Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council’s delay in recovering care fees from her late relative’s, Mrs Y’s, estate. There is no worthwhile outcome achievable from our investigation.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains about the Council’s delay in recovering care fees from her late relative’s, Mrs Y’s, estate. She says she notified the Council about the sale of Mrs Y’s property and of Mrs Y’s death, however it did not seek repayment until 18 months later. She says Mrs Y’s estate has now been administered and it is unreasonable for the Council to seek payment now.
2. Miss X says the matter has caused her distress. She says the debt is significant and believes that she should not be personally liable for it. She wants the Council to write off the debt due its delay in seeking repayment.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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 no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by Miss X.
5. I also considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code and the Care and Support Statutory Guidance.

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My assessment

6. The Council funded Mrs Y's care through a deferred payment agreement. The Care and Support Statutory Guidance says that where repayment is made from a person's estate, the executor is responsible for arranging repayment. Miss X was the executor of Mrs Y's estate.
7. The evidence I have seen shows that Miss X notified the Council about the sale of Mrs Y’s property, and shortly after this, of Mrs Y’s death. The Council did not seek repayment of the deferred payment agreement until 18 months later.
8. I acknowledge the Council delayed taking action to recover the debt. However, this did not remove the estate's liability to repay the care fees. The evidence I have seen shows that Miss X was aware a deferred payment agreement was in place to fund Mrs Y's care. As executor, she had a legal duty to ensure the estate's debts were settled before distributing the estate, including arranging repayment of the deferred payment agreement. In these circumstances, the Council's delay did not affect the estate's responsibility to repay the debt before it was distributed.
9. The Council remains entitled to recover the outstanding fees and we cannot ask it to write off the debt because of its delay. There is therefore no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because there is no worthwhile outcome achievable.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman