London Borough of Islington (24 018 850)
Category : Adult care services > Charging
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 01 May 2025
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about charges for residential care. There is insufficient evidence of fault to warrant an investigation.
The complaint
- Ms X complains about charges for her relative, Ms Y’s care. She says there are some months where Ms Y gets billed twice, which she can’t afford. She wants the Council to review Ms Y’s financial assessment to reduce her personal contribution and to write off the accumulated debt.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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))
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- In its complaint responses, the Council explained how Ms Y’s care charges had been calculated. It said invoices were sent in arrears on a 4-week cycle. It acknowledged that there would be occasional months where Ms Y received two invoices in one calendar month. However it said as the invoices were sent in arrears, the two invoices would not cover the same charging period.
- It told Ms X the Council allowed 26 days for payment of each invoice, so Ms X could stagger the payments if this aligned better with when Ms Y received her pensions.
- We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint. The Council has explained why Ms Y will occasionally get sent two invoices within a month and advised Ms X of ways to manage this. The Council’s calculations of Ms Y’s personal contribution as set out in its complaint response, appear to be correct. There is insufficient evidence of fault to warrant an investigation.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault to warrant an investigation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman