thepetbill

Guide · updated

Vet prescription fees in the UK: the new £21.40 cap and buying pet medicines elsewhere

What vets may charge for a written prescription under the CMA Order, when the caps start, what the CMA found practices were charging, and how to buy your pet's medicine from another retailer.

What practices that already publish charge

Fewer than 3 practices that publish these prices are on our list so far. Vet businesses with 15 or more practices or out-of-hours centres must publish them, if they offer them, on each practice's website from 23 December 2026, and smaller practices from 23 March 2027.

What others have published:

Figures from published reports, not prices we collected, and not a current UK average.

If your pet takes a medicine every month, the written prescription fee may be the most important price on your vet's list. It decides whether buying the medicine somewhere else is worth it.

The CMA found that commonly prescribed pet medicines are typically 50% to 60% cheaper at online pharmacies than at vet practices, and that many owners could save around £200 to £300 a year on average by buying them online, even after the vet's prescription or dispensing fees (Final report summary, paragraph 53). Yet only 26% of owners whose pet was on ongoing medication had bought it from an online pharmacy (paragraph 54).

Part of the reason was the fee. The CMA's answer is a cap.

The cap: £21.40 for the first medicine, £12.70 for each extra one

Article 18 of the Veterinary Services Market Investigation Order 2026 stops a practice or out-of-hours centre charging more than:

  • £21.40 for a written prescription for the first medication, whether prescribed in a consultation or outside one;
  • £12.70 for each additional medication prescribed at the same time.

Both figures include VAT (Art. 2 and 18(1)). The CMA's Explanatory Note says these caps apply until 31 March 2028. After that they rise each year with consumer price inflation; the CMA publishes the new caps by 14 February and they apply from 1 April (Explanatory Note, paragraphs 184 to 186).

If you have seen "£21 and £12.50" elsewhere, that was the level in the CMA's final report in March 2026. The Order uprated those figures for inflation between March and August 2026 and rounded to the nearest 10p (Explanatory Note, footnote 25).

Date the cap starts Who it applies to
23 March 2027 Large vet businesses (15 or more practices or out-of-hours centres)
23 September 2027 Smaller vet businesses

Duties start on the working day after the compliance date in the Order (Art. 3(1)), which is why both dates are the 23rd.

A few details stop the cap being dodged:

  • The cap is the maximum. No extra charge may be added for preparing or sending the prescription (Explanatory Note, paragraph 187).
  • Purely administrative changes to a prescription should not cost another fee (paragraph 188).
  • The strength and the quantity prescribed do not change the cap: it is the same for six months' tablets as for one month's (paragraph 189).
  • A practice must not prescribe a shorter course on a written prescription than it would supply itself (Art. 18(2)), except for controlled drugs (Art. 18(3)).

What practices were charging

The CMA collected prescription fees from the large groups and from several samples of independent practices (Final report, Appendix N):

Who Median first-medicine prescription fee Source
Large vet groups, all practices £22.97 in 2023; £24.70 in 2024 Appendix N, paragraph 1.10
Independent practices (advisory business dataset) £18.00 in 2023; £18.44 in 2024 Appendix N, paragraph 1.18
Independent practice websites checked by the CMA, January to March 2026 £20.00 Appendix N, paragraph 1.37

For additional medicines, the median fee across the four large groups that priced them separately was £14.75 in 2023 and £15.00 in 2024 (paragraph 1.52). The CMA's summary adds that the lowest prescription fees were around £10 "but significant numbers of FOPs charge over £30" (summary, paragraph 85).

So for many owners at large-group practices the cap will be a cut; at many independents it may change little. Prices vary by practice; see the map for published prices from 23 December 2026, when practices must start listing their prescription fees.

The five medicine items on the price list

From 23 December 2026 at large groups and 23 March 2027 at smaller ones, each practice price list carries whichever of these Schedule 1 items the practice offers:

  1. Prescription fee
  2. Prescription fee for additional items prescribed at the same time as another medication
  3. Prescription fee (repeat)
  4. Dispensing fee
  5. Medicine administration fee - injections under the skin or into the muscle

The Order does not define the repeat prescription fee, so ask your practice what it covers. Article 18 caps the fee for a written prescription for the first medication prescribed within a consultation and for one prescribed outside a consultation, plus each additional medication; it has no separate rule for repeats.

The dispensing fee is what a practice may charge for supplying the medicine itself. The CMA's findings on savings took dispensing and prescription fees into account (summary, paragraph 53).

How written prescriptions will work

At large groups the prescription rules start after the cap: from 23 June 2027. For smaller businesses, the rules and the cap both start on 23 September 2027 (Art. 3).

  • Asking for one. You can ask for a written prescription. The practice must either hand you a paper copy by the end of the consultation, or prepare a digital one by the end of the second working day and send it to you or to an authorised online retailer you choose (Art. 15(1)). Controlled drugs do not have to be sent digitally (Art. 15(2)).
  • Being offered one. If a medicine is prescribed in a consultation, the vet or nurse must offer you a written prescription out loud (Art. 14(15)).
  • Seeing the fee. Waiting rooms and consulting rooms must display the CMA's standard notice, at least A3, with the practice's current prescription fee (Art. 14(6) and (7)). Receipts for medicines must carry a footer saying written prescriptions are available, what the first one costs at that practice, and that "You may be able to buy medicines significantly cheaper elsewhere" (Art. 14(12) and (13)).
  • Ongoing medicines. When a repeat medicine is first dispensed, you must get the CMA's standard flyer about buying ongoing medication elsewhere (Art. 16).
  • Own-brand medicines. If the vet prescribes a practice's own-brand medicine, they must tell you, and tell you the original product is available from other sellers (Art. 17).

There are exceptions. The offer and the prescription do not have to be provided where there is a clinical need for a vet or nurse to give the medicine, or for the pet to start it urgently (Art. 14(16) and 15(3)). That is a clinical judgement; ask your vet.

The RCVS guidance already said that vets "may make a reasonable charge for written prescriptions" and that clients can choose to buy medicines from their vet or ask for a prescription and buy elsewhere (RCVS supporting guidance, chapter 9, paragraphs 9.27 and 9.28). The Order adds the cap and the duty to tell you.

Flea and worm treatments

These have their own list. From 23 December 2026 at large groups, each practice must publish the prices of its most commonly sold flea, tick and worm products, with a link to the Veterinary Medicines Directorate's register of authorised online retailers (Art. 8(1)). That register is how you check an online seller is legitimate.

Is it worth it? A rough way to work it out

Take the price your practice charges for the medicine for the period the prescription covers. Subtract what an authorised online retailer charges for the same product and quantity, plus delivery. If the saving is bigger than the prescription fee, buying elsewhere wins.

Two things change the sum. A longer prescription spreads one fee over more medicine (and from the compliance dates, the practice cannot shorten the course just because you want a written prescription). And a second medicine prescribed at the same time costs no more than the additional-item cap.

Questions to ask your practice

  • What are your prescription fee, additional-item fee and repeat prescription fee?
  • How long will the prescription last before my pet needs a review?
  • Is this an own-brand medicine, and what is the original product?
  • Can you send the prescription straight to the online pharmacy I use?

Frequently asked questions

How much can a vet charge for a prescription?

From 23 March 2027 at large vet groups and 23 September 2027 at smaller businesses, no more than £21.40 for the first medication and £12.70 for each additional one prescribed at the same time, including VAT (Order, Art. 3 and 18). Those caps apply until 31 March 2028 and then rise with inflation.

Can my vet refuse to give me a written prescription?

From 23 June 2027 at large groups, a practice must provide one when you ask, except where there is a clinical need for a vet or nurse to give the medicine or for the pet to start it urgently (Art. 15).

Is it cheaper to buy pet medicines online?

The CMA found commonly prescribed medicines typically 50% to 60% cheaper at online pharmacies (Final report summary, paragraph 53). Whether you save depends on the medicine, the quantity and the prescription fee.

Why does my vet need to see my pet again before a repeat prescription?

Under the RCVS's guidance, prescription-only veterinary medicines must be prescribed by a vet who has first carried out a clinical assessment (chapter 4, paragraph 4.7). How often that is needed is a clinical decision. The CMA's definition of a repeat consultation includes prescription reviews; see our consultation fees guide.

Does the cap apply to out-of-hours vets?

Yes. Article 18(1) applies at each first-opinion practice or out-of-hours centre a business operates.

Related reading

Sources

Prices mentioned in this guide

What the CMA vet price rules mean for pet ownersFrom 23 December 2026 big vet groups must publish a standard price list. Here is what changes, when, and what you can do with it.Vet consultation fees in the UK: first, repeat, nurse and out-of-hours appointmentsHow much a vet consultation costs, what the CMA found, why first and repeat appointments are priced differently, and why the appointment length now sits next to the price.Low-cost and charity vet care in the UK: who qualifies and where to find the cheapest vetWho qualifies for free or reduced-cost vet care from PDSA, Blue Cross, RSPCA branches, Cats Protection and Dogs Trust, and how to find the cheapest paid practice near you if you don't.How to complain about a vet bill or a price in the UKThe steps that work for a disputed vet bill or price: the practice's own complaints process, free mediation through the VCMS, what the RCVS can and cannot do, and what the CMA Order changes from 23 March 2027.What's included in a neuter or spay priceThe seven tick boxes every UK vet price list must show for castration, spays and dentals, and how to read them before you compare prices.How to compare vet prices in the UKA practical checklist for comparing vet price lists fairly, from consultation minutes and vaccine bundles to out-of-hours cover and cremation.