Summary: We will not investigate this late complaint about the Council placing a charge against the late Mrs B’s property or Mr E’s complaints about the way the Council arranged and commissioned care for her in 2016. This is because Mr E could have come to us sooner if he was concerned about Mrs B’s placement or paying for Mrs B’s care.

The complaint

1. Mr E complained the Council:

• Placed his mother, Mrs B, in residential care in 2016 without proper consideration or consultation.
• Ignored, blocked, and miscalculated the cost of Mrs B’s care fees, demanded payment for costs paid directly to the care home.
• Attempted to hold him personally responsible for Mrs B’s debts.
• Requested payment from Mrs B’s estate over the years when the requested payments have not been properly explained.
• Caused him stress and anxiety which has affected him mentally and physically.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse effect 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 an investigation if we decide the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
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)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

6. The Council says records show extensive communication with Mr E starting in 2016 when following discharge from hospital Mrs B required 24-hour care. It says records show choice of care homes and funding arrangements were discussed with him and noted Mr E’s dispute about charging and arrangements. We could not add to this or make a different finding even if we investigated. Mr E could have come to us in 2016 if he was concerned about the late Mrs B’s placement. We will not investigate this point now.
7. The Council considered Mr E’s legal representatives complaint in January 2021 about the discrepancies with charging for the late Mrs B’s care fees. It says following its decision to initiate legal proceedings to recover the debt, Mr E provided a retrospective financial assessment which reduced the debt from £212, 938.69 to £191, 971.01. The Council says it has explained the invoicing and sent statements of the account to Mr E and his solicitor on a number of occasions. It said a copy of the case notes is available to evidence this if Mr E requires it. We could not add to this or make a different finding even if we investigated.
8. The Council explained it places caveats on probate applications where there are disputed payments of users accounts. It advised once it receives confirmation of payment it will remove the caveat to allow application for probate. In this case the Council says it removed the caveat in May 2023 to allow matters to proceed. We could not add to this or make a different finding even if we investigated.
9. The Council has confirmed all demands for payment of the debt has been issued against the late Mrs B’s estate not Mr E personally. We could not add to this or make a different finding even if we investigated.
10. The Council has provided a statement of what the outstanding balance comprised of and informed Mr E and his legal representatives about the outstanding debts at the date Mrs B died.
11. It is the responsibility of the executor to collect the assets, pay any debts and use the resulting balance to distribute to any beneficiaries.
12. If the executor is disputing the existence of a particular debt they can refuse to pay and defend any court proceedings against them.

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Final decision

13. We will not investigate Mr E’s late complaint because we could not add to the Council’s response or make a different finding even if we investigated.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman