Business Protection For Veterinary Practices
A veterinary practice is a building full of equipment that only one category of person is allowed to use for its purpose.
Veterinary surgery is restricted by law to registered veterinary surgeons, and so is prescribing the medicines that most treatment depends on. Nurses, receptionists and practice managers are essential and none of them can substitute for that.
An owner does not have to be a vet, which is an important and often overlooked distinction in this sector.
The short answer
Only a veterinary surgeon registered with the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons may practise veterinary surgery in the UK, and prescription-only veterinary medicines must be prescribed by a veterinary surgeon. So a practice that loses its vet has premises, staff and clients but cannot lawfully provide the service. Key person cover funds locum vets, which are expensive and in short supply, while a permanent appointment is made.
Only A Registered Veterinary Surgeon May Practise
Practising veterinary surgery in the UK is restricted to veterinary surgeons registered with the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons. Separately, prescription-only veterinary medicines in the POM-V category must be prescribed by a veterinary surgeon, which covers a large part of ordinary treatment.
The practical effect of losing the practice's vet is therefore immediate and total for clinical work. Nurses can carry out the tasks within their own scope, reception can take calls, and consultations, surgery and prescribing stop. The RCVS is the authority on registration and on what may be delegated, and it is the right first call alongside a locum agency.
The ownership point matters here and is frequently misunderstood. A veterinary practice can be owned by somebody who is not a vet, so an owner's death and a vet's death are two different events with two different consequences. In a small practice they are often the same person.
Nothing here is regulatory or clinical advice. The RCVS and the Veterinary Medicines Directorate are the authorities, and we deal with the insurance.
What happens in the weeks afterwards
- 1A locum veterinary surgeon is sought immediately, through an agency and at agency rates
- 2Consultations, surgery and prescribing stop until one is in place
- 3Clients with ongoing treatment, repeat prescriptions and booked procedures need somewhere to go, and many will not come back
- 4Out-of-hours and emergency arrangements, which are usually contractual, have to be covered
- 5Nurses, reception staff, premises costs, equipment finance and drug stock continue to cost money
- 6If the vet was also an owner, the shareholding has to be resolved, and a buyer who is a vet is a narrower market
Locum Rates Are The Number That Matters
Sizing cover in this sector comes down to one figure, and it is not profit.
Veterinary locum rates are high and have been for years, because there is a recognised shortage of vets in the UK. A practice needing a locum at short notice, possibly including out-of-hours commitments, is paying a premium on top of an already high rate, and it may need to do so for months rather than weeks while recruiting.
So key person cover worked out on a share of profit will usually be too small. The honest figure is what locum cover actually costs for the period a permanent appointment realistically takes, which in this market is longer than owners expect.
Clients Leave With Their Animals' Histories
There is a retention problem here that is sharper than in most service businesses.
A client whose animal is mid-treatment cannot wait. They register elsewhere, their records are transferred, and the new practice now holds the relationship, the vaccination reminders and the repeat prescriptions. Pet owners are loyal to a practice until they are forced to move, and then they are loyal to the new one.
Health plans and insurance-funded treatment make this stickier still, because a client who has moved their plan has a reason not to come back. That is why the money needs to be available fast enough to avoid a gap in service at all, rather than to recover from one.
Which cover does what here
Funds locum cover at agency rates, which in this sector is the single biggest immediate cost, plus recruitment of a permanent vet in a known shortage.
Gives surviving owners the money to buy the share. It matters more here because a practice is most saleable to another vet or a group, which narrows the buyer pool considerably.
A vet with a back injury or a hand injury cannot operate, and the practice is just as unable to provide the service as if they had died. This funds the business during that absence.
The personal side. Where the practice company employs the vet, it can hold life cover on them rather than them funding it from taxed income.
Common questions
What happens to a vet practice if the vet dies?+
Clinical work stops, because practising veterinary surgery and prescribing POM-V medicines are restricted to registered veterinary surgeons. Nurses can work within their own scope, and consultations, surgery and prescribing cannot continue without a vet.
Can a non-vet own a veterinary practice?+
Yes, and it is an important distinction. An owner's death and a vet's death are two different events with different consequences, though in a small practice they are often the same person.
How much key person cover does a practice need?+
Enough to fund locum cover at agency rates for the period a permanent appointment realistically takes, which in a recognised vet shortage is longer than owners expect. A figure based on a share of profit is usually too small.
Why is client retention such a risk here?+
Because a client mid-treatment cannot wait. They register elsewhere, records transfer, and the new practice holds the reminders, repeat prescriptions and any health plan. Pet owners are loyal until they are forced to move, then loyal to the new practice.
What if the vet is injured rather than killed?+
The practice is just as unable to provide the service, which is why key person income protection belongs alongside life cover here. A vet who cannot operate cannot be substituted by other staff.