CMA Price List Rules for Vets: Where and How to Display Prices

What the CMA requires on your price list

The CMA's veterinary-sector reforms require your practice to publish a clear, standard price list for a defined set of common services. It has to appear in two places: on your website, no more than one click from the homepage and visible without scrolling, and on display inside the practice where clients can see it — typically a poster or leaflet in the reception or waiting area. The aim is that a pet owner can compare prices easily, before they are committed to a practice, rather than discovering costs at the point of treatment.

This guide covers what goes on the list, exactly where the CMA expects it to appear, and how to keep it compliant once it is up.

What has to be on the list

The CMA's guidance for veterinary businesses states the core requirement plainly: "You must publish clear, standard price lists for a defined set of services you offer."

The "defined set of services" is the point most practices ask about. The reforms target the common, comparable services a pet owner shops around for — the kind of routine care where price comparison is realistic. Practices should publish the prices for the standard services they offer from that defined set, presented clearly enough that a client can compare them with another practice. Pricing that is hidden behind "price on consultation" for a service that should be listed does not meet the standard.

Where it has to appear

This is where the reforms are unusually specific, and where a price list that technically exists can still fail. The CMA guidance requires the list to be:

• On your website, prominently placed. Prices must be "on the practice website (if you have one), a maximum of one click from the homepage without scrolling". A price page buried three clicks deep, or one that requires scrolling past other content to reach, does not satisfy this.
• On display in the practice. The same information must be "on in-practice materials, such as posters or leaflets, which should be prominently visible in the reception or waiting area".

The two have to match. A website list and an in-practice list that show different prices is worse than having one, because it undermines the comparability the reform is built on.

The timing: who has to do this, and when

Pet owners at larger groups will see price lists first — the CMA has said customers of practices in larger chains can expect changes, including standard price lists, before Christmas 2026. Independent practices get longer to implement most remedies, but the published price list is the most visible one and the one clients will compare you against soonest. Getting an initial version up early, even before your formal deadline, is a defensible position. The CMA preparation timeline sets out how the staggered deadlines work for smaller versus larger practices.

Keeping the list compliant

A price list is not a one-off task — it is a living document with a maintenance obligation:

1. Assign an owner. One named person responsible for keeping the website and in-practice lists accurate and matched.
2. Define an update cadence. When a listed price changes, the website and the poster both need updating, promptly — an out-of-date published price is itself a compliance risk.
3. Keep the placement compliant. A website redesign that pushes the price page deeper than one click, or behind a scroll, breaks compliance even if the prices are correct. Re-check placement after any site change.
4. Document it in an SOP. Fold price-list maintenance into your SOP framework so the cadence and ownership survive staff changes.
5. Include the prescription fee. Your written-prescription fee belongs on the price list too, within the caps the CMA sets for it.

Common gaps to close

• Price page too deep. "We have a prices page" is not enough if it is more than one click from the homepage or requires scrolling to reach.
• Website and in-practice lists drift apart. Two versions showing different figures defeats the purpose and is easy for a client to spot.
• "Price on consultation" for listable services. Routine, comparable services should carry an actual price, not a placeholder that defeats comparison.
• No maintenance process. A list that was accurate at launch and never updated becomes a published inaccuracy.

How this fits the wider CMA package

The published price list is one of several CMA remedies — written estimates, prescription fee caps, ownership disclosure, and complaints handling all arrive together. The CMA written estimate £500 rule covers the estimate threshold, and the CMA compliance self-assessment tool flags which remedies your practice still has open. Run as streams within your clinical governance framework, the package stays current rather than drifting back out of compliance after launch — and it sits alongside the rest of your non-clinical compliance workload.

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This guide reflects the CMA's published guidance for veterinary businesses as of June 2026. It is general compliance information, not legal advice. The binding detail will be set out in the CMA Orders. Verify the current position against the CMA's guidance for veterinary businesses and consult your defence body for practice-specific advice.