The Veterinary Defence Society Limited - Knutsford

Dillons World

In my personal experience the company condones bullying of its staff. Management get away with it. That review on Glassdoor was also not by me.

Elaine Halligan

I have no option but to leave a 1 star review having experienced first hand how VDS operate. The 1 star reviews here are heart breaking stories of poor veterinary practice, that is going completely unregulated. VDS claim they are ‘more than defence’ but I suggest they are solely about bottom line profit.

They completely devalue themselves when they are unable to listen and show any human empathy to what pet owners have experienced.

My story whist not life changing had a big emotional impact, and having given constructive feedback to my veterinary practice, who’d admitted they made a mistake and were willing to repair, then proceeded to act on advice given by VDS and the situation escalated ridiculously.

To be clear GAGGING ORDERS and compromise agreements are never acceptable and I have a strong moral compass to call this out. It’s not about the money! It’s never about the money. It’s about poor practice that needs to be rectified and In every case it’s about our beloved pets.

it’s a form of intimidation and bullying, and is a great example of VDS wanting to win every case at any cost and that’s why the reviews here are as they are.

5 star reviews from Vets that are generic, non specific, little detail, no substance. Who leaves a 5 star review with no detail? Really?

However the 1 star reviews are detailed, honest and heartbreaking.

Sophie White

The VDS is an insurer for vet professionals and it does its job very well. They do not decide on fitness to practice or negligence. That is the role of the RCVS as the governing and regulatory body for all vets in the UK.

Jenny Croft

The VDS is a business to support vets. They do a wonderful job when we have to deal with any situation requiring defence. So the negative reviews from pet owners are understandable because there will clearly be a disparity of sides being represented.

Jamil Ahmed

The Veterinary Defence Society helps for-profit veterinary businesses like Medivet avoid liability for unethical, unprofessional, and incompetent service.

Medivet subjected us to a number of issues, including but not limited to:

1) A pattern of poor communication and incompetent service for our 2 registered pet cats (one of whom we euthanised in August 2021, following her diagnosis of terminal cancer).

2) Failing to process the insurance claim (for our living cat) correctly in the first instance and keep us updated on the claim’s progress.

3) Failing to include all of our living cat's recent investigations under the submitted insurance claim, or, at the very least, inform us if one or more investigations would be excluded.

4) Sending inappropriate appointment and general care reminders about our deceased cat.

5) Failing to update and manage our deceased cat's records, following her death in August 2021.

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The veterinary industry lacks the regulations and authoritative bodies that other industries have.

This means that veterinary businesses like Medivet can subject you to awful service, causing undue distress and emotional injury, with no regulated pathway for the client to seek appropriate remediations for such failures.

Additionally, there are no considerations given to a disability like autism (at least, in my case). This is likely due to a lack of proper standards and regulations.

The Veterinary Defence Society must be good for its clients. But for everyone else, it's another manifestation of a broken and unfair society.

Elizabeth F

No doubt Vet Defence Society defend their vets regardless. But when presented with clear evidence of extreme suffering for the animal, backed up with the second opinion of 2 vets....like those lawyers who defend serious criminals.....you do wonder how they sleep at night.

J vickers

DAISY. 2010 - 2018
WHAT CONSTITUTES NEGLIGENCE!
VDS not a nice company to deal with. Not pet loving people they make themselves out to be. Our pet bichon frise bled to death 7 weeks after first taking apoquel nobody listen to us that she was not the same. Her medical records did not record an urgent phone call to say she had seizures after first tablet and no action was taken on other occasions.
VDS say there is no negligence and have kicked it out.
I agree with everything Ann Regan says about them.
Today is one year on from Daisys reaction to medication given by a vet. It marks 7 weeks of deteriation until her sudden and horrendous death. Due to lack of care by a certain vet.

Ann Regan

I had a cut and dried case against a vet, with reports from other vets and xrays from UCD radiology dept, the vetting vet I used lied on the 5 stage vetting cert, VDS gave me a pointless runaround for 2 years before settling my compensation and costs before it got to court. The disgust I feel toward this company and its employees is immeasurable. They need to be investigated