Summary: We will not investigate Ms X complaint about charging for adult social care because there is insufficient evidence of fault to justify our involvement.

The complaint

1. Ms X complained the Council had not given adequate information about the likely costs of her adult social care. She says she was not told until the eleventh week of care that the cost was £23 per hour and that, if she had known this at the outset, she would not have agreed to the care because she was already in debt due to needing private therapy for a medical condition. She said she understood the care would be free and the unexpected bill caused stress and worry, which added to the pain caused by her medical conditions.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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))

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

What happened

5. Ms X contacted the Council about receiving care at home when she was in considerable pain and struggling to manage. She said she had been advised by a charity that the care would be free. Council records show it discussed arranging a short term a care package with Ms X in August 2024 and advised this would be chargeable.
6. A home visit was arranged in early September but abandoned because Ms X was in considerable pain and an ambulance had been called. Two days later, the Council wrote to explain about charging for adult social care, enclosing its leaflet about this and a finance form for Ms X to complete. Ms X signed a financial assessment agreement form on 18 September and the care was provided from 20 September 2024. The care continued until 20 October when Ms X cancelled it. Council records state Ms X told it the pain was now better managed, so she did not need the care.
7. Meanwhile, on 18 October, the Council wrote to arrange a financial assessment visit on 4 November. At that visit, the finance form was completed, and a financial assessment was carried out the next day. On 5 November, the Council wrote to set out the assessed contribution and explain how this was calculated. On 18 November and 16 December 2024, invoices were sent for the care provided.
8. In March 2025, Ms X contacted the Council about the invoices, which she said she had just received, She said a charity had told her the care would be free, and she would not have agreed to it if she had known about the costs. She also explained she had debts and was paying privately for support with her medical conditions. She said she did need support but could not afford to pay for it. The Council record also says it advised Ms X to contact her G.P about the private appointments.
9. The Council’s panel considered the circumstances and wrote to Ms X with its decision that the charges would not be waived. It noted Ms X’s private medical expenses but said they did not amount to a disability-related expense.

My assessment

10. Council records show it advised Ms X at the outset that her care package was chargeable, provided a leaflet to explain how charging for adult social care works and informed her a financial assessment would be needed to assess how much she would need to contribute towards the cost of her care.
11. There was no undue delay in carrying out a financial assessment visit, completing the financial assessment or informing Ms X about the amount of her assessed contributions. Nor was there a delay in issuing invoices, although I cannot comment on when Ms X received these.
12. The Council’s panel considered Ms X’s debt and the cost of private appointments to manage her medical conditions but decided there were no grounds to reduce the outstanding costs. That was a decision it was entitled to make.
13. There is, therefore, insufficient evidence of fault by the Council to justify further investigation.

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Final decision

14. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault to justify our involvement.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman