it would dispense itself.
Does the £500 written estimate rule apply in an emergency?
Emergencies are the only exception, so a cat stabilised at 2 a.m. may be treated before paperwork. The itemised bill still applies: consultation, drugs, monitoring, consumables and aftercare should appear as separate lines. If the final total is far above the verbal figure you were given, ask for the breakdown before paying and use the practice's in-house complaints process, which the Order requires to be transparent and accessible.
When exactly does the prescription fee cap start, and does it rise with inflation?
23 September 2027 for practices with 14 or fewer sites, and 23 June 2027 for businesses with 15 or more. The Order became legally binding in September 2026, but remedies are staged by size. The £21.40 and £12.70 caps are fixed until 31 March 2028, then adjusted for CPI each 1 April, with updated figures published on the CMA website by 14 February.