Charging

This section encompasses all issues surrounding charging policies: financial assessments, incorrectly charging someone care costs, incorrectly backdating DPs, how a person’s contribution costs are calculated. 

The LGO is willing to find a Council at fault, when there charging policy lacks clarity. Generally, care charges should be clearly explained to the person and their family/representative. They should also be given notice of upcoming charges in a timely manner, ie not receive an invoice out of the blue.

The LGO reports emphasise that a local authority must regularly reassess a person’s ability to meet the cost of any charges to take account of any changes to their resources. This is likely to be on an annual basis but may vary according to individual circumstances

Name of Council	Subject Matter	Title of Report	Number
Milton Keynes	Financial Assessment, Incorrectly Charging	Milton Keynes Council not at fault for requiring payment of an assessed contribution despite care costing less than anticipate	20 008 428
Durham	Charging (DRE)	Durham Council at fault for failing to offer appropriate remedy after an officer made inappropriate comments	20 001 398
Dorset	SMI	Dorset Council at fault for failing to properly consider ‘support for mortgage interest’ (SMI) issues in a financial assessment	19 005 009
Essex	Top-ups	Essex County Council at fault for requiring a deposit payment of 12 weeks of top up fees	19 020 100
Kingston Upon Thames	Deprivation of Assets	Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames Council at fault for delays in a deprivation of assets investigation	19 004 207
City of York	Deprivation of Assets	City of York Council at fault for failing to follow guidelines properly when considering deprivation of assets	19 004 193
Wiltshire	Deprivation of Assets, Financial Assessment	Wiltshire Council at fault for inadequate financial assessment, and concluding that there had been a deliberate deprivation of assets	18 017 678
Rotherham	Charging, Delays	Rotherham Council at fault for charging for care after a person’s assets had fallen below the threshold	19 008 361
Worcestershire	Incorrect Charging	Worcestershire County Council not at fault for the information it provided regarding third-party top-up fees, but at fault for failing to complete an annual review of the third-party agreement, and failing to check if the third-party was able to pay the fees	19 017 588
North Yorkshire County	Deprivation of Assets, Financial Assessment, Incorrectly Charging	North Yorkshire County Council at fault for failing to fund care home fees in a case of alleged notional capital, where the attorney had gifted money to herself unbeknownst to the resident	18 004 915
Lincolnshire County	Deprivation of Assets	Lincolnshire County Council not at fault for finding a deliberate deprivation of assets	18 013 220
Cheshire and West Chester	Direct Payments, Recovering Money	Cheshire West and Chester Council found not at fault for recovering direct payments, but found at fault in delivering care not in line with the care plan	18 005 390
Kent County	Direct Payments, Financial Assessment	Kent County Council at fault for incorrectly backdating payments	18 002 469
Dorset County	Direct Payments, Financial Assessment	Dorset County Council at fault for unreasonable delays in funding Direct Payments	18 012 800
Hampshire County	Direct Payments, Incorrectly Charging	Hampshire County Council at fault for failing to backdate direct payment to match increase in cost of care	18 007 332
Somerset	Direct Payments, Financial Assessment	Somerset Council at fault for facilitating accrual of charging debts and for stating it ‘could not’ provide care until settlement of that debt	18 016 382
Cornwall	Direct Payments	Cornwall Council at fault for delays in approving direct payments	18 018 350
Havering	Direct Payments, Financial Assessment	London Borough of Havering Council fails to ensure a sufficient personal budget to cover care and support needs, and offers an arbitrary ‘standard’ amount	18 018 467
Birmingham	Incorrectly Charging	Peterborough City Council at fault for failing to give adequate notice and explanation of care charges	19 004 245
East Sussex	Incorrectly Charging	East Sussex County Council at fault for delays in responding to a section 42 safeguarding concern and for the way it communicated about the client’s charges	19 000 641
Wandsworth	Incorrectly Charging	London Borough of Wandsworth at fault in charging for care outside of care plan, and delay in invoicing estate	18 018 409
Norfolk	Incorrectly Charging	Norfolk County Council at fault for failing to give full and proper information regarding the cost of care and for not checking the care provider’s invoices	19 009 101
Warwickshire	Financial Assessment	Warwickshire Council at fault regarding mental capacity assessments and failure to provide an advocate	18 017 301
Tower Hamlets	Financial Assessment	London Borough of Tower Hamlets at fault for failing adequately to consider appeals relating to disability related expenditure	19 008 359
Bracknell Forest	Financial Assessment	Bracknell Forest Council at fault for improper assessments and for failing to inform family of its social care rights	18 013 073
North Yorkshire	Financial Assessment	North Yorkshire County Council at fault for incorrect financial assessment	18 018 542
Thurrock	Financial Assessment	Thurrock Council at fault for failing to include DRE in financial assessments	18 019 831
Essex County	Financial Assessment	Essex County Council and Clinical Commissioning Group at fault for the way they assessed care needs and entitlement to Continuing Healthcare funding, Ombudsman finds	17 015 113
Lancashire County	Financial Assessment	Lancashire County Council found at fault over its assessment process, provision of information, recovery of direct payments and refusing to accept the necessity for a close relative to be paid to provide support	18 012 204
Sefton	Financial Assessment	Sefton Council not at fault in failing to carry out a financial assessment and charging the full cost of care	19 002 633
Somerset	Financial Assessment	Somerset Council at fault for excessive delay, inadequate assessments, poor policy management and failure to address an increase in needs, properly	16 016 775
West Sussex County	Financial Assessment	West Sussex Council at fault for inadequate reassessments, poor record keeping, and incorrect back payments	18 014 895
Bromley	Financial Assessment	London Borough of Bromley Council at fault for delay in financial assessment appeals process	19 002 909
Redbridge	Financial Assessment, Direct Payment	London Borough of Redbridge Council at fault for incorrectly charging a carer the full amount of his support costs, after wrongly requesting financial assessment	18 015 695
Cambridgeshire	FNC	Cambridgeshire Council at fault for not recognising legitimate disability related expenses	18 019 337
Leeds City	Recovering Money	Leeds Council at fault for its approach to cultural norms and quality of care provided through its commissioning	18 016 024
Countrywide Care Home	FNC	Countrywide Care Home at fault for lack of clarity with regard to Funded Nursing Care policy	19 004 419
Lincolnshire	Recovering Money	Lincolnshire County Council at fault for the way it pursued outstanding care payments	19 001 789
Peterborough	Recovering Money	Peterborough City Council at fault for failing to give adequate notice and explanation of care charges	19 005 512
Norfolk	Direct Payments, Incorrectly Charging	Norfolk County Council at fault for failing to produce a clear care plan and incorrect advice on direct payments and Disability Related Expenditure	18 012 426
Sheffield	Financial Assessment, Incorrectly Charging	Sheffield City Council at fault for failing properly to assess for home care charges	19 000 758
Oldham	Financial Assessment, Incorrectly Charging	Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council at fault for incorrectly charging for services	18 017 415
Wirral	Financial Assessment, Incorrectly Charging	Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council at fault for its charging policy and for backdating 2 years of charges without a proper financial assessment	19 000 024
Cheshire West & Chester	Financial Assessment, Incorrectly Charging	Cheshire West and Cheshire Council at fault for stopping direct payments without explanation and applying an arbitrary DRE disregard	18 010 441
Sutton	Financial Assessment	London Borough of Sutton found not at fault in carrying out a care and financial assessment	18 019 872
Nottinghamshire County	Financial Assessment, Incorrectly Charging	Nottinghamshire County Council at fault for unexpectedly increasing a person’s assessed contribution	18 016 318
Nottinghamshire County	Incorrectly Charging	Nottinghamshire at fault, for reducing a man’s care package because of financial pressures and leaving parents to pay	18 015 558
Sheffield	Incorrectly Charging	Sheffield City Council at fault for wrongly charging top-up fees and having an arbitrary ceiling to personal budgets	19 009 239
West Sussex	Financial Assessment, Incorrectly Charging	West Sussex Council at fault for inadequate reassessments, poor record keeping, and incorrect back payments	18 014 895
Stoke-on-Trent City	Incorrectly Charging	Stoke-On-Trent City Council at fault for failing properly to advise on cost of care	18 017 623
London Borough of Bromley	Incorrectly Charging	London Borough of Bromley at fault for failing to advise a family of administrative costs, and providing poor quality service	20 006 260
London Borough of Croydon	Charging	London Borough of Croydon at fault for delays and mistakes in a financial assessment and failure to follow guidance, resulting in ongoing confusion and uncertainty regarding payments to a care home	20 003 722
Walsall Council	Charging	Walsall Council at fault for failing to adequately explain care contribution costs and sending invoices to the wrong address	19 013 986
Dorset	Financial Assessment	Dorset Council at fault for poor thinking before asserting a deliberate deprivation of assets to avoid care charges, and delays in communicating its decision	19 010 228
Isle of Wight	Financial Assessment	Isle of Wight Council at fault for failing to intervene when a person’s condition worsened, and for failing to keep proper care records	20 009 512
Durham County	Incorrectly Charging	Durham County Council at fault for incorrectly charging, when a care home placement ended	20 000 872
Cumbria County	Financial Assessment	Cumbria County Council at fault for failing to explain care charges upon hospital discharge (before Covid)	19 015 219
Bromley	Incorrectly Charging	London Borough of Bromley at fault for failing to provide relevant information to facilitate an informed decision surrounding residential care	19 010 475
Enfield	Incorrectly Charging	Enfield not at fault for charging the full cost of care after a person delayed returning a financial assessment form	20 007 726
Kent	Financial Assessment	Kent County Council at fault for poor communication regarding the process of self-funding	19 012 666
Enfield	Needs Assessments, Delays	Enfield at fault for an unreasonable delay in carrying out a needs assessment, resulting in an incorrect backdating of funding	20 008 889
Lincolnshire	Needs Assessments, Delays	Lincolnshire’s approach to assessing property portfolio in financial assessment not found to be at fault but its delays and communication were seen as such	22 002 189
Kent	Financial Assessment	No fault found with Kent County Council’s view that the value of ‘gifted’ property should be included in financial assessment	22 000 349
York, Medway, Nottinghamshire	Incorrectly Charging	Councils called out for wrongly requiring ‘top up’ fees towards care home charges – having not provided a ‘genuine choice’ of care home (York, Medway Council and Nottinghamshire County Councils, by way of example)	22 001 187, 22 001 113, 12 014 715
North Somerset	Financial Assessment	North Somerset was not criticised for refusing to fund more than the cost of an available care home after the client’s welfare attorney rejected the offer. But the council paid 30 weeks’ home care over before finishing a financial assessment concluding she was a full cost payer, such that repayment in full, was expected.	21 018 856
Kent	Financial Assessment	Kent County Council at fault for a dubious light touch assessment and for not considering the impact of cognitive impairment on financial assessment	22 005 271
Croydon	Incorrectly Charging	London Borough of Croydon found at fault for the delays in both accepting DRE and in reviewing its charging policy in relation to the Norfolk case	21 001 174
York	Financial Assessment	York Council at fault for delays in reviewing a care package after Covid-19, poor record keeping about transport provision, and failing to offer a carer’s assessment	22 000 366
Dudley	Incorrectly Charging, Financial Assessment	Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council at fault for failing to provide a genuine choice of accommodation within a personal budget, despite being found at fault for similar issues, previously	20 003 362
Warwickshire	Financial Assessment	Warwickshire County Council unjustly fails to provide reasoning for ‘disregard decision’	21 007 248
Warrington	Incorrectly Charging, Financial Assessment	Warrington Council at fault for the lack of clarity regarding considerations for a personal expenditure allowance, failing properly to calculate a contribution and failing to deal with faults through its complaint procedure	20 000 864
Dorset	Not at fault	Dorset Council found not at fault for upholding a charge after receiving inadequate information about an increase in income	20 013 611
Trafford	Financial Assessment	Trafford Council at fault for making no attempt to carry out a financial assessment	22 001 186
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council	Financial Assessment	Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council fails to conduct a financial assessment of a joint account	21 012 463
North Yorkshire	Incorrectly Charging	North Yorkshire County Council at fault for changing its approach to household costs contributions, without an explanation	21 015 815
Essex	Incorrectly Charging	Essex County Council at fault for failing to use its discretion when considering Court-appointed Deputy costs as part of Disability-related expenditure (DRE)	19 008 474
Wokingham	Not at fault	Wokingham not at fault after properly considering the valuation of a house and charging the full cost of care thereafter	22 012 059
Wiltshire	Financial Assessment	Wiltshire Council found not at fault over its approach to financial assessment regarding the service user’s debts	21 016 067
Suffolk	Financial Assessment	Suffolk County Council failed to provide adequate care based on an assessment, or to communicate its reasoning for decisions, or to support a carer adequately	21 002 572
Cumbria	Incorrectly Charging	Cumbria not at fault following ‘Norfolk case’ challenge to its charges for care and support	22 009 174
Blackpool	Incorrectly Charging	Blackpool at fault for overcharging, ordered to amend its charging policy and contact around 2,000 people potentially affected	22 007 337
Waltham	Financial Assessment	Waltham Forest found at fault for not following direct payment process and miscalculation of multiple financial assessments	21 017 787
Gloucestershire	Incorrectly Charging	Gloucestershire County Council at fault for failing properly to consider and assess a person’s mental capacity, and properly to explain care contribution charges	20 009 479
West Sussex	Financial Assessment	West Sussex County Council at fault for failing to consider new evidence as part of an appeal for a disability related expenditure disregard	22 011 273