Summary: Mrs X complained the Council was pursuing her for her late father’s care home fees from 2015. We have stopped investigating because Mrs X has not complained to us within the normal 12 month period and there are no good reasons to exercise discretion to accept the complaint now.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained the Council is pursuing her for her late father, Mr Y’s, care home fees from 2015 which she does not believe are owed. She says the Council should have included any fees owed at the time in the legal charge it placed on the property which was cleared in 2015.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
3. We can decide whether to start or discontinue an investigation into a complaint within our jurisdiction. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 24A(6) and 34B(8), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I have considered the information provided by Mrs X and some initial information provided by the Council.
5. I gave Mrs X and the Council the opportunity to comment on a draft of this decision. I have considered the comments received in reaching my final decision.

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What I found

What happened

6. Mr Y moved into a care home in 2013. Mrs X says the Council applied to the Court of Protection for an interim Deputyship order which was granted in August 2013. In early 2014 the Court of Protection discharged the interim Deputyship and appointed Mrs X and her sister as joint Deputies so they could manage Mr Y’s finances on his behalf.
7. In 2014 the Council carried out a financial assessment. As Mr Y had a share in a property the Council assessed him as a full cost payer. It calculated the amount Mr Y needed to pay towards his care from his income (his client contribution) with the remainder (the difference between his client contribution and the full charge) accruing as a debt. It placed a legal charge on Mr Y’s property for the debt (around £8,000) which was cleared when the property was sold in 2015. Following the sale, the Council invoiced Mrs X for £9,613.15 which was for care home fees outstanding as it calculated Mr Y had not paid his full client contribution towards his care home fees. Mrs X says she disputed this with the Council at the time.
8. Mrs X last received a bill from the Council in February 2019. Mr Y died in June 2019.

Findings

9. The restriction set out at paragraph 3 applies to Mrs X’s complaint. We have discretion to set aside this restriction where there are good reasons. Having considered the complaint, I have decided we should not exercise discretion to accept this late complaint for the following reasons:
• Mrs X knew about the legal charge in 2014 and the debt in July 2015 when the Council invoiced her. It has continued to invoice her for the charge on an annual basis.
• The further away in time an investigation takes place from the events to be investigated, the more difficult it can be to establish the material facts of what happened. If Mrs X thought there was fault in the way the Council dealt with matters in 2014/2015 it was open to her to come to us at that time. Mrs X had deputyship for Mr Y’s finances. As Mr Y’s Deputy, Mrs X was responsible for managing his finances in his best interests. If she felt he was incorrectly charged or was being charged for care he had not received I would have expected her to raise this at the time.

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Final decision

10. I have discontinued the investigation because Mrs X could have come to us sooner if she was unhappy with the legal charge or the invoices for the debt. There is no good reason for the Ombudsman to investigate this now.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman