Summary: Ms D complained the Council sent her a bill for her late grandfather’s (Mr X) care, eight months after he died and after his estate was distributed. Based on current evidence, the Council is at fault for poor communication which caused a delay in it being notified of Mr X’s death. This caused Ms D emotional distress and will potentially cause her financial distress. I have recommended the Council asks Ms D for information about the debt and estate so it can reconsider the amount. I have also recommended the Council offers Ms D a payment plan for any remaining debt.

The complaint

1. Ms D complains the Council sent her a bill for her late grandfather’s (Mr X) care, eight months after he had passed away. She said the estate has been distributed and there is no money left. Ms D cannot afford to pay the bill personally. This has caused Ms D emotional distress and will potentially cause her financial distress. She would like the Council to write the amount off.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused significant injustice, or that could cause injustice to others in the future we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)

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What I have and have not investigated

4. I have only investigated Ms D’s complaint about the Council sending a bill for her late grandfathers care eight months after he died. I have not investigated the financial assessment or care provided. I have provided information for background only.

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered evidence provided by Ms D and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
6. Ms D and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

Charging for social care services: the power to charge

7. A council has a duty to arrange care and support for those with eligible needs, and a power to meet both eligible and non-eligible needs in places other than care homes. A council can choose to charge for non-residential care following a person’s needs assessment. Where it decides to charge, the council must follow the Care and Support (Charging and Assessment of Resources) Regulations 2014 and have regard to the Care Act statutory guidance. (Care Act 2014, section 14 and 17)
8. Where a council has decided to charge for care, it must carry out a financial assessment to decide what a person can afford to pay. It must then give the person a written record of the completed assessment.

Dealing with the financial affairs of someone who has died

9. The executor has responsibility for dealing with the deceased’s estate. This involves finding all the financial documentation belonging to the person that has died, finding out details of money owed to the estate and details of money owed by the person that has died. It also involves preparing a detailed list of property, money, possessions and debts in the estate and sending documents to the probate registry and HM Revenues and Customs and pay any inheritance tax due. Once the court has granted probate, the executor will collect the money belonging to the estate, pay any debts, fees and expenses before sharing out the estate according to the will or under the intestacy rules.
10. The executor should try and contact all the deceased persons creditors. They can do this by placing a notice on the Gazette website which is the official public record of legal notices in the UK. An executor should also put a notice in the local paper where the deceased person lived or worked. These notices tell creditors they can make a claim against the estate to pay off any debt. If the executor does not place a notice and creditors come forward after the executor has paid out the estate, the executor might have to pay the rest of the debt out of their own money.

The Council’s policies and procedures

11. The Councils website says it will ask individuals wanting to receive financial support towards their care to complete a financial assessment form. This provides the Council with the full details of the individuals financial position, including their income and capital. The Customer Financial Management Team will carry out the financial assessment and write to the individual to let them know how much they must pay for their care. Anyone not providing the information will pay the full cost of their care as the Council cannot assess their financial situation.
12. Once the Council has completed the financial assessment, it will write to the individual and let them know if and how much they will need to pay for their care. The Council will also send an invoice to the individual within four weeks of finalising the assessment and every four weeks after that.
13. The individual can arrange to pay by direct to the Council, either by setting up a direct debit or by paying each four-weekly invoice.
14. Once a year the Council will complete an annual review of the financial assessment and recalculate the contribution every client makes.

What happened

15. I have summarised below the key events; this is not intended to be a detailed account.

Care received by Mr X

16. In May 2021, Mr X started to receive reablement care following discharge from hospital. Mr X signed a declaration of understanding, agreed to a financial assessment and agreed to pay towards his care fees.
17. The community response team reviewed the care and commissioned a bespoke package from June.
18. The Council wrote to Ms D in June and requested the documents needed to complete the financial assessment. In July, Ms D emailed the Council and said she had completed the financial assessment for her grandfather and posted the documents. The Council completed the financial assessment in September and advised Mr X how much the fees would be. It sent the first invoice at the end of the month.
19. In October, Mr X received a further reablement package of care following another period in hospital. Mr X signed another declaration of understanding.
20. The Council reviewed the care package in January and March 2022 and commissioned a long-term support package.
21. Ms D completed a further financial assessment form for her grandfather in July 2022. Later the same month, the Council emailed Ms D enclosing a copy of the financial assessment which set out how much Mr X was to pay towards his care.
22. In November, Ms D contacted the Council and asked for a direct debit form. The Council posted the form the same day. The Council said it did not receive the completed form back.
23. In February 2023, the Council wrote to Mr X telling him he had not set up a direct debit or paid towards his care and the debt was accruing.
24. In March 2023, the care provider completed a review of Mr X’s care and identified Mr X needed an increase in care. The community social work team agreed.
25. At the beginning of June, the Council credit control team sent Mr X a final reminder to pay his overdue invoices. The amount outstanding was over £12,000. The letter said the case would be referred for formal legal recovery action if he did not contact the Council within seven days.
26. Later in June, Mr X paid £500 towards his care.
27. The Council credit control team sent Mr X a further final reminder to pay his invoices in August. The total amount owed was over £14,000.
28. Mr X went into hospital in August. Mr X died in October.

Mr X’s estate

29. Ms D told me Mr X had paid for a probate package with a solicitor to administer his estate after his death. Ms D said she told the solicitors Mr X had died and provided all the paperwork they requested. She said the solicitor managed the probate and this included telling creditors about his death. Ms D said she was named as the executor but was not involved in the probate process.
30. In November 2023 the solicitors started the probate process.
31. The Court granted probate in January 2024.
32. The credit control team became aware of Mr X’s death in March.
33. In June, the debt officer contacted Ms D and told her Mr X had an outstanding debt of around £14,000. The officer followed this up in an email to Ms D. The email said according to the probate record there were enough assets to clear Mr X’s invoices before the estate was dissolved. Ms D had previously advised the Council that due to the costs against the estate, for example mortgage against the property, the value of the assets were reduced and the net value of the probate was not accurate. The Council asked Ms D to provide copies of the assets and liabilities of the estate so it could liaise with the financial assessment team to see if any adjustments could be made. It reminded Ms D the costs remained outstanding against the estate and subsequently Ms D as the executor.
34. Ms D told me there was not enough money within the estate to pay Mr X’s bill. This was because Mr X had a lifetime mortgage so there was little money left over once this had been paid.
35. Ms D complained to the Council in July 2024. The Council issued a response later in July. It explained it had audited Mr X’s account and the outstanding balance was correct and remains payable and sent copies of the invoices. It referenced Ms D was disputing the balance and asked her to provide further information so the Council could explore further. It also explained the delay in writing to Ms D following Mr X’s death as it only received notice of this in March.
36. Ms D complained to the Ombudsman in September. She explained Mr X had received care at home. She thought he was paying for his care but referred to the outstanding bill. Ms D said she was the executor of the estate, but a solicitor handled the probate and cleared his debts. Ms D said she received a bill from the Council eight months after Mr X died. Ms D said she is ‘worried sick’ that she has inherited a bill which she does not believe is correct and has come to her attention eight months after Mr X died when all the money has been distributed. She cannot pay the invoice and does not think she should have to. She would like the Council to write the money off.
37. In response to my enquiries, the Council said its adult services team sent Mr X an invoice every four weeks. The invoice explains how to pay. Ms D told me Mr X received regular correspondence from the Council about the fees. The credit control team sent the reminder letters.
38. Ms D said Mr X asked her to set up a direct debit which she did. This was around the same time Mr X made the £500 payment. Ms D said she was not aware it was a one-off payment and thought they had set up a direct debit.

Analysis

39. Ms D complained the Council wrote to her eight months after Mr X’s death with the outstanding bill when the estate had already been administered. As set out above, it is the duty of the executor to tell creditors of a person’s death. Ms D, as executor of her grandfather’s estate, did not tell the Council of his death. There is no evidence the solicitor told the Council of Mr X’s death as part of managing probate. The Council delayed contacting Ms X as it was not notified of Mr X’s death as part of the executor administering the estate.
40. As the Council were involved with Mr X and arranged his care, it follows it would know about his death. The Council explained because there were various agencies involved with Mr X’s care; it was not aware of his death until the beginning of March (five months after his death). There are also different teams that arrange care, charge for care and chase outstanding invoices. I can understand Ms D’s frustration as the Council arranged her grandfather’s care which stopped when he passed away. It is fair for Ms D to assume the Council knew her grandfather had passed away. The communication between the agencies and internal teams was poor. This is fault.
41. The Council wrote to Ms D in the middle of June about the outstanding amount. This is three and a half months after it received notification of Mr X’s death. This is further delay.
42. Ms D also told me there was not enough money left in the estate to pay the invoices. In response to Mr D’s correspondence about the outstanding amount and her complaint, the Council said it will investigate this further if Ms D provides further information. Ms D has not yet provided any further information. The Council has therefore not been able to reassess the matter.
43. The Council is correct that it is the responsibility of the executor to ensure all debts are cleared before the estate is dissolved. In Ms D’s case, Mr X paid for a probate package for a solicitor to deal with his estate following his death.

Summary of fault causing injustice

44. The Council is at fault for poor communication between internal teams and the agencies it works with. This led to delay in the Council being notified about Mr X’s death and delay writing to the executor.
45. The invoices remain outstanding which has caused emotional distress for Ms D and potential financial distress should the Council pursue the debt. The Council has offered to reconsider the amount if Ms D provides further information. This may limit the financial injustice.

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Action

46. Within four weeks of the final decision, the Council should:
• Consider how it can improve communication between internal teams and with external agencies to ensure notification of the death of a care receiver is passed to the appropriate team.
• Request further information from Ms D about what she considers are the inaccuracies in the invoices and the value of the estate. Allow Ms D a minimum of four weeks to provide this information.
• Following the Councils re-evaluation should the amount still be outstanding and due to be paid by Ms D, the Council should offer her a payment plan.
47. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with these actions.

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Decision

48. I find fault causing injustice.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman