Summary: Mrs X complained about the way the Council pursued her for an outstanding care debt relating to her late mother, causing uncertainty and distress. The Council was at fault for delay and providing incorrect information. The Council has agreed to apologise, make a symbolic payment to reflect the injustice, and provide Mrs X with correct information about what it is seeking to recover.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains about the Council’s decision to pursue her for £2,963.59 to be paid towards an outstanding debt for care services her mother, Mrs Y received before she passed away. Mrs X says this has caused her real distress and upset.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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 recommend a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
3. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
4. 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)
5. If we are satisfied with an organisation’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(1), as amended)

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What I have and have not investigated

6. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
7. We cannot usually investigate complaints about events that took place more than 12 months before they were brought to the Ombudsman.
8. Mrs X first brought her complaint to the Ombudsman in March 2025, meaning anything that happened prior to March 2024 would be considered late.
9. However, I have exercised discretion to look back to when the Council first chased the debt in May 2023 as the Council appears to have been responsible for delays which mean Mrs X would not have pursued the issue immediately.
10. Any mention below to events that took place prior to May 2023 or after the Council issued its final complaint response in September 2025 are for reference only.

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How I considered this complaint

11. I considered evidence provided by Mrs X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
12. Mrs X 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

13. 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)

Managing another person’s financial affairs

14. A person may choose another person, under a legal document, to make decisions for them as their attorney.
15. If there is a need for decisions to be made for a person who does not have an attorney, the Court of Protection may appoint a deputy to make decisions for that person.
16. A DWP appointee is someone who has applied for the right to deal with the benefits of a person who cannot manage their own affairs because they are mentally incapable or severely disabled.
17. The Council has information on its website about making financial decisions on someone else’s behalf. This explains the Council will offer help to people who cannot manage their own financial affairs where there is an absence of family of friends who can do so.

The Council’s policy for managing debt

18. The Council’s policy on preventing and managing debt sets out the steps it will take to make sure the Council recovers costs or contributions from each person eligible to either pay or contribute.
19. The policy explains that where a service user had died before any debt is cleared, the Council will expect this to be repaid from their estate, and the Council will contact the family about this.
20. The policy explains it will first contact the person who is administering the estate to discuss the debt but if they do not make payment, the matter will be considered for legal action and the Council may apply for a court order requiring the debt to be repaid from the estate.

What happened

21. I have summarised below some key events leading to Mrs X’s complaint. While I have considered everything submitted, this is not intended to be a detailed account of what took place.
22. The Council had arranged for Mrs Y’s care and support needs to be met as resident in a care home. Due to non-payment of fees, Mrs Y had accrued significant arrears, and the Council took over as appointee. Due to low savings, the Council did not apply for a deputyship.
23. When Mrs Y passed away, the outstanding debt was £10,088.09. At that time, Mrs Y held £2,963.59 in a bank account.
24. Mrs X visited Mrs Y’s bank to complete the bereavement process and the £2,963.59 was transferred to her own account.
25. In May 2023 the Council wrote to Mrs X as Mrs Y’s next of kin. The Council said it had been made aware Mrs Y had a bank account it had not known about and asked Mrs X to confirm if this held sufficient funds to clear her outstanding debt or provide a copy of the final bank statement to show this was not the case.
26. As it had not heard from Mrs X, the Council chased in November 2023.
27. Mrs X wrote to the Council that month, providing a copy of the final statement for Mrs Y’s account and confirming she had no other funds or investments. The final statement showed the final balance of £2,963.59 had been paid out of the account in February 2023.
28. In April 2024 the Council wrote to Mrs X again to ask for information about where the final account balance of £2,963.59 was paid to.
29. The council wrote to Mrs X to chase this information in May 2024 and June 2024.
30. In August 2024, the Council wrote to Mrs X again to explain it still had not received any information about where the final account balance was paid. The Council said it would pass the case onto its legal team or a debt collection agency if it did not hear from Mrs X within 28 days.
31. In October 2024, Mrs X contacted the Council to discuss the amount it was seeking to be repaid and to ask for an income and expenditure form to arrange a repayment plan.
32. The Council then wrote to Mrs X to confirm the outstanding balance of Mrs Y’s account was £10,088.09. The Council asked Mrs X to complete an income and expenditure form so it could arrange a payment plan to clear the outstanding balance.
33. Mrs X informed the Council she intended to dispute the debt and would be in touch in due course.
34. In March 2025 Mrs X complained to the Council. Mrs X explained she had not been involved in managing Mrs Y’s finances since the Council took over as appointee. Mrs X said the account in question was the only account Mrs Y had held and the Council had been aware of this prior to her passing. Mrs X said the balance of the account had been paid into her account but said this indicated appropriate processes had not been taken by the Council. Mrs X acknowledged there was an outstanding debt of £10,088.09 for Mrs Y’s care fees but said she should not be pursued for this as it was Mrs Y’s debt, which is not transferable.
35. Mrs X then referred her complaint to the Ombudsman, and we chased the Council for its response to Mrs X’s complaint.
36. The Council responded to Mrs X’s complaint in September 2025. The Council explained Mrs Y had been assessed as requiring to make a contribution to the care she received but she had accrued a debt which could have been partially recouped from the £2,963.59 within her bank account. The Council said it was expected that any outstanding debts should be paid before the estate was distributed to any beneficiaries and it had made several attempts to discuss this with Mrs X. The Council explained it did not have deputyship, so Mrs Y retained control of the account until she passed. The Council said it did not expect to pursue the remainder of the debt once the £2,963.59 was paid towards it as there were no further assets available.

Analysis

37. From the start point of my investigation, Mrs Y owed a debt of £10,088.09 for unpaid care fees. This debt was Mrs Y’s and not transferable to Mrs X. However, the Council is not asking for Mrs X to repay Mrs Y’s care debt. Rather the Council is seeking to recover the £2,963.59 that was transferred from Mrs Y’s account following her death which it will then use towards the debt. As these funds formed Mrs Y's estate at the time of her death and she owed a debt to the Council, I do not find the Council at fault for seeking to recover these funds. Mrs X has confirmed the funds were paid into her account, so I also do not find the Council at fault for seeking recovery from her directly.
38. When the Council wrote to Mrs X in May 2023 it said it had been made aware Mrs Y had an account it was not previously aware of, from which money had been transferred. Mrs X has said there was no second account, and this was an account the Council was already aware of. The Council gave Mrs X incorrect information here, which amounts to fault. This caused uncertainty for Mrs X around what funds the Council was referring to and seeking to recover, which is injustice.
39. The Council then did not follow up promptly to chase the situation. The Council waited from May 2023 until November 2023 before it contacted Mrs X a second time. It then did not chase again until April 2024. These are lengthy delays and mean the Council missed an opportunity to resolve the matter early, which amounts to fault. As a result, Mrs X was caused continued uncertainty, which is injustice.
40. In October 2024 the Council wrote to Mrs X setting out the full amount of Mrs Y’s debt and providing an income and expenditure form so it could arrange a payment plan to clear the outstanding balance. The suggestion from this letter is that Mrs X was responsible for repaying Mrs Y’s debt in its entirety. This is incorrect information, which amounts to fault. I have seen no evidence the Council corrected this incorrect information until it responded to Mrs X’s complaint in September 2025. As a result of this, Mrs X was caused significant uncertainty around exactly what the Council was seeking to recover from her and significant distress at the idea she was being held responsible for Mrs Y’s total care debt, which is injustice.
41. Mrs X complained to the Council in March 2025, however the Council did not provide her with its response to this until September 2025, and only after being chased on this by the Ombudsman. This is a significant delay in handling Mrs X’s complaint, which amounts to fault and means she was put to more time and trouble in the complaints process than she would have been had the Council responded promptly, which is injustice.

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Action

42. To remedy the injustice identified above, the Council should complete the following actions within one month of the date of this final decision:
• Provide Mrs X with a written apology for the incorrect information she was given throughout the process, for the delays in communications, and for the delay in responding to her complaint. We publish guidance on remedies which sets out our expectations for how organisations should apologise effectively to remedy injustice. The organisation should consider this guidance in making the apology I have recommended in my findings.
• Pay Mrs X £300 in recognition of the identified injustice. This can be offset against the debt the Council says Mrs X owes it.
• Write to Mrs X setting out exactly what amount it is seeking to recover from her and why, and provide her with an income and expenditure form so it can consider a repayment plan towards this.
43. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Decision

44. I find fault causing injustice. The Council has agreed actions to remedy injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman