Care home surcharge

pensionhelpplease

Hi
Just wondered if anyone has had any success in arguing against the following scenario
My mother is in a care home and privately funding (which is running out after 3 years) and this year will pay £15K more than a council funded place is charged out
I have been told that her fees are increasing with an extra element to cover the rise in costs that the council are not paying enough for
So not only is she paying £15K more but part of that is to subsidise the council underpayment
There is nothing in her contract that states she is liable to subsidise this 
Whats the best line of attack
1. Consumer rights - Unfair terms or Transparency or misleading practices
2. Contract Law - Breach of terms or Implied terms
3. Equality - unfair discrimination of financial status

All comments welcome

Spies

If its a private care home she would have to be relocated to a council-approved care home and they would cover all the fees, so get back in touch with the council and tell them as they're unwilling to cover her fees, its now up to them to find alternative accommodation for her.

By the way once the value of your assets falls below £14,250, the council are supposed to fully cover your care costs, obviously there will be a limit to this

It's not worth the stress and effort for any legal recourse here, its well documented on every single site I've looked at that if theres a shortfall and its not able to be covered then the resident would need to be relocated

Flugelhorn

Do you mean she is paying £15K a year more than someone else who is funded by the council ?

pensionhelpplease

Maybe I wasn't clear - seeing if the surcharge is legal not the differential 

Keep_pedalling

Some care homes have a mixture of self funders and LA funded places. They do this because they can’t fill the place with self funders. This avoids the place going out of business and the price the LA pay might not cover their cost care homes full costs but it is better than having empty rooms.

You have zero chance of getting anywhere with this.

elsien

pensionhelpplease said:

Maybe I wasn't clear - seeing if the surcharge is legal not the differential 

It has come up before, and it’s not unusual. Care homes will give a lower rate to local authorities, if they know they will get people placed there more regularly. It is possible when a self funder gets close to the local authority taking over that the care home may negotiate a mid rate in order for the person to stay rather than the upset of moving somewhere else. But it’s not unlawful. Unfair, maybe, but not unlawful.


it’s been on the radar since at least 2017 but nothing has changed since then.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/urgent-action-needed-across-the-uk-care-home-market

silvercar

Keep_pedalling said:

Some care homes have a mixture of self funders and LA funded places. They do this because they can’t fill the place with self funders. This avoids the place going out of business and the price the LA pay might not cover their cost care homes full costs but it is better than having empty rooms.

You have zero chance of getting anywhere with this.

It can be the opposite reason, they need self funders so they can charge those paying for themselves extra, which will cross subsidise those that are on (limited) funding from the LA. This seems what is going on here, whether it is morally right or not, it is probably what you signed up to in the first place.

pensionhelpplease

Hi
Thanks everyone, maybe not explaining this very well
Lets say my mothers fees were £1000 week and the council paid £800 week
Fees go up (to cover wages NI Inflation for example say 10%)
My mothers fees for her then increase to £1100 per week, the council fees should go up to £880 per week but the council refuse to pay an increase therefore an extra £80 needs to be found - this should not be my mothers problem!
All council residents are topping up their fees by £200 per week already surely those topping up should then have to top up by £280 nowhere in my mothers contract is there anything about her paying a surcharge for other peoples care

pensionhelpplease

Flugelhorn said:

Do you mean she is paying £15K a year more than someone else who is funded by the council ?

Yes she is

Spies

How do you know how many council residents are in the care home? How do you know their financial circumstances?

pensionhelpplease

Spies said:

How do you know how many council residents are in the care home? How do you know their financial circumstances?

I dont know how many but the council has confirmed there are council funded residents and they all top-up (even though they probably shouldn't have)