Title: Medical Contract Review: Check a Clinic Contract in 8 Steps
Author: Arthur Harmash
Published: 2026-10-10
Source: https://lymyvoyage.com/articles/medical-contract-review-how-to
Citations:
- https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/15/section/50
- https://www.nhs.uk/tests-and-treatments/cosmetic-procedures/advice/cosmetic-surgery-abroad/
- https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32016R0679
- https://www.cdc.gov/yellow-book/hcp/health-care-abroad/medical-tourism.html
- https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:31993L0013
- https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/15/section/65
- https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1974/39/section/75
- https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/section75-protect-your-purchases/
- https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/15/1666i
- https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/using-credit-cards-and-disputing-charges
- https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32011L0024
- https://www.resmigazete.gov.tr/eskiler/2025/04/20250426-2.htm
- https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32011L0083
---
A medical contract review is something you can do yourself, at home, before you pay a clinic abroad. Reading takes an evening. Getting answers takes as long as the clinic takes to reply. It costs nothing unless you pay a lawyer.
This guide is the process. For the 15 areas a clinic contract should cover, use the companion [medical tourism contract checklist](/articles/medical-tourism-contract-checklist). Here are the steps, in order.
- [ ] Collect every document the clinic and any agency have sent
- [ ] Find out who you are actually signing with
- [ ] Remove your personal details before you share the contract with anyone
- [ ] Go through the contract area by area and mark each one
- [ ] Send the clinic one written list of what is missing or unclear
- [ ] Get the answers into the contract, not just a chat
- [ ] Choose a way to pay that keeps your protection
- [ ] Keep a dated copy of everything
## Step 1: Collect every document
Ask the clinic, in writing, for the full set before you read any of it. That usually means the quote, the booking form, the clinic's terms and conditions and the warranty. It also means the consent forms for your procedure and the privacy notice. If an agency is involved, ask for its terms as well.
Save the messages that came with them too. In the UK, the Consumer Rights Act 2015 treats what a trader says or writes about a service as part of the contract, if you relied on it when deciding.[^1] A chat message promising "free revision" can matter later. Keep it.
**What goes wrong:** the consent form arrives only on the day of surgery. The NHS advises two consultations with your surgeon before any surgery, which in the UK normally gives a two-week cooling-off period.[^2] Ask for the consent form now, not then.
## Step 2: Find out who you are signing with
Put the names side by side: the company on the contract, the company on the invoice and the account you are asked to pay. They should match. If they don't, ask why in writing.
This step catches the biggest problem early. The first contract sent to our review tool was an agency agreement. It named no clinic, no treatment and no price. If yours looks like that, ask for the clinic's own terms before going further.
## Step 3: Remove your personal details before sharing
You may want a friend, a lawyer or an AI assistant to read the contract with you. First, black out your name, date of birth, passport number, address, phone number and email. Remove medical details that are not needed to understand a clause.
Under the EU's data protection regulation, health data is a special category of personal data. Its processing is prohibited unless one of a short list of exceptions applies.[^3] Once you paste it into a public tool, you lose control of where it goes. Keep the clause text. That is what needs reviewing.
## Step 4: Go through the contract area by area
Read the contract with the 15 areas of the [checklist](/articles/medical-tourism-contract-checklist) open. For each question, give the contract one of four marks:
- **Covered:** the contract answers it clearly.
- **Missing:** the contract says nothing.
- **Unclear:** it mentions the topic but leaves the key detail open.
- **Red flag:** it says something that works against you.
Copy the exact sentence next to each mark. A summary in your own words is easy to dispute. The clinic's own sentence is not.
**Time:** allow an hour or two. The free [medical contract review checklist](/medical-contract-review#checklist) saves your answers as you go. It also gives you a link to come back to.
## Step 5: Send one written list of questions
Turn every "missing" and "unclear" mark into a question. Send them in one email, numbered, and ask for numbered answers. One list is easier to track than a dozen chat messages, and it leaves a dated record.
Ask for anything about price and scope in writing. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warns that some clinics abroad charge "substantial fees for follow-up care" on top of the base price.[^4] Ask what follow-up visits cost before you pay.
**What goes wrong:** the reply comes back as a phone call. Answer with an email that sums up what you were told, and ask the clinic to confirm it.
## Step 6: Get the answers into the contract
A reply by email is better than a call. An amended contract is better still. A contract may say the written agreement replaces everything said before it. That clause can undo the chat promises from step 1.
The EU's unfair-terms directive lists, as possibly unfair, a term that limits a seller's duty to honour what its agents promised.[^5] Do not rely on that being enforced abroad. Ask for the important answers to go into the contract itself, or into a signed annex.
Red flags need a different answer. If a clause excludes liability for injury or death, ask for it to be removed. In the UK, a trader cannot exclude liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence.[^6]
## Step 7: Choose a way to pay that keeps your protection
How you pay can decide whether you get money back. Do it last, once steps 5 and 6 are done.
- [ ] Pay the clinic directly, not an agency, if you want card protection
- [ ] Check that the name on the payment matches the name on the contract
- [ ] Pay the deposit by credit card where the clinic accepts it
- [ ] Ask your card issuer what chargeback rights apply abroad
- [ ] Avoid paying the full amount by bank transfer before you arrive
**In the UK**, section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 makes your credit card provider jointly liable with the seller.[^7] It lets you claim against your credit card provider for purchases between £100.01 and £30,000. You are covered for the full amount even if only part of it went on the card. It applies abroad too.
Debit cards and bank transfers are not covered. Paying through an agency or other intermediary can break the link section 75 needs.[^8]
**In the US**, the Fair Credit Billing Act lets you raise a dispute about service quality with your card issuer. But only if you bought it in your home state or within 100 miles of your billing address.[^9] The Federal Trade Commission's consumer page gives the same 100-mile condition.[^10] A clinic abroad will usually fall outside it, so ask your card issuer what else applies.
For a UK comparison of card protection and clinic guarantees, see [getting money back after Turkey teeth go wrong](/articles/turkey-teeth-gone-wrong-refund).
## Step 8: Keep a dated copy of everything
Save the contract you signed, every amended version and the email thread from step 5. Save the payment receipts too, in one folder, with dates in the file names.
Ask for your records when you leave. The CDC advises asking for overseas medical records in English.[^4] When the clinic is in the EU, you are entitled to a written or electronic record of your treatment, and to at least a copy.[^11] In Turkey, on request, the clinic must give you a free list of the medicines and materials it charged you for, and your test results and images.[^12]
## Common mistakes
**Counting on a cooling-off period.** In the EU, the 14-day right to withdraw from distance contracts does not apply to healthcare.[^13] Your deposit terms decide what you get back, so read them before you pay.
**Paying the agency.** This step can cost you card protection in the UK, as step 7 explains. It can also leave you with a contract that names no clinic.
**Reviewing a summary.** The quote's one-line summary is not the contract. Review the full terms.
## When to stop and get help
Stop and ask for help if the clinic refuses to put its answers in writing, or will not send the terms before payment. Do the same if a red flag stays in after you asked for it to be removed.
A consumer lawyer in your own country can read the clauses. You can also send the contract for an [automated medical contract review](/medical-contract-review?mode=auto#review), which checks it against the rules for where you live and where you are going.
[^1]: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/15/section/50 — UK Parliament, Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 50. Accessed Oct 10, 2026.
[^2]: https://www.nhs.uk/tests-and-treatments/cosmetic-procedures/advice/cosmetic-surgery-abroad/ — National Health Service (UK), "Cosmetic surgery abroad" (page last reviewed Dec 14, 2022). Accessed Oct 10, 2026.
[^3]: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32016R0679 — European Union, Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (General Data Protection Regulation), Article 9 (published May 4, 2016). Accessed Oct 10, 2026.
[^4]: https://www.cdc.gov/yellow-book/hcp/health-care-abroad/medical-tourism.html — Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC Yellow Book, "Medical Tourism" (published Apr 23, 2025). Accessed Oct 10, 2026.
[^5]: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:31993L0013 — European Union, Council Directive 93/13/EEC on unfair terms in consumer contracts, Annex point 1(n) (published Apr 5, 1993). Accessed Oct 10, 2026.
[^6]: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/15/section/65 — UK Parliament, Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 65. Accessed Oct 10, 2026.
[^7]: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1974/39/section/75 — UK Parliament, Consumer Credit Act 1974, section 75. Accessed Oct 10, 2026.
[^8]: https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/section75-protect-your-purchases/ — MoneySavingExpert, "Section 75 refunds: credit card protection" (updated Aug 20, 2026). Accessed Oct 10, 2026.
[^9]: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/15/1666i — 15 U.S. Code § 1666i(a), Fair Credit Billing Act, via Cornell Law School's Legal Information Institute. Accessed Oct 10, 2026.
[^10]: https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/using-credit-cards-and-disputing-charges — Federal Trade Commission (US), "Using Credit Cards and Disputing Charges" (published May 2022). Accessed Oct 10, 2026.
[^11]: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32011L0024 — European Union, Directive 2011/24/EU on the application of patients' rights in cross-border healthcare, Article 4(2)(f) (published Apr 4, 2011). Accessed Oct 10, 2026.
[^12]: https://www.resmigazete.gov.tr/eskiler/2025/04/20250426-2.htm — Resmî Gazete (Official Gazette of the Republic of Türkiye), "Uluslararası Sağlık Turizmi ve Turistin Sağlığı Hakkında Yönetmelik", Article 12 (published Apr 26, 2025). Accessed Oct 10, 2026.
[^13]: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32011L0083 — European Union, Directive 2011/83/EU on consumer rights, Article 3(3)(b) and Article 9 (published Nov 22, 2011). Accessed Oct 10, 2026.