Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about the charges for her mother, Ms Y’s, care. There is insufficient evidence of fault to warrant an investigation.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains about the charges for her mother, Ms Y’s care. She says the Council did not tell her that her mother would be charged for care between January and March 2024 and she only found out when she received an invoice in June 2024. She says this has caused distress and financial loss. She wants the Council to write off the charges.

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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 and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Ms X’s mother, Ms Y, moved into a care home following a hospital admission in 2023.
6. The Council wrote to Ms X in December 2023 advising her that it had assessed Ms Y as having eligible care and support needs. It provided general information about charging for care and told her that the Council’s finance team would contact her shortly to arrange a financial assessment. It said the financial assessment would establish the actual amount Ms Y may need to contribute towards her care. Any contribution would be backdated to the day the care service commenced.
7. The Council wrote to Ms X again in January 2024. It told her Ms Y would be charged for her care from 7 January 2024. Ms X says she did not receive this letter, but I have seen evidence the Council sent Ms X the letter and that Ms X responded to the email the following day.
8. The Council had further contact with Ms X in January 2024. The emails confirmed that any assessed contribution for Ms Y’s care would be payable from 7 January 2024.
9. The Council sent Ms X a financial assessment form and requested she provide information about Ms Y’s finances. Ms X did not provide the required information until May 2024.
10. We will not investigate this complaint. Ms X says the Council did not tell her Ms Y would be charged for her care until June 2024, but I have seen evidence the Council told her in December 2023 and confirmed the start date for charges in January 2024. The Council requested information about Ms Y’s finances in January 2024, but Ms X did not provide this information until May 2024. The Council could not calculate Ms Y’s assessed contribution until it had received this information. Once Ms X provided the information, it sent Ms X the invoice within a week. There is insufficient evidence of fault to warrant an investigation.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault to warrant an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman