Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about how the Council is seeking payment of her late mother Mrs Y’s unpaid care fees, and officers addressing a letter to her using her mother’s name. There is not enough evidence of fault by the Council leading to Mrs Y’s estate being distributed before the care fee account was settled to warrant us investigating. An investigation of the wrongly addressed correspondence would not lead to a different outcome. We also cannot achieve the outcome Mrs X seeks.

The complaint

1. Mrs X is the late Mrs Y’s daughter and was one of the executors of her estate. Mrs Y died in a nursing home in spring 2024. Mrs X complains the Council:
1. delayed in pursuing social care fees it says Mrs Y owed until over four months after her death;
2. had not contacted the family about the unpaid charge while Mrs Y was still alive;
3. sent a letter addressing her with Mrs Y’s first name.
2. Mrs X says the Council is seeking about £2,000 in care fees, after Mrs Y’s estate has been disbursed to its beneficiaries. She says receiving the bill caused her additional upset at an already distressing time. Mrs X says she cannot pay the bill and wants the Council to waive the fee.

Back to top

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; or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome; or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants.

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

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information from Mrs X, relevant online national government guidance and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

Back to top

My assessment

5. Mrs Y was being billed by the Council for several months for her care fees, correspondence sent to her address at the home. The Council says it sent the unpaid bill as normal. Mrs X says the bill was not received and that a local family member checked with the home. While the Council might have noticed the bill went unpaid, it would not have stayed unpaid for more than about two weeks before Mrs Y died so would not have been chased so soon. In any event, it was the executors’ formal responsibility to make sure all debts owed from Mrs Y’s estate were paid before giving any money or assets to beneficiaries. This would involve reviewing Mrs Y’s care account, to ensure she had paid for all care she had received. We realise Mrs X advised the Council about her mother’s death. But as an executor there was a duty to publish a specific notice in the Gazette to invite potential debtors to make a claim on the estate before distributing any funds to beneficiaries. Mrs X does not say she or her fellow executor did this and the Council says no such notification was published. While the Council might have sought the unpaid fees sooner, it was not fault by the Council which led to the estate being distributed to beneficiaries and wound up before the care fee account was settled. There is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council leading to the circumstances now complained of to warrant us investigating.
6. The Council accepts it sent a letter to Mrs X using her late mother’s name in error and has apologised to her. We recognise this would have caused some avoidable upset to Mrs X. But the Council’s apology is the outcome we would have sought for this part of the complaint, had we investigated, so has provided the appropriate remedy. Investigation would not lead to a different outcome so we will not investigate this issue.
7. Mrs X wants the Council to waive the care fees. We cannot order councils to write off fees they consider are due. That we cannot achieve the outcome Mrs X seeks is a further reason why we will not investigate.

Back to top

Final decision

8. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because:
• there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council leading to Mrs Y’s estate being distributed before the care fee account was settled to warrant us investigating; and
• investigation of the incorrectly addressed correspondence would not lead to a different outcome; and
• we cannot achieve the outcome she seeks.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman