The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Ms B’s complaint about the Council’s refusal to reimburse her the agreed amount she paid for her mother’s, Mrs C’s care in 2014. This is because the complaint is late and there is no good reason to exercise discretion and investigate now.
The complaint
Ms B’s representatives act on her behalf. They say the Council should reimburse Ms B £3,887.24, the amount she paid for her mother’s care fees in 2014 when the Council failed to assess Mrs C’s care needs and finances. Ms B’s representatives say Ms B should not be responsible for any debts owed to the Council following Mrs C’s death in March 2021 and should reimburse Ms B the full amount it agreed to pay in 2018 excluding Mrs C’s care fees.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
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)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant’s representatives.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
The complainant has had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision.
My assessment
Ms B’s representatives have been in communication with the Council since 2014 about monies Ms B paid for Mrs C’s care, top up fees and dates it has been in dispute about regarding when the assessment should have happened. In July 2018 the Council agreed to backdate the assessment to a date in 2014 agreed by Ms B. It also agreed to refund Ms B £3,887.24, the amount she had paid for the period disputed, excluding the debt accrued on Mrs C’s account for her care. It advised Ms B’s representatives of her right to come to the Ombudsman.
Ms B’s representatives have continued to communicate with the Council that she should be reimbursed the full £3,887.24 as she is not responsible for Mrs C’s care fees. There was no dispute Ms B had paid the money in 2014 from her personal account. Mrs C passed away in March 2021. The Council says it will reimburse Ms B the agreed amount, but the amount of the debt incurred has increased since 2018. It says it will exclude monies accrued as a debt from the £3,887.24.
We will not investigate this complaint. The principle of the complaint is that Ms B has been charged for Mrs C’s care. Her representatives have pursued this through the complaint process for a number of years. Although the amount of the debt is now different, and the Council again advised Ms B’s representatives to come to us in 2021, the principle of the matter, that is Ms B should not have to pay for Mrs C’s care, was known about in 2018 and her representatives were advised to come to the Ombudsman then if they were not satisfied with the complaint response. We would have considered whether there was any injustice caused by fault at that time. There is no good reason for the Ombudsman to disapply the law to investigate this late complaint now.
Final decision
We will not investigate this complaint. This is because the complaint is late and there is no good reason to exercise discretion.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman