Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about errors and delays in carrying out a financial assessment to decide how much his mother should pay towards her residential care. This is because the Council has agreed to take appropriate action to remedy the uncertainty and avoidable time and trouble caused.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council failed to explain the likely costs of his mother, Mrs Y’s care, when she moved to a care home. He also complained there was a delay in carrying out a financial assessment and advising him how much she had to pay towards her care.
2. Mr X said that, as a result of Council failings, the family were not able to make informed choices about how to deal with his mother’s property and finances. He says the family have been put into the position where they cannot pay the outstanding care costs.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we are satisfied with the actions an organisation has taken or proposes to take. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(7), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. In late 2023 Mrs Y was admitted to hospital after a fall. Prior to this she was living on her own with a package of care.
7. Mrs Y was discharged from hospital to a rehabilitation unit that was funded by the health body. The Council carried out a needs assessment, following which it had a general discussion with Mr X about the costs of care and it agreed with him to arrange nursing care for Mrs Y. The Council offered two possible care homes and Mr X agreed to one of those. Mrs Y moved to that care home on 7 March 2024.
8. On 5 March, the Council sent Mr X its leaflet about paying for adult social care. This included information about deferred payment arrangements for those who own their own property.
9. On 6 March, the Council emailed him to explain that:
• “Typically, when someone moves into a care home, they will need to contribute most of their income towards care home fees, with an allowance for personal expenses”;
• where a person has capital of more than £23,250, they will need to pay the full cost of their care; and
• where a person moved into a care home on a permanent basis, the value of their home is taken into account after a period 12 weeks.
10. There was a delay in completing a referral to the finance team for a financial assessment because the case was marked as one where the person receiving care lacked capacity and there was no-one with legal authority to manage their finances. In fact, Mr X had a lasting power of attorney for Mrs Y and therefore did have legal authority to manage her finances. During that period, the Council paid the full cost of Mrs Y’s care so her placement was not put at risk.
11. On 19 June 2024, the Council sent a letter about financial assessments and a form to complete to provide relevant financial information. Mr X responded that he had not asked the Council for financial assistance and would not do so until other complaints and appeals had been addressed.
12. On 8 August, the Council wrote to Mr X. It said that, as he had not provided the information needed to carry out a full financial assessment, Mrs Y had been assessed as needing to pay the full cost of her care from 19 February 2024. It set out the amount due for the period to 11 August 2024 and confirmed it would issue an invoice for that amount.
13. Mr X also complained about the Council’s delay in sending him a paper copy of the financial assessment between September 2024 and March 2025.

My assessment

14. Council records show it provided appropriate information about the likely costs of Mrs Y’s care in February and March 2024. This included information about the capital limit, the 12 weeks it would disregard (not count) the value of Mrs Y’s home, and information about its deferred payment scheme. There is insufficient evidence of fault to justify investigating this part of the complaint further.
15. If we investigated the other aspects of the complaint, it is likely we would find fault with the Council for using an incorrect start date for charging for Mrs Y’s care, for a delay in carrying out a financial assessment, and for a delay in providing a paper copy of the financial assessment. These failings have caused an injustice because:
• Mrs Y should not have been charged for the period 19 February to 6 March 2024;
• the 12 week disregard should have started on 7 March 2024;
• the delay in starting the financial assessment caused a delay in telling Mr X that Mrs Y would need to pay the full costs of her care, which caused him some uncertainty about what she needed to pay and outstanding care costs had built up in the interim, so the family were faced with a large bill;
• the delay in sending a paper copy of the financial assessment caused further uncertainty because Mr X said he found the electronic version difficult to read and understand.
16. We asked the Council to agree to take steps to remedy the injustice to Mr X and Mrs Y and it has agreed to take the following action within one month of the date of this decision:
• apologise to Mr X in line with our guidance on remedies which sets out our expectations for how organisations should apologise effectively to remedy injustice;
• pay him £150 to remedy the uncertainty caused and the avoidable time and trouble her was put to pursuing the Council to resolve the matter. (For the avoidance of doubt, this payment cannot be offset against Mrs Y’s outstanding care charges); and
• recalculate the charges due using the correct start date of 7 March 2024 and issue a revised invoice for the outstanding care charges.
17. For completeness, the Council is entitled to assess what Mrs Y should pay for her care from 7 March and invoice accordingly. We would not reduce those charges due to failings in the financial assessment process.

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Final decision

18. We have upheld the complaint. The Council has agreed to resolve it early by providing a proportionate remedy for the injustice caused to Mr X and Mrs Y.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman