Legal

Deposits and signatures

Last updated · 6 September 2026

Early access · plain language, not reviewed by a lawyer

VetApprove is in early access. This document says what we actually do, in plain language, so you can read it before you pay. It is written by the operator, Martin Noale, sole proprietor registered in France, and it has not been reviewed by a lawyer. If we change something that matters to you, we email you rather than quietly swap the page.

This page explains how a deposit is presented to a pet owner, who decides the refund terms, what the electronic signature is worth, and exactly what the sealed PDF contains. It is written for clinics, and it is the page to hand to a client who asks what they are signing.

01What this document is

VetApprove is the tool that carries the estimate, records the approval and triggers the deposit. The agreement itself is between the clinic and the pet owner. We do not set the deposit, we do not set the refund rules, and we never receive the money.

We are not lawyers and this is not legal advice. Have your own terms reviewed by counsel in your jurisdiction, especially if you charge deposits that are not refundable.

02How a deposit is presented to the pet owner

On the client page, above the signature area and before any card form appears, the pet owner sees, in this order:

  • The accepted total, recalculated live from the options they ticked.
  • The deposit amount, in currency, and how it was calculated (a percentage of the total, or a flat amount set by the clinic).
  • The balance remaining after the procedure.
  • Who receives the deposit: the clinic, by name, through its own payment account.
  • What the deposit does: it confirms the appointment and is deducted from the final invoice.
  • The clinic's own refund and cancellation terms, in the clinic's own words.
  • In France, whether the sum is arrhes or acompte, and what that means for both parties.

None of this is hidden behind a link or a checkbox that says "I have read the terms". It is on the same screen as the signature, in the same size type as everything else.

03The clinic sets its own refund terms

Each template carries a refund policy that the clinic writes once and can override per estimate. Common ones: fully refundable up to 48 hours before the appointment; refundable minus a cancellation fee; deducted from the final invoice and non-refundable after a certain date.

Whatever you choose is displayed to the pet owner before they sign and is stored inside the sealed record, so there is no argument later about which version applied. Refunds are issued by the clinic from its own payment dashboard. VetApprove cannot refund on your behalf and cannot block a refund you decide to make.

Consumer law in your country may limit what you can keep. A deposit taken for a procedure that never happened because the clinic cancelled is not the same as one for a client who did not show up. Write your terms accordingly.

04France: arrhes or acompte

French law treats the two very differently, and the difference decides what happens when someone backs out. Under article L214-1 of the Code de la consommation, a sum paid in advance is treated as arrhes unless the contract says otherwise.

  • Arrhes. Either side can walk away. The client who cancels loses the sum paid. The professional who cancels owes twice that sum. Nobody can force the other to go through with it.
  • Acompte. A firm commitment on both sides. Neither party can simply walk away; the contract must be performed, and the party who fails may owe damages on top.

Because the default is arrhes, a clinic that wants an acompte has to say so, in the contract, before the client agrees. That is why VetApprove asks you to choose per template and displays the choice, in plain French, on the client page above the signature: "Cette somme est un acompte" or "Cette somme constitue des arrhes", followed by one sentence saying what that implies for each party.

Choosing acompte does not make a client stay. It means that a client who cancels is still bound by the contract, which is a stronger position for the clinic and a heavier one for the client. Choose deliberately, and expect to explain it at the counter.

05The signature we provide

VetApprove provides a simple electronic signature: a signature drawn on the screen, a typed name, and an audit trail recorded at the moment of signing. There is no identity document check and no certificate issued to the signatory.

In the European Union, article 25 of the eIDAS regulation provides that an electronic signature cannot be denied legal effect or refused as evidence in legal proceedings on the sole ground that it is electronic. In the United States, the ESIGN Act gives electronic signatures and records the same effect as paper in most commercial contexts.

What that does not mean: it is not an advanced electronic signature, it is not a qualified electronic signature, and it does not carry the presumption of reliability that a qualified signature carries in the EU. If a court ever asks who signed, the answer rests on the audit trail (the timestamp, the IP address, the device, the record of the link being opened) not on a certificate.

06What the sealed PDF contains

At signature the accepted content is sealed as a record and the PDF is rendered from it, on demand, whenever you open the estimate. The pet owner gets their copy by email; the clinic gets the notice and downloads the file from the estimate page. It contains:

  • The clinic's identity: name, address, contact details, and its registration or professional number if entered.
  • The client and the animal, as entered by the clinic.
  • Every line of the estimate, with its label, quantity, unit price, tax and status: included, recommended or optional. And whether it was accepted.
  • The accepted total, the deposit amount and its basis, and the remaining balance.
  • The refund and cancellation terms shown before signing, and in France the arrhes or acompte statement, word for word as displayed.
  • The drawn signature image, the typed name of the signatory and the date.
  • The audit trail on the last page: timestamp in UTC and local time, IP address, browser and operating system, the record of every opening of the link, and the SHA-256 hash of the accepted content. The canonical content itself is attached to the PDF so the hash can be recomputed.

The estimate cannot be edited after signature. A change means a new estimate, sent and signed again, and the old PDF stays in the record as what was agreed at the time.

07Chargebacks and disputes

If a pet owner disputes a deposit with their bank, the chargeback is between them, their bank and your clinic, under your payment provider's rules. The sealed PDF and the audit trail are the evidence you submit. Clear refund terms, displayed before signing, are the single thing that most often decides these cases.

VetApprove is not a party to the transaction and cannot represent you in a dispute. We will provide any record we hold, promptly and in a usable format.

08Contact

Questions about deposits, wording or the audit trail: hello@vetapprove.com. If you want a second pair of eyes on your refund terms before you send the first estimate, ask. We will read them, and we will tell you when a lawyer is the right answer.