Summary: Mr X complained the Council delayed telling him about his care charges. We find the Council was at fault for its delay in completing Mr X’s financial assessment and for its delay in contacting him for his financial information. This meant Mr X lost the opportunity to make a fully informed decision about his care package before it started. The Council has agreed to apologise to Mr X and implement a service improvement.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council delayed telling him about his care charges. This has caused distress and upset and left a significant financial impact.

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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 suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
3. 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)
4. 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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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered evidence provided by Mr X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
6. Mr X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

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What I found

Charging for adult social care

7. 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)
8. Where a council has decided to charge for care, it must carry out a financial assessment to decide what a person can afford to pay. It must then give the person a written record of the completed assessment.

What happened

9. The Council visited Mr X in 2022 to complete an assessment of his care and support needs. It decided he had eligible needs.
10. The Council’s case note from May details a telephone call between the social worker and Mr X. Mr X said an officer had visited him to support him with the financial assessment. He said he would provide some bank statements. The notes state the social worker discussed the financial assessment process and the Council’s charging policy with Mr X.
11. Mr X’s care package started in June.
12. The Council sent a letter to Mr X in mid-December 2023. It asked him to complete the financial circumstances form within 28 days. It said if he did not want to disclose the financial information or he had savings above the upper threshold then he would have to pay the full cost of the care.
13. The Council sent a further letter to Mr X in late January 2024 and reminded him to complete the financial circumstances form.
14. The Council sent Mr X’s invoices in mid-May and mid-June for his care charges from March 2024 onwards. It decided he was a full cost payer as it had not received the financial circumstances form.
15. Mr X received the invoices in June and contacted the Council for an explanation. He ended his care package and refused a financial assessment as he had decided to source care privately.
16. Mr X contacted the Council in September and asked for a home visit to complete the financial assessment. He also said it did not previously explain he would have to pay for his care.
17. The Council visited Mr X in November. Mr X completed a financial assessment form. The Council asked Mr X for his bank statements to complete the financial assessment.
18. Mr X emailed the Council in December. He said he had been waiting since June for a senior officer to contact him, but it had ignored his requests. He said he would lodge a complaint if it did not respond within two weeks.
19. Mr X complained to the Council in mid-January 2025. He said he started receiving bills for his care package in June 2024 which was a shock. He said it had not previously told him about the costs.
20. The Council responded to Mr X’s complaint in February. It said its case note from May 2022 detailed that an officer visited him to complete a financial assessment, and he agreed to provide bank statements. The social worker explained the financial assessment process and the charging policy during the call. Therefore, it did not uphold his complaint.
21. The Council sent a letter to Mr X in March and said he would still be a full cost payer as he had not provided bank statements.
22. Mr X contacted the Council in July and said it should have told him in writing about the care fees before the care package started. The Council responded and reiterated it discussed the charging process verbally before his care package started.

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Analysis

23. Mr X received the invoices from the Council in June 2024, but he did not refer his complaint to us until September 2025. We usually expect someone to refer a complaint to us within 12 months of becoming aware of an issue. I consider it was reasonable for Mr X to make enquiries of the Council to understand the invoices before he referred his complaint to us. Therefore, I have exercised discretion to investigate his complaint.
24. We expect councils to carry out a financial assessment before care services begin. This is so people can make an informed choice about what care and support they want. In this case, the Council started the care package before it had completed the financial assessment process with Mr X. This is fault.
25. The Council should have also chased Mr X in 2022 for his bank statements when it had not received a response. It did not write to him about the financial assessment until December 2023. This significant delay is fault.
26. I am satisfied the Council provided Mr X with some verbal information about the charging process in May 2022. He knew what a financial assessment was and that he would have to provide financial information. He was also aware of the Council’s charging policy. However, there is no evidence the Council provided Mr X with written information during this time. We would usually expect verbal information about charging to be followed up in writing to avoid confusion.
27. The Council’s letters of December 2023 and January 2024 explain that if Mr X did complete the financial circumstances form, he would have to pay the full cost of the care. Therefore, Mr X was aware of the consequences of not completing the forms and that he would be charged (even if he was not aware of the exact charge).
28. The Council did not charge Mr X for any care services from June 2022 to March 2024. Therefore, Mr X has not suffered any injustice for this period from the faults outlined in paragraphs 24 to 26 above.
29. Mr X’s injustice is limited from March to June 2024. I accept that he lost the opportunity to make a fully informed decision about his care services because of the Council’s failure to complete the financial assessment in 2022. The Council should apologise to Mr X for this injustice. However, Mr X received care to meet his eligible needs, he had some information about the charging process in 2022, and he was aware in late 2023/early 2024 he would need to pay in full if he did not complete the forms. Therefore, I do not recommend a waiver of the outstanding care fees as Mr X has requested. I welcome the Council has agreed a payment plan with Mr X to clear the outstanding fees.

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Action

30. By 3 August 2026 the Council has agreed to:

• Apologise to Mr X for the injustice caused by fault in this statement.
• Issue written reminders to relevant staff to ensure, wherever possible, that people have the necessary information about what they will be expected to pay towards their care before the care package starts.

31. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Decision

32. There was fault by the Council, which caused Mr X an injustice. The Council has agreed to my recommendations and so I have completed my investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman