Terms & Conditions

Terms and Conditions

These Terms and Conditions apply to services provided by EKM Veterinary Group Ltd, trading as The Pet Passport Co. (“we”, “us” or “our”).

Please read these terms before booking. They explain what our service includes, your responsibilities, and how cancellations, refunds and rescheduling work.

Nothing in these terms excludes or restricts your statutory consumer rights.

1. About us

The Pet Passport Co. provides veterinary certification services for pet travel, including Animal Health Certificates, Export Health Certificates and other associated services agreed with you.

Our contact details are:

Business: EKM Veterinary Group Ltd, trading as The Pet Passport Co.
Address: 100 Menzies Road, Hastings, Saint Leonards-on-sea, TN38 9BB
Email: info@thepetpassportco.co.uk
Telephone: 01424 587652

Our pet travel service does not provide emergency veterinary treatment. If your pet requires urgent medical attention, contact your usual veterinary practice or an emergency veterinary provider.

2. What our service includes

Depending on the service booked, our work may include:

Reviewing your booking information and intended journey.
Checking identification and vaccination evidence.
Requesting and reviewing relevant veterinary records.
Assessing whether the certification requirements can be met.
Preparing certification paperwork.
Arranging and attending your appointment.
Completing and issuing the certificate where the requirements are satisfied.

Work may begin before your appointment, subject to the cancellation rights and early-start arrangements explained below.

We will provide our services with reasonable care and skill.

Booking and payment do not guarantee that a certificate can be issued. The attending Official Veterinarian must be satisfied that the applicable legal and professional requirements have been met.

3. Booking and acceptance

Please check your selected service, appointment date, location and booking information before submitting your booking.

A contract is formed when we send confirmation accepting your booking. An automated payment receipt alone does not confirm that your pet meets the certification requirements.

Your booking confirmation reserves the agreed service and appointment. Certification remains subject to review of the supporting evidence and the attending veterinarian’s checks.

If we cannot accept your booking, we will tell you and refund any payment taken for it.

Please contact us promptly if your confirmation contains an error or if your circumstances change.

4. Your responsibilities

You must provide complete, accurate and up-to-date information about your pet and intended journey, including, where relevant:

Owner and traveller details.
Your pet’s identity, age and microchip information.
Rabies vaccination history and supporting evidence.
Travel dates and the first country of entry.
Transit countries and destination.
Whether the pet will travel with its owner or an authorised person.
Any proposed sale, rehoming or transfer of ownership.
Any other information reasonably required for certification.

You must be the pet’s owner or have appropriate authority to arrange the service.

Please supply requested records by any reasonable deadline we communicate and tell us promptly if you cannot obtain them.

You remain responsible for making suitable travel arrangements and checking transport operator requirements. We remain responsible for providing the agreed certification service with reasonable care and skill.

If you are unsure whether your pet is eligible or which appointment date to choose, contact us before paying.

5. Rabies vaccination and appointment timing

For an Animal Health Certificate following a primary rabies vaccination, the required waiting period must have elapsed before the certificate is signed.

This normally means at least 21 days after completion of the primary vaccination course. A longer waiting period may apply under the vaccine manufacturer’s instructions.

The date the primary course is completed counts as day 0. For example, where the applicable waiting period is 21 days, completion on 1 June permits certification from 22 June.

A vaccination given after previous rabies cover has expired may be treated as a primary vaccination. A qualifying booster given while previous cover remains valid does not normally require a new waiting period.

Your AHC appointment must be on or after the earliest eligible certification date. It is not sufficient for the waiting period to end by your travel date.

Your pet must also meet the applicable identification, vaccination validity and other certification requirements. We may require clinical records to establish these.

The appointment must fall within the permitted certification window for your journey. Different requirements may apply to Export Health Certificates and other destinations.

6. Supporting veterinary records

We may need vaccination evidence, microchip records or clinical history directly from your veterinary practice.

You agree to provide any authorisation reasonably required for us to obtain or verify information relevant to the service.

Photographs, vaccination cards or owner declarations may not provide sufficient evidence on their own. The Official Veterinarian decides whether the available evidence is adequate.

We will tell you promptly if our review identifies missing information or an eligibility problem.

If satisfactory evidence is unavailable, certification may need to be postponed or declined. Any refund or deduction will be assessed under these terms.

7. Prices, payment and travel charges

The total price and any applicable travel or additional service charges will be shown or agreed before you commit to payment. Prices include VAT where applicable.

Payment is required at the time of booking unless we agree otherwise.

A home visit is provided at the address agreed in your booking. A collection point booking requires you to attend the specified location.

If you request a change to the address, service, number of pets or other booking details that affects the price, we will explain the difference and obtain your agreement before charging it.

We will not increase the price of an accepted booking simply because our standard prices subsequently change.

Any promotional offer is subject to the conditions disclosed when you book.

8. Your statutory cancellation rights

For online and telephone service bookings, you normally have the right to cancel without giving a reason until the end of 14 days after the day the contract was made.

Any longer cancellation period provided by law remains available.

These rights take priority over our standard cancellation and missed-appointment rules.

You can cancel by sending us a clear statement using the contact details in section 17. You do not have to use a particular form or obtain our agreement to exercise a statutory cancellation right.

Where you cancel within the statutory cancellation period before any work has begun, we will refund your payment in full.

Where work has begun, section 9 explains when a deduction may be made.

9. Asking us to start work during the cancellation period

If you want us to start reviewing records, preparing paperwork or providing your appointment during the 14-day cancellation period, we will ask you expressly to request an early start.

Accepting these terms does not, by itself, constitute that request.

If you prefer us to wait until the cancellation period has ended, your appointment must allow sufficient time for preparation after that date.

If you cancel after we have started work at your express request, we may charge a proportionate amount for services supplied before you informed us of cancellation, provided we supplied the required information about your cancellation rights and the payment obligation.

The amount will reflect the services actually supplied in relation to the agreed total price. If that total price is excessive, the assessment will instead use the market value of the services supplied.

For review and preparation carried out before the appointment, this deduction is capped at £50 per booking. We will deduct less where the proportionate value of the work supplied is lower.

The £50 cap is included within the booking price. It is not an additional charge or an automatic fee.

Where an appointment or another agreed part of the service has also been supplied, its proportionate value may also be payable, subject to your statutory rights and the total agreed price.

We will not charge for services supplied during the cancellation period where the required express request or cancellation information was missing.

We do not add a cancellation penalty or a charge for an unused appointment slot when you exercise your statutory cancellation right.

You lose the statutory right to cancel only once the whole service has been fully performed, and only where you expressly requested the early start and acknowledged beforehand that full performance would end that right.

Reviewing records, allocating a certificate reference or drafting paperwork does not, by itself, complete the whole service.

10. Cancellations outside the statutory cancellation period

This section applies where you are not exercising a statutory cancellation right and the cancellation does not arise from a failure by us to meet our obligations.

At least 48 hours before your appointment

We will refund your payment less a reasonable deduction for review and preparation already carried out, capped at £50 per booking.

If no review or preparation has been carried out, we will refund your payment in full.

Less than 48 hours before your appointment

We may retain an amount reflecting services already supplied and reasonable direct losses resulting from your cancellation, up to the total booking price.

These may include unavoidable veterinary attendance or travel costs and loss arising from an appointment that we cannot refill.

The full booking price is not automatically forfeited.

We will account for costs saved and any replacement booking that reduces our loss. We will take reasonable steps to reduce losses and will not recover the same work or loss twice.

We will explain any deduction in writing.

Travel charges

We will refund travel charges except to the extent that a permitted deduction reflects travel already supplied or unavoidable travel costs actually incurred.

11. Missed appointments

An appointment may be treated as missed if:

You do not attend the agreed collection point.
You are unavailable at the agreed home visit address.
Your pet is not present.
You arrive too late for the appointment to proceed and we cannot reasonably accommodate you.

Where required documents are unavailable and the appointment cannot proceed, section 13 applies.

Charges for a missed appointment are assessed under section 10, subject to any statutory rights that remain available.

Missing an appointment does not, by itself, notify us that you wish to exercise a statutory cancellation right.

12. Rescheduling

With at least 24 hours’ notice, we will normally reschedule your appointment without a rescheduling fee, subject to availability and the replacement date meeting certification requirements.

Your payment will transfer to the replacement appointment.

If your requested change alters the service, location or work required, we will explain any price difference and obtain your agreement before charging it.

With less than 24 hours’ notice, a charge relating to the original appointment may apply under section 10, subject to your statutory cancellation rights. We will explain any charge and the amount credited towards the replacement booking.

We will not charge twice for work that can be reused.

You do not have to accept rescheduling or credit instead of a refund to which you are entitled.

13. Where a certificate cannot be issued

The Official Veterinarian may postpone or decline certification where:

Your pet cannot be reliably identified.
The identification records do not correspond with your pet.
Rabies vaccination requirements have not been met.
A required waiting period has not elapsed.
Supporting records are insufficient or unavailable.
Information appears incorrect or inconsistent.
Your pet does not meet the health or other requirements of the certificate.
Issuing the certificate would conflict with legal or professional obligations.

Where this results from your pet’s circumstances or information or documents you supplied, we may retain only amounts permitted under sections 8 to 10. We will explain any deduction and refund the balance.

Ineligibility does not automatically make the entire booking non-refundable.

Where practical, we will offer a suitable alternative appointment.

If the problem arises from our error, incorrect advice or failure to exercise reasonable care and skill, your rights against us remain protected.

14. Urgent and emergency bookings

Urgent and emergency prices reflect the accelerated service and additional work or availability agreed with you. The applicable price will be disclosed before payment.

Urgency does not override vaccination waiting periods, evidence requirements or the veterinarian’s professional responsibilities.

The cancellation rules in these terms apply to urgent and emergency bookings, including statutory cancellation rights where applicable.

An urgent or emergency booking is not automatically non-refundable. Any deduction must be justified under the applicable provisions above.

15. Completed services and issued certificates

Once the agreed service has been properly completed, we do not offer a discretionary refund solely because you change your travel plans, decide not to travel or no longer need the certificate.

This does not affect any statutory cancellation right that remains available or your rights where our service was not supplied correctly.

Please check the certificate when you receive it and tell us promptly if you notice an error. Your opportunity to check it does not remove our responsibility for preparing it with reasonable care and skill.

Changes you request after issue may require a replacement certificate or another appointment. We will explain any additional work and obtain your agreement to its price before proceeding.

16. If we cancel or make an error

If we cannot provide your booking for a reason attributable to us, you may accept a suitable alternative or cancel for a full refund of that booking. We will not deduct preparation costs in that situation.

If we make an error, please contact us promptly so we can investigate and put it right.

Your statutory rights may include repeat performance, a price reduction, a refund or other remedies, depending on the circumstances.

Nothing in these terms requires you to accept repeat performance where the law entitles you to another remedy, including where repeat performance is impossible or cannot be provided within a reasonable time and without significant inconvenience.

17. How to cancel and how refunds are paid

You may notify us of cancellation by:

Emailing info@thepetpassportco.co.uk.
Calling 01424 587652.
Writing to our address in section 1.
Using any cancellation facility we provide.

You may use another clear statement to exercise a statutory cancellation right. Please provide your name and enough information for us to identify the booking.

For statutory cancellation, you must send your notice before the applicable deadline. Our acknowledgement is not required for a valid cancellation to take effect.

For the appointment notice periods in these terms, we use the time your message is sent to one of our stated contact methods, or the time you notify us by telephone. Appointment times and notice periods use UK local time.

We will refund amounts due without undue delay and within 14 days after you notify us of cancellation. Where we cancel the booking, we will refund amounts due within 14 days of notifying you.

Refunds will use the original payment method unless you expressly agree otherwise. We do not charge a refund-processing fee.

We will explain any deduction in writing. You may contact us if you disagree with the calculation.

18. Travel arrangements and disruption

Certification requirements depend on the destination, route, purpose of travel and individual circumstances. They may change.

We will prepare the agreed certification with reasonable care and skill using the information available to us and the requirements applicable to the journey being certified.

You must tell us promptly about changes to your journey that could affect the certificate.

Transport operators and border authorities make their own decisions about boarding and entry. We cannot guarantee their decisions, but this does not exclude responsibility for any failure by us to provide the agreed service correctly.

If an event outside our reasonable control affects your booking, we will tell you as soon as reasonably possible and discuss available alternatives. Any refund, deduction or other remedy will be assessed under these terms and applicable law. Such an event does not automatically make your payment non-refundable.

19. Our responsibility for loss or damage

We are responsible for foreseeable loss or damage caused by our breach of contract or failure to use reasonable care and skill.

Loss or damage is foreseeable where it is an obvious consequence of the breach or where both parties knew, when the contract was made, that it might occur.

We are not responsible to the extent that loss is caused by inaccurate information you supplied, failure to follow correct advice we gave you, or circumstances for which we are not legally responsible.

Nothing in these terms excludes or limits liability for:

Death or personal injury caused by negligence.
Fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation.
Breach of rights that cannot lawfully be excluded or restricted.
Any other liability that cannot legally be excluded or limited.

20. Personal information and veterinary records

We use personal information and relevant veterinary records to administer bookings, assess certification requirements, provide the agreed service and meet legal and professional obligations.

We may share relevant information with the attending veterinarian, your veterinary practice and service providers where necessary and lawful.

We may retain copies of certificates and supporting records for appropriate legal, professional and administrative purposes.

Further information about how we handle personal information and your rights is available in our Privacy Policy.

21. Complaints

If you are unhappy with our service, please email info@thepetpassportco.co.uk, including your name, booking reference and a description of the problem.

We will investigate and respond as promptly as reasonably possible. Where further investigation is needed, we will explain the next steps.

Using our complaints process does not restrict your statutory rights or your right to seek an independent remedy.

22. Which terms apply

The version of these terms supplied when your booking is accepted applies to that booking.

We may update our terms for future bookings. Later changes will not retrospectively reduce your rights under an existing contract.

Our Refund Policy should be read alongside these terms. If it expressly offers you a more favourable cancellation or refund entitlement, we will honour that entitlement. Your statutory rights always take priority.

Any variation to an existing booking must be agreed with you or otherwise permitted by law.

23. Governing law and consumer rights

These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales.

If you are a consumer living elsewhere in the United Kingdom, you also retain the protection of any mandatory laws that apply where you live.

Nothing in these terms requires you to bring proceedings in a court that would deprive you of rights available under applicable consumer law.

If a provision is found to be unlawful or unenforceable, the remaining provisions will continue to apply so far as legally possible.

24. Optional cancellation form

You may use this form to cancel, but you do not have to.

To: EKM Veterinary Group Ltd, trading as The Pet Passport Co.
Address: 100 Menzies Road, Hastings, Saint Leonards-on-sea, TN38 9BB
Email: info@thepetpassportco.co.uk

I/We give notice that I/we cancel my/our contract for the following service:

Service booked:
Booking reference:
Date ordered:
Appointment date:
Consumer name(s):
Consumer address:
Signature, if submitted on paper:
Date:

Referral Programme

The Pet Passport Co. referral programme allows eligible existing customers to earn a discount towards a future Animal Health Certificate by referring new customers.

Referral code
Your referral code is the original The Pet Passport Co. order number associated with your previous Animal Health Certificate booking.

Qualifying referrals
A qualifying referral must be a genuinely new The Pet Passport Co. customer who:

Books and pays for an Animal Health Certificate.
Provides a valid referral code belonging to an existing customer.
Provides the referral code through the AHC details form before their appointment.
Completes their booked appointment.

Cancelled, refunded, unpaid, duplicate or fraudulent bookings do not count as qualifying referrals.

Referral reward
For every four qualifying referrals successfully linked to your referral code, you will receive a £40 voucher towards a future Animal Health Certificate with The Pet Passport Co.
Multiple rewards
The referral programme can be used repeatedly. Each additional four qualifying referrals earns a further £40 voucher.
Using your reward
Referral rewards are issued to the customer associated with the original order number used as the referral code. Rewards have no cash value and cannot be exchanged for cash.

Unless otherwise agreed by us, one referral reward may be redeemed against each eligible Animal Health Certificate booking.

Reward validity
Referral vouchers are valid for 12 months from the date they are issued.
Retrospective referrals
Referral codes cannot normally be added retrospectively after the referred customer's appointment has taken place.
Misuse of the programme
We may refuse or cancel referral credits where we reasonably believe the referral programme has been misused, including through duplicate bookings, false customer details, self-referrals or other attempts to artificially generate qualifying referrals.
Changes to the programme
We may amend, suspend or withdraw the referral programme at any time. Changes will apply to future referrals and will not remove referral rewards already validly earned before the change.

THE PET PASSPORT CO.