Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about delay in issuing a final bill for care fees as it would be unlikely to change the outcome of the complaint.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains the Council did not send her the final account of the fees for her late mother’s care until 15 months after her mother’s death, despite Mrs X seeking clarity on what was owed. Mrs X complains the Council’s investigation into what took place has been confusing and inconsistent. Mrs X says this has caused her significant distress.

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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 further investigation would not lead to a different outcome (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 the complainant and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. The Council contacted Mrs X in July 2024 about issues with payments and outstanding fees for Mrs X’s mother’s care. Mrs X followed this up twice to seek clarity on what was owed. In August 2024, the Council asked Mrs X to provide it with bank statements which she did. Mrs X heard nothing further until September 2025 when the Council told her a significant sum was still outstanding. Mrs X says that by this time, the estate had been distributed on the reasonable assumption that nothing was owed to the Council.
6. In its complaint responses, the Council apologised for the delay and explained the account had not been dealt with as it should. It confirmed however that it could not agree to write off the outstanding fees.
7. While the Council did not properly manage the account and there was delay, it was still incumbent on Mrs X as executor to ensure no debts were outstanding before the estate was distributed. Given what had taken place in the summer of 2024 and as the last action of the Council had been to request bank statements, I consider it not unreasonable following this to expect Mrs X to have assured herself the account was clear before distributing the estate.
8. We cannot ask the Council to write off care fees as they are essentially money which is owed to the public purse.
9. I appreciate Mrs X remains unhappy about the Council’s explanation as to what went wrong but given it has acknowledged it was at fault, I do not consider it would be worthwhile at this stage to seek further clarification as to what took place.
10. I recognise the impact this matter had on Mrs X, but for these reasons we will not investigate.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because it is unlikely we can change the outcome of it.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman