Elderly Mothers Care Home wants over £4K in back fees.

Uglymug

I have Power of Attorney for my 90+ year old dementia suffering mother and handle all her finances. Today I was notified from her care home of a 12% increase in her fees. I think this is a bit steep but OK I'm prepared to accept this.
However they state that this increase will be back dated to 1st April 2023 - this means they want about £4K in back fees. I pay her fees weekly in advance and this has come completely out of the blue with no previous warning. I think that it's very unfair that they can simply ask for £4K in back fees.
My elderly mother self funds her care but she'll be struggling to pay this back payment. I'm determined not to pay this, am I in the wrong and should I just raise the money and pay or is there a reasonable argument I could use to avoid doing so.
I'm desperately looking for any suggestions on how to handle this and will be grateful for any given.

Savvy_Sue

Presumably you have a contract with them? Does it allow for backdated increases?

If you have signed up to allow this, then I think you'd have a fight on your hands ...

But I think I would in any event contact Age UK or Counsel and Care: https://www.careforcarers.org.uk/support/counsel-and-care

OutdoorQueen

I’m no expert but wouldn’t be happy if this happened to my Mum.  

What does the contract / terms and conditions say about price increases? Depending upon how they are written, the terms may be considered unfair.   

I would suggest seeking some advice from Citizens Advice or Independent Age
https://www.independentage.org/

This also has some useful tips https://www.carehome.co.uk/advice/complaints#:~:text=If%20you%20have%20a%20complaint,investigated%20and%20receive%20a%20reply.

I have found this case, which was interesting reading https://www.lgo.org.uk/information-centre/news/2019/nov/care-home-threatens-to-evict-patient-if-family-refused-to-pay-25-fee-increase

And this page is advice to care homes to ensure they are being fair.  Thought you might find something useful in it to help you fight your case
https://www.businesscompanion.info/focus/care-homes-fair-trading

Uglymug

Savvy_Sue said:

Presumably you have a contract with them? Does it allow for backdated increases?

If you have signed up to allow this, then I think you'd have a fight on your hands ...

But I think I would in any event contact Age UK or Counsel and Care: https://www.careforcarers.org.uk/support/counsel-and-care

Many thanks for your response.
I've dug out the contract and when it talks about fees it states :-
 "Fees will be reviewed and where an increase is evident, introduced in April each year to reflect the costs that the home is experiencing in complying with the Health and Social Care Act and other government directives, and to ensure we can continue to offer a high quality service to our clients."
So when I did not hear from them last April I assumed there was no increase. Nowhere do they state that they can impose a backdated fee increase.

Savvy_Sue

Well, IANAL, but a plain sense reading of that clause would seem to support your understanding.  If it doesn't say anything about backdating, I don't see how they can. 

I wouldn't necessarily want to hold them to not imposing the increase now rather than next April, and if they'd notified you in - say - June I'd be less upset about the backdating on your behalf, but this? Noooooo.

Couple more questions: is mum happy there? Are you happy with her care? And are there other options?

Uglymug

OutdoorQueen said:

I’m no expert but wouldn’t be happy if this happened to my Mum.  

What does the contract / terms and conditions say about price increases? Depending upon how they are written, the terms may be considered unfair.   

I would suggest seeking some advice from Citizens Advice or Independent Age
https://www.independentage.org/

This also has some useful tips https://www.carehome.co.uk/advice/complaints#:~:text=If%20you%20have%20a%20complaint,investigated%20and%20receive%20a%20reply.

I have found this case, which was interesting reading https://www.lgo.org.uk/information-centre/news/2019/nov/care-home-threatens-to-evict-patient-if-family-refused-to-pay-25-fee-increase

And this page is advice to care homes to ensure they are being fair.  Thought you might find something useful in it to help you fight your case
https://www.businesscompanion.info/focus/care-homes-fair-trading

Many many thanks, some very useful articles there which I will be referencing in my response to the care home.

OutdoorQueen

Uglymug said:

Savvy_Sue said:

Presumably you have a contract with them? Does it allow for backdated increases?

If you have signed up to allow this, then I think you'd have a fight on your hands ...

But I think I would in any event contact Age UK or Counsel and Care: https://www.careforcarers.org.uk/support/counsel-and-care

Many thanks for your response.
I've dug out the contract and when it talks about fees it states :-
 "Fees will be reviewed and where an increase is evident, introduced in April each year to reflect the costs that the home is experiencing in complying with the Health and Social Care Act and other government directives, and to ensure we can continue to offer a high quality service to our clients."
So when I did not hear from them last April I assumed there was no increase. Nowhere do they state that they can impose a backdated fee increase.

I’m wondering whether a failure to tell you they will backdate the price increase could be considered a misleading omission under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations.   The average consumer wouldn’t expect the fees to be backdated 7 or 8 months.

https://www.businesscompanion.info/en/quick-guides/good-practice/consumer-protection-from-unfair-trading#Misleadingomissions

tooldle

Have they sent notice previously? I ask at it happened with my mum. Email notification of the annual increase was sent several times over, but not received.  Nine years without issue and then bam on year 10 the emails go astray. Not in junk folder just lost. I paid up as soon as i was aware as mum’s contract like your stated an uplift to be applied in April. Mum had received the service regardless. With inflation as it is, uplift in minimum wage etc, it would be extremely unlikely for the home not to be applying any kind of increase.