Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaints about care charges. One is late and with regard to the others, either there is not sufficient evidence of fault, further investigation could achieve nothing more or Ms X has yet to complain to the Council about the issues.

The complaint

1. Ms Z complained on behalf of Ms X that the Council wrongly charged or overcharged her for:
1. a stay at Care Home B in 2019 when it told her this would be free;
2. a six week stay in Care Home C from December 2021; and
3. home care she received for around six weeks in 2022.
2. Ms X said she has been financially disadvantaged and she wants the Council to waive all her fees.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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)
4. The Ombudsman investigates complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating; or
• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. Ms X was aware of the fees she was charged for Care Home B in 2019 and her advocate at the time questioned them. The Council provided a document which Ms X had signed to show she understood she would be charged for this care. If she was unhappy with the Council’s response she could have complained to us at the time. I have seen no good reason why she did not and so this complaint is late and we will not investigate it.
8. The Council explained to Ms X that it had spoken to Care Home C and it had confirmed it had never charged Ms X for any care. The Council provided a statement of invoices for all of Ms X’s care which showed none for the period in question. There is insufficient evidence to justify an investigation.
9. The Council investigated and found the home care agency overcharged Ms X for her care. It revised the invoices and issued new ones to reflect the level of weekly care she should have received. Further investigation would achieve nothing more.
10. Ms X also complained the care workers did not stay long enough but she has not complained to the Council about this. If she chooses to do so, she may return to us if she remains unhappy after receiving the Council’s final response and we will decide whether to investigate the matter.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaints. Some of them are late and with regard to the others, either there is not sufficient evidence of fault, further investigation could achieve nothing more or Ms X has yet to complain to the Council about the issues.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman