Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s charges for his mother, Mrs Y’s, care. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council is sending him incorrect invoices for his mother’s, Mrs Y’s, care. He says the matter is causing him distress and ill health. He wants the Council to correctly calculate his mother’s personal contribution and send him accurate invoices.

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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 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 continue an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Mrs Y moved into residential care in 2021. Her care is arranged and managed by the Council. Mr X manages Mrs Y’s finances on her behalf. In 2021, Mrs Y owned a property, and so the Council initially assessed her as a full cost payer. It offered Mr X a deferred payment arrangement until her property was sold, but Mr X declined this.
6. The Council has sent Mr X invoices for Mrs Y’s care from 2021 to present. Mr X says Mrs Y’s available capital fell below the upper capital limit in 2022. He says he has told the Council that he will not pay the outstanding invoices until the Council sends him accurate invoices of her reduced weekly contributions since August 2022.
7. In the Council’s response to his complaint, it said it had offered a deferred payment arrangement, but Mr X had declined this. It had sent him invoices for her care from 2021 until August 2022 but these remained outstanding. It said until these invoices were paid, Mrs Y’s financial assessment would still reflect that her capital was above the threshold. It set out calculations estimating her personal contribution from August 2022 to present, but said it could not be sure these were accurate until he paid the earlier invoices and provided up to date bank statements for Mrs Y. It said once he provided this information, it would review Mrs Y’s financial assessment and make any required adjustments to her personal contribution.
8. We will not investigate this complaint as there is insufficient evidence of fault. The Council has provided Mr X with an estimate of her personal contribution from August 2022 as requested, but cannot make an accurate calculation until Mr X pays the outstanding invoices and provides bank statements accurately reflecting Mrs Y’s current financial situation.
9. There is insufficient evidence of fault to warrant further investigation.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault to warrant further investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman