Summary: We will not investigate Ms X's complaint about the Care Home’s handling of her relative’s, Mr Y’s, care fees. There is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains on behalf of her relative, Mr Y. She says the Care Home:
• increased Mr Y's care fees without good reason;
• sought payment of the increased fees from the family even though Mr Y's care was covered by a deferred payment agreement (DPA) with the Council; and
• ended Mr Y's placement after she complained about the fee increase.
2. Ms X says this caused distress, worry and uncertainty. She wants the Care Home to be more transparent about fee increases and more patient when recovering care fees.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. Part 3 and Part 3A of the Local Government Act 1974 give us our powers to investigate adult social care complaints. Part 3 is for complaints where local councils provide services themselves. It also applies where a council arranges or commissions care services from a Home, even if the council charges the person receiving the care. In these cases, we treat the Home’s actions as if they were council actions. (Part 3 and Part 3A Local Government Act 1974; section 25(6) & (7) of the Act)
4. 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,
• 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

5. I considered information provided by Ms X, the Care Home and the Council.
6. I also considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code and the Care Quality Commission (Registration) Regulations 2009 (the Care Regulations).

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My assessment

7. Mr Y's care was funded by the Council under a DPA. Under the DPA, the Council only pays the agreed care costs. Any changes or increase in fees must be agreed with the Council.
8. Regulation 19 of the Care Regulations says that care providers must give people information about the cost of their care, notify them of any changes to fees, and give them sufficient time for them to consider their options.
9. The evidence I have seen shows:
• Mr Y’s care contract with the Care Home states that it reviews its care fees annually and that it will give four weeks’ notice of any fee increases.
• The Care Home gave Mr Y four weeks’ notice that it would increase its care fees and explained why it was increasing its fees.
• The Care Home delayed telling the Council about the fee increase. Because of this, the Council continued paying the previous rate which created a debt. The Care Home then sought payment of the difference from Ms X's family.
• Once the Council became aware of the fee increase, it backdated the payments due to the Care Home. It also told the Care Home to recover payments from the Council rather than the family and introduced a process to automatically authorise future fee increases to avoid similar delays.
10. There is not enough evidence of fault in the Care Home deciding to increase its care fees. Its care contract allows for annual fee reviews. The Care Home gave the required notice and explained the reasons for the increase. This is in line with the care contract and the Care Regulations. Therefore, we will not investigate this point.
11. I acknowledge the Care Home delayed notifying the Council about the fee increase and wrongly pursued Ms X’s family for outstanding payments. However, the Council has addressed this matter by backdating outstanding payments, addressing the issue with the Care Home and changing its processes to prevent the problem happening again. There is therefore no worthwhile outcome achievable by us investigating.

Ending Mr Y’s placement

12. Ms X also says the Care Home ended Mr Y's placement because she complained about the fee increase.
13. The evidence I have seen shows:
• Mr Y previously received funded nursing care (FNC). When he moved into the Care Home, he lost his FNC because it was not a nursing home. The Council says that Ms X was told that, because Mr Y needed FNC, there was a strong possibility he would need to be moved if his behaviour escalated.
• Mr Y’s care contract with the Care Home says that if the care home can no longer accommodate the service user appropriately then it will give four weeks’ notice of termination of residence.
• In late 2025, the Care Home notified the Council that it could no longer meet Mr Y’s needs. This triggered a review and Mr Y underwent an assessment where it was identified that he needed FNC and one-to-one supervision. The Care Home notified Ms X that it could no longer meet Mr Y’s needs and gave him four weeks’ notice to leave. The Care Home extended the notice period twice due to the Council not identifying a suitable care home that could meet Mr Y’s needs.
• In early 2026, Mr Y moved into another care home where his FNC was reinstated.
14. We cannot say the Care Home ended Mr Y’s placement because of the disagreement about fees. The evidence I have seen shows the Care Home based its decision on an updated assessment of Mr Y’s care needs. It gave notice to leave in line with its care contract, and extended the notice to allow the Council more time to find suitable alternative accommodation. There is not enough evidence of fault to warrant an investigation by us.

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Final decision

15. We will not investigate Ms X's complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault in the Care Home’s decision to increase its care fees and because there is no worthwhile outcome achievable from us investigating the Care Home’s payment recovery action. There is also not enough evidence of fault in the Care Home’s decision to end Mr Y’s placement.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman