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The UK competition watchdog is launching an investigation into the market for veterinary services, saying that pet owners may be overpaying for medicines and prescriptions.
The Competition & Markets Authority said on Tuesday that it would start a full market investigation into the sector, having opened a preliminary probe last September, after the regulator found a lack of transparency around pricing and ownership of veterinary practices.
The veterinary market has become increasingly concentrated over the past decade, with large groups now owning nearly 60 per cent of practices, the CMA said. Six groups, a number of which are owned by private equity firms, have acquired 1,500 of 5,000 UK practices since 2013. The firms have also bought related businesses including out of hours care and diagnostic labs.
“Our review has identified multiple concerns with the market that we think should be investigated further,” said CMA chief executive Sarah Cardell.
“These include pet owners finding it difficult to access basic information like price lists and prescription costs — and potentially overpaying for medicines. We are also concerned about weak competition in some areas, driven in part by sector consolidation.”
The CMA said it had five key concerns from its initial review, including a lack of information for consumers that stopped pet owners from shopping around for treatment, large groups weakening competition by focusing on higher cost treatments using more expensive equipment, and an outdated regulatory framework for the sector, which dates back to 1966.
About a quarter of pet owners didn’t know they could potentially save money by getting prescriptions filled at places other than their vet surgery.
The CMA received 56,000 responses from the public and industry to its initial inquiry, a level that demonstrates how important the issue is to the millions of pet owners, the watchdog said.
The CMA has started a four-week consultation on its proposal to open a formal investigation, after which the regulator will decide how to proceed.
