Last Updated on September 8, 2026
On 23 September 2026 the Competition and Markets Authority’s orders following its veterinary services market investigation become legally binding, with most remedies operational within three to twelve months after that.
Several of them are marketing requirements wearing regulatory clothing. This guide sets out what they are, what the CMA actually found, and what a practice should do about it now rather than in nine months.
Everything below was read at source on 8 September 2026.
Where the investigation got to
| Milestone | Date |
|---|---|
| Issues statement | 9 July 2024 |
| Provisional findings and provisional decision on remedies | 15 October 2025 |
| Final decision report | 24 March 2026 |
| Statutory deadline | 22 May 2026 |
| Draft funding order and undertakings | 30 June 2026 |
| Draft substantive order and undertakings | 21 July 2026 |
| Final funding order and undertakings | 20 August 2026 |
| Orders legally binding | 23 September 2026 |
The final decision report runs to a 34 page summary, a 428 page Part A on competition concerns and a 551 page Part B on remedies, with appendices A to N added on 25 March 2026. The case is shown as open, in the remedies implementation phase.
The three adverse effects on competition
- Lack of information. Pet owners lack the tools to compare practices, treatments and medicine prices.
- Market barriers. Obstacles prevent pet owners acting on information, complaint mechanisms are inadequate, and out-of-hours contract terms create barriers.
- Inadequate regulation. The 60-year-old framework applies only to individual vets, not to businesses.
That third point is structural and worth sitting with. The Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966 regulates the individual vet, not the business. There is no statutory register of veterinary businesses comparable to CQC registration of dental practices, and the CMA has identified that as one of its three overarching problems.
What practices will have to publish
| Remedy | What it requires |
|---|---|
| Price transparency | Practices publish a comprehensive price list for standard services, including consultations, common procedures, diagnostics, written prescriptions and cremation options |
| Price list contents | Consultations, out-of-hours consultations, vaccinations, fees for providing a written prescription, other administrative fees, neutering, microchipping, routine dentistry, a range of common scans, some diagnostic tests, common surgical procedures, parasiticide medicine products, and euthanasia and cremation costs |
| Ownership disclosure | Vet businesses must make clear whether they are part of a group or an independent business, with common ownership displayed on signage, at the premises and online |
| Scope of ownership disclosure | All first opinion practices, online pharmacies, referral centres, out-of-hours providers, diagnostic laboratories and pet crematoria |
| Comparison service | Price and ownership information made available through the RCVS Find a Vet service, which will share data with third-party comparison sites |
| Written estimates | A written estimate in advance for any treatment expected to cost £500 or more including VAT, including aftercare, plus an itemised bill |
| Prescription information | Pet owners must be told they can have a written prescription, which could save them money |
| Prescription fee caps | A maximum of £21 including VAT for providing a written prescription for the first medication prescribed within a consultation, and £12.50 including VAT per additional medicine in the same consultation |
| Clinical independence | Practices must have written policies ensuring vets are empowered to offer independent and impartial advice |
Further remedies cover pet plan transparency, cremation pricing, out-of-hours contract terms and complaints procedures.
The findings behind them
These are the CMA’s own published figures, and they are the reason the ownership disclosure remedy exists:
| Finding | CMA figure |
|---|---|
| Large group prices versus independents, January 2023 to July 2024 | Average prices at practices owned by Medivet, IVC, CVS, VetPartners and Linnaeus were together 18.3 per cent higher than at independent practices, for consultations, treatments and medicines |
| Post-acquisition effect | For at least three of the five large groups acquiring first opinion practices since 2015, acquisitions led to an average price increase of 9 per cent four years later, against the previous pricing trend |
| Sector price growth, January 2016 to December 2023 | Average prices grew 63 per cent and average first-year treatment expenses 53 per cent, against 32 per cent general inflation |
| Medicine price gap | Commonly prescribed medicines are typically available at online pharmacies for 50 to 60 per cent less than at veterinary practices |
| Satisfaction with cost | Average net satisfaction for the cost of services was 26 per cent for customers of large groups, against 47 per cent at independents |
| Consumer detriment | Around £1 billion over five years, attributable to first opinion practices |
What this means for an independent practice
Straightforwardly, it is the best marketing news an independent vet has had in a decade, and most independents have not noticed.
The CMA is about to require every group-owned practice to disclose its ownership on signage, at the premises and online. It has published, in its own final report, that group-owned practices were 18.3 per cent dearer than independents. And it is building the comparison infrastructure itself, through RCVS Find a Vet, with data shared to third-party comparison sites.
An independent practice that publishes its comprehensive price list early, states plainly that it is independently owned, and explains what that means, is not complying with a regulation. It is getting eight months of head start on a comparison the regulator is about to build.
What this means for a group
The honest version is that the disclosure is coming whether or not you like it, and the practices that handle it worst will be the ones that let a client discover it from a sign rather than from the website.
The defensible position is a positive one, and it is available: what the group provides that a single site cannot. Out-of-hours cover, referral access, equipment, specialist clinicians, continuity when a vet is off. Those are real and they are worth publishing, particularly alongside the price list, because the price comparison is going to happen either way.
What will not work is silence. From September the ownership question stops being something a client has to research.
What to do now, in order
- Build the comprehensive price list. It is the largest piece of work and it is required, so start it now rather than in month eight. Use the CMA’s own contents list as the specification.
- Publish your written prescription fee, and check it against the caps: £21 including VAT for the first medicine in a consultation and £12.50 for each additional one.
- Write the ownership statement. Independent or part of a named group, in plain words, on the website and ready for signage.
- Set the written estimate threshold process at £500 including VAT, including aftercare, and make sure the estimate is genuinely written.
- Write the clinical independence policy. It is required, and it is also the single most reassuring document a practice can publish.
- Review the complaints procedure and publish it where a client can find it.
- Update your RCVS Find a Vet entry, because it is about to become the comparison hub.
Point two deserves a check rather than an assumption. We found a published UK practice price list showing a repeat prescription fee of £65. That may well be a different charge from the written-prescription fee the CMA is capping, and we have not verified that they are the same thing, so we are flagging it as a question rather than a finding. Every practice should establish which of its own charges the cap applies to.
The register position, for context
The RCVS register is statutory. Section 19 of the Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966 provides that no individual shall practise, or hold themselves out as practising or as being prepared to practise, veterinary surgery unless registered, with a penalty on summary conviction of a fine not exceeding the prescribed sum, or on indictment a fine.
The Practice Standards Scheme is voluntary. RCVS Facts 2024, reporting data at 31 March 2024, gives 37,801 veterinary surgeons on the register, of whom 30,138 were UK-practising, 23,540 registered veterinary nurses, 6,522 UK registered practice premises and 3,586 PSS-accredited practices.
One inconsistency worth knowing before you quote a percentage: one RCVS page says 65 per cent of UK practices are accredited and another says around 69 per cent, neither dated, and 3,586 of 6,522 premises computes to neither. If you cite a figure, say which page it came from.
PSS fees, read on 8 September 2026: £605 a year for a main or standalone practice including the £38 RVPP fee, £163 for a branch, an £82 initial joining fee and a £672 initial assessment fee, with one assessment day every four years for main practices.
What RCVS said about the remedies
RCVS broadly welcomed many of them on 24 March 2026, supporting ownership disclosure, the £21 and £12.50 prescription caps, written estimates over £500 and transparent complaints processes.
It raised two concerns: publishing the prices of anti-parasitic medicines, on the grounds that this focuses solely on cost rather than suitability, the environment and public health; and the CMA’s proposed changes to RCVS governance structure, where it says limited evidence was provided to support the recommendation.
Both are worth knowing if you are writing about this for clients, because a practice that can explain why a parasiticide is chosen on grounds other than price is answering a question the price list will otherwise raise.
Common questions
When do the CMA vet rules come into force?
The orders become legally binding on 23 September 2026, with most remedies operational within three to twelve months after that. The final decision report was published on 24 March 2026.
What will vets have to publish?
A comprehensive price list for standard services, covering consultations, out-of-hours consultations, vaccinations, written prescription fees, administrative fees, neutering, microchipping, routine dentistry, common scans, some diagnostic tests, common surgical procedures, parasiticides, and euthanasia and cremation costs. Plus clear disclosure of whether the practice is part of a group, on signage, at the premises and online.
What is the cap on prescription fees?
£21 including VAT for providing a written prescription for the first medication prescribed within a consultation, and £12.50 including VAT for each additional medicine within the same consultation.
Are group-owned practices more expensive?
On the CMA’s published analysis, average prices at practices owned by Medivet, IVC, CVS, VetPartners and Linnaeus were together 18.3 per cent higher than at independent practices between January 2023 and July 2024, for consultations, treatments and medicines.
