Costs
How much does an out-of-hours vet cost in the UK?
Last updated 3 May 2026
Quick answer
Out-of-hours vet consultations in the UK typically cost two to four times the in-hours fee. Practices either provide OOH care in-house with their own staff and facilities, or refer to a third-party OOH provider. The CMA's price-transparency remedies require both the OOH surcharge and the OOH provider arrangement to be disclosed on the practice's website.
When your pet needs care outside normal opening hours, two questions matter: where do you take them, and what will it cost. Both have historically been hard to answer in advance — out-of-hours arrangements were rarely advertised, and OOH surcharges were rarely listed. The CMA's 2025 price-transparency remedies change that.
How OOH care is structured in the UK
UK vet practices fall into two camps for OOH care. In-house OOH practices provide emergency care from their own premises, with their own clinical staff on rota or on call. Referred OOH practices route emergency calls to a third-party OOH provider — most commonly Vets Now, MiNightVet, or one of the corporate groups' OOH arms (IVC's Linnaeus EmergencyVets, CVS's MiNightVet) — typically operating from a different physical location.
The arrangement matters because the OOH provider is the entity that sets the OOH fee. If your day vet refers to a third-party OOH provider, the surcharge is set by that provider, not your day vet. The CMA's order requires both the in-house / referred status and the OOH provider's identity to be disclosed.
What an OOH consultation typically costs
OOH consultations typically run two to four times the in-hours fee. A £45 in-hours consultation can become £90–£180 out-of-hours; in central London or for a corporate-owned OOH provider it can be more. The CMA's investigation found OOH surcharges were rarely disclosed up-front and that pet owners often discovered the cost only at the point of emergency.
The price-transparency remedies require practices to disclose either the OOH consultation fee directly (where in-house) or the linked OOH provider's price page (where referred). Many disclosures express OOH pricing as a percentage surcharge over the in-hours fee — for example +150% out-of-hours — rather than a fixed figure. Vet Cost Index captures both forms.
Questions to ask before you need OOH care
- Do you provide out-of-hours care in-house, or do you refer to a third-party OOH provider?
- If referred: which provider, and where is it located?
- What is your published OOH consultation fee or surcharge?
- Does the OOH fee include or exclude VAT?
- What does the OOH provider charge for the most common emergencies — gastric obstruction, road traffic collision, suspected poisoning?
Frequently asked questions
How much does an out-of-hours vet visit cost in the UK?
An out-of-hours vet consultation typically costs two to four times the in-hours fee. A £45 in-hours consultation can become £90–£180 out-of-hours, with corporate-owned OOH providers and central London locations at the upper end. The CMA's price-transparency order requires every UK vet practice to disclose its OOH fee or surcharge.
What is in-house OOH versus referred OOH?
An in-house OOH practice provides emergency care from its own premises with its own staff. A referred OOH practice routes emergency calls to a third-party provider (Vets Now, MiNightVet, or a corporate group's OOH arm), typically at a different physical location. The CMA's order requires this arrangement to be disclosed.
Is Vets Now the same as my regular vet?
Vets Now is the largest dedicated UK out-of-hours and emergency veterinary provider. Many UK vet practices that don't provide their own in-house OOH care refer to Vets Now for emergencies. Pricing is set by Vets Now, not by the referring practice. The CMA's order requires this referral relationship to be disclosed on the referring practice's website.
Why are out-of-hours vet fees so high?
OOH veterinary care requires staff on call or on rota at unsocial hours, plus dedicated emergency-equipped facilities. The CMA's investigation accepted that OOH care is genuinely more expensive to provide than in-hours care, but found that surcharges were inconsistently disclosed. The transparency remedies are intended to make the cost knowable in advance, not to set the level.
Vet Cost Index
A transparent UK vet-pricing index built around the CMA Vet Services price-transparency remedies. The comparison index opens as practices publish their disclosures.