Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about her late mother’s care fees. There is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council. We will also not investigate a delay sending an invoice. The Council has apologised for the delay and an investigation would be unlikely to lead to a different outcome.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains on behalf of her late mother, Mrs Y, who received residential care arranged by the Council. Mrs X received an invoice for care fees of over £13,000 that she feels she does not owe. She says the Council did not conduct a financial assessment.
2. Mrs X says the bill has caused her financial worry because she cannot afford to pay it. She would like the Council to waive the charges.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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,

• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

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

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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. Mrs Y received residential care arranged by the Council from April 2023 until her death in October 2023. In February 2024, the Council sent Mrs X an invoice for outstanding care charges totalling £13,215.44. Mrs X disputes this amount.
7. In April 2023, the Council provided Mrs X with a residential care agreement. The agreement set out the weekly cost of the care and that Mrs Y would need to pay a provisional contribution towards this, subject to a full financial assessment. It advised Mrs X that if the financial assessment determined Mrs Y should pay more towards the care, these costs would be backdated to the date the care started.
8. In May 2023, Mrs X informed the Council that Mrs Y would be self-funding her care.
9. In June 2023, the Council wrote to Mrs X with the outcome of the financial assessment. It said based on the information Mrs X had provided, Mrs Y would be required to pay the full cost of her care.
10. The Council delayed issuing an invoice for the outstanding care charges until February 2024.
11. We will not investigate this complaint. The Council told Mrs X in June 2023 that Mrs Y was responsible for the full cost of her care. The care costs were set out in the residential agreement, which confirmed that, following the financial assessment, any additional charges would be backdated to the start of the care. Although there was a delay in issuing the invoice, there is no indication of fault in the Council's calculation of the charges.
12. The Council has acknowledged there was a delay issuing the invoice and apologised for this. While I accept the delay caused Mrs X some distress, the Council told Mrs X in June 2023 that Mrs Y would be responsible for the full cost of care. Given this, it is unlikely an investigation would achieve anything more or lead to a different outcome.

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Final decision

13. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault in how the Council calculated the charges and it is unlikely an investigation would lead to a different outcome.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman