Summary: The Council acknowledges there were errors in the way it issued an incorrect invoice to Mr X, causing Mr X and his elderly mother distress. Mr X did not suffer any financial loss as a result. The Council has apologised for its actions and will now also offer an amount of £300 to Mr X for the distress caused.

The complaint

1. Mr A (as I shall him) complains about the way the Council incorrectly sent a large invoice for alleged underpayment of charges to this disabled brother Mr X, causing Mr X and their elderly mother some distress and anxiety.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused significant injustice, or that could cause injustice to others in the future we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
3. If we are satisfied with an organisation’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered the information provided to me by Mr A and by the Council. Both Mr A and the Council had an opportunity to comment on an earlier draft statement and I considered their comments before I reached this final decision.

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What I found

Relevant law and guidance

5. A council has a duty to arrange care and support for those with eligible needs, and a power to meet both eligible and non-eligible needs in places other than care homes. A council can choose to charge for non-residential care following a person’s needs assessment. Where it decides to charge, the council must follow the Care and Support (Charging and Assessment of Resources) Regulations 2014 and have regard to the Care Act statutory guidance. (Care Act 2014, section 14 and 17)
6. People receiving care and support other than in a care home need to keep a certain level of income to cover their living costs. Councils’ financial assessments can take a person’s income and capital into consideration, but not the value of their home. After charging, a person’s income must not reduce below a weekly amount known as the minimum income guarantee (MIG). This is set by national government and reviewed each year. A council can allow people to keep more than the MIG. (Care Act 2014)
7. Direct payments are monetary payments made to individuals who ask for them to meet some or all of their eligible care and support needs. They enable people to arrange their own care and support to meet those needs.

What happened

8. Mr X is an adult with a learning disability who lives in supported living accommodation. The staff there, along with Mr A his brother, support him with management of his finances.
9. Mr X receives a direct payment from the Council to meet his eligible assessed needs and contributes towards the cost of his care. The Council explains that it pays his Direct Payments into his bank account every four weeks, after deducting the amount of his assessed contribution. The Council has provided evidence demonstrating the payments it makes.
10. Mr A complained to the Council in April 2022 about the amount of money his brother (and other similarly affected citizens) were paying in social care charges. The Council responded at the end of April that arrangements were in hand to conduct a review of Mr X’s financial assessment. The Council added that increases to the benefits system had resulted in a decrease in Mr X’s contributions with effect from 1 April. Mr A said a care review was due to take place and he wanted to delay the financial assessment until after that.
11. After further correspondence, Mr A complained to the Council in May that his brother had not received the letter of 1 April and therefore “there had been no reduction in his payments as evidenced by bank statements”. He made a further complaint in August after the Council sent an invoice to Mr X for over £6000 of alleged overpayments.
12. Mr A met officers in September to discuss the complaints.
13. The complaints manager responded in October. He said Mr X did not make payments to the Council as his contributions were deducted before the Direct Payments were made into his bank account. He said it had been an error to send the invoice in August and he upheld that aspect of the complaint and apologised for it: he confirmed the account had been adjusted and the alleged debt no longer showed.
14. The complaints manager noted that the fresh financial assessment would be conducted later that month. He explained that the review of Mr X’s finances had shown there had been a wrong payment because of an error in the system. He indicated it might have to be repaid depending on the outcome of the financial assessment.
15. Mr A complained to the Council again on 16 October. He said he would refer the complaint to the Ombudsman but asked the Council to say whether any interest was due to his brother from the amount of money wrongly paid, and whether the Council intended to compensate him for the distress caused.
16. The complaints manager responded again. He said no money had been taken from his brother’s account and therefore he had not lost out on any interest. In respect of the request for compensation, he said, “We apologised for the error made and it was resolved as swiftly as possible. No additional debt chasing letters were sent out or contact made with your brother.” He said that although Mr A had gone to some inevitable time and trouble in making the complaint, it was not above and beyond what might be considered usual.
17. Mr A complained to the Ombudsman. He said the circumstances had caused considerable distress to Mr X and to their elderly mother.
18. The Council says it monitors the expenditure of Direct Payments at the year end. It says, “The cost information relevant to the Direct Payments was requested from the provider in April 2023.” The Council also says “The supported living provider assists (Mr X) with managing his finances, such as paying bills, etc, as part of the core support needs. This is re-visited as part of the annual review. We have now ended the Direct Payment of 6 hours to assist (Mr X) to visit his mother and replaced it with 6 hours added to the current package by the support provider.”

Analysis

19. The Council accepts an incorrect invoice was sent. It apologised for that and there was no further contact with Mr X about it. However, that was fault which caused some injustice in terms of worry and anxiety to Mr X.

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Agreed action

20. Within one month of my final decision the Council will offer the sum of £300 to Mr X in recognition of the distress the arrival of a large and unexpected invoice caused him.
21. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Final decision

22. I have completed this investigation on the basis there was fault which caused injustice: the completion of the recommendation at paragraph 20 will remedy that.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman