CMA pricing FAQs

The Competition and Markets Authority investigated the market for veterinary services for household pets in the UK. After a market study and full investigation, it published a final decision report on 24 March 2026 setting out competition concerns and an integrated remedies package.

Relevant veterinary businesses operating first-opinion practices (and some other providers) will need to publish clear standard price lists for a defined set of services they offer, online where they have a website and in premises. Exact legal duties take effect when the CMA Order is made and on the phased compliance timetable in CMA guidance.

The final report was published on 24 March 2026. The Funding Order and RCVS funding undertakings were published on 20 August 2026. The CMA’s statutory deadline for the substantive remedies Order (and related RCVS undertakings) is 23 September 2026. Business compliance is then phased — for many transparency remedies, CMA guidance points to December 2026 for larger businesses and March 2027 for smaller ones, with later dates for estimates, some medicines remedies, and RCVS data supply. Always check the live GOV.UK case hub for whether the substantive Order has been made.

No. Remedies apply to defined business types and services. Practices list prices for services they offer from the CMA’s defined list; they are not required to invent prices for services they do not provide. Animal charities providing small animal veterinary services are generally outside the Order’s requirements.

Yes. You can compare published prices on Vet Price Comparison today using practice-published lists and reviewed submissions. Separately, the CMA package requires the RCVS to enhance Find a Vet and share data with approved third parties later in the rollout — that central pipeline is not yet the live source for most comparison journeys.

The CMA’s stated aim is better transparency and competition so pet owners can make informed choices — not a price cap on clinical fees (aside from specific prescription fee caps). Clearer information may help you shop around, but it does not guarantee lower prices or identical fees between practices.

Over time: clearer price lists for common services, ownership information for groups, out-of-hours arrangements, parasiticide prices, pet care plan explanations, written estimates for higher-cost pathways, and itemised bills. What you see at any one practice depends on which remedies already apply to that business and whether it has reached its compliance date.

Under the CMA package, the RCVS is expected to support monitoring, enhance Find a Vet to publish key practice information including prices, share data with approved third parties under restrictions, and produce standardised materials on written prescriptions. Enhanced Find a Vet readiness is indicated for 2027 in CMA business guidance.

Start with the CMA case hub and the GOV.UK guidance for veterinary businesses after the final report. The final decision report and timetable documents are linked from those pages. Vet Price Comparison links to those primary sources so you can verify details yourself.