This is insurance for the veterinary business: the practice premises, clinical work, staff, and animals in the practice's care. It is not pet insurance for owners, not vet fees, and not a page about which pet policy pays the surgery directly.
Typical UK stack is two parts. Clinical professional indemnity for clinicians is usually the Veterinary Defence Society (VDS), the profession's mutual. Meshed is not VDS and we do not pretend to replace that membership. Alongside it you need a practice package: buildings and contents, public liability, employers' liability, and animals in custody or in transit where we can place them. Meshed is an FCA-regulated UK broker. Mesh'd Limited trading as Meshed is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority under firm reference number 1033248. We place those commercial practice covers for limited companies, partnerships, and sole traders, from a panel of insurers. Broker fee is a flat 10%, with no admin add-ons.
If you want generic professional indemnity for consultants, that is Professional Indemnity Insurance UK. Cover for a veterinary surgery in the sense of premises sits on this practice page, after the word practice. This page is the veterinary business, not pets.
Who this is for
UK limited companies, partnerships, and sole traders that run a veterinary practice, including:
Practice owners and partners on one site
Groups with more than one premises
Sole traders running a veterinary practice in their own name
Practices that employ nurses, reception, and locums
We work with limited companies, partnerships, and sole traders.
We are not writing pet insurance, student EMS cover, or equine-only schemes we do not have.
Who we have helped
We place commercial practice cover for UK limited companies, partnerships, and sole traders: surgeries that already hold VDS for clinicians and need premises, liability, and contents to sit next to it, and owners who searched a short pet-style query and need the business package instead.
Practice covers (not VDS)
Professional indemnity / clinical negligence-style PI. For most UK clinicians that is VDS. Arrange VDS (or an equivalent the profession accepts) with VDS. Named-on-practice VDS may not cover locum work you do elsewhere. Check with them.
Public liability. Injury or property damage to clients and visitors at the practice. Detail sits on Public Liability Insurance UK.
Employers' liability. A legal duty if you employ anyone. The certificate has to be for at least £5 million, from an authorised insurer. Detail sits on Employers' Liability Insurance UK.
Buildings and contents. The practice premises, surgery equipment, fixtures, and stock including drugs. A leasehold practice still usually needs contents and tenants' improvements.
Animals in custody and control, and animals in transit. Cover for animals in the practice's care, including when they are moved, where the wording allows it. We will say if we can place it. We will not claim a cover we cannot get.
Locums
Three different products get called locum cover. There is no separate locum URL on this site.
Employed locum. May sit on the practice employers' liability and, if named, on the practice clinical PI. VDS has indicated that named-on-practice cover may not follow you to other practices.
Self-employed locum. Needs their own clinical PI, typically VDS, not the practice package.
Practice locum / staff-absence cover. A weekly-benefit product so the practice can hire cover if a clinician is off. We name it so owners are not confused. Ask us whether we can place it; we will not sell it from this page if we cannot.
Then stay on the practice package.
Is veterinary practice insurance required by law?
Employers' liability is a legal duty if you employ staff. There is no statute titled veterinary practice insurance. Clinical PI is a professional expectation for the people who treat animals; VDS is how most of the UK profession buys it. Buildings, contents, and liability are commercial necessities once you have premises, clients on site, and animals in your care.
If you want the wider list of covers a UK company usually needs, that sits on What insurance does a UK business need.
What it costs
Premium follows the practice: premises, equipment, headcount, animals-in-custody limits, and claims. A one-site small-animal practice and a multi-site hospital will not price the same.
We will not publish a from-£X figure, and we will not quote VDS membership prices we do not set.
What you can control: an accurate description of the premises, who is employed versus self-employed, and whether clinicians already hold VDS.
How Meshed works
You tell us the practice entity, sites, headcount, VDS position, animals in custody, and current commercial cover.
We review the documents and flag gaps in premises, liability, contents, and custody, without pretending to be VDS.
We go to our panel and come back with options for the commercial covers we place.
You bind. We stay on for mid-term changes and renewal.
Straightforward SME practices are often quoted in minutes. Multi-site, hospital equipment, or custody limits that need a specialist market can take longer. We will say that up front.
FAQs
What is veterinary practice insurance?
Cover for the veterinary business: premises, contents, public liability, employers' liability, and animals in custody where we can place them, sitting next to clinical PI which is usually VDS.
Is this pet insurance?
No. Pet insurance is for owners. This page is the practice.
Do you provide VDS?
No. VDS is the profession's mutual for clinical PI. Meshed places commercial practice covers. Arrange VDS with VDS.
I employ locums. Is that a different policy?
Employed locums may sit on the practice. Self-employed locums need their own PI. Practice locum/absence cover is a weekly-benefit product, not this URL.
I am a sole trader running a practice. Can you help?
Yes. We place cover for limited companies, partnerships, and sole traders.
Are you an insurer?
No. Meshed is a broker. Mesh'd Limited trading as Meshed is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority under firm reference number 1033248.
How fast can we bind?
Clean commercial practice covers can be same-week. Missing VDS status, multi-site schedules, or specialist custody take longer.
Vincent Liu
Co-founder & CTO
