Invoice from care home after death

[rubyrosie]

Hi

On the day of my Mother' funeral i received a final account from her care home for the 10 days period that she had not given them notice of by dying ! This appears to be a widespread practice , I have been doing some reading, and is morally repugnant. She was self funding and in receipt of FNC. The invoice appears to be charging for everything including food, nursing care and personal care none of which she received as she had died. They are also requiring quick payment - her estate is in the process of going through probate. So two questions - do i have to pay it and how do I go about challenging it . This is such a sad time and I do not need this on top of everything else and the grief I feel

Thank you

ruby

 

[stanleypj]

Your feelings are entirely understandable rubyrosie. But it wouldn't surprise me if this is a widespread practice. In a privatised system these things will happen I guess. It is truly appalling.

 

[balloo]

Your feelings are entirely understandable rubyrosie. But it wouldn't surprise me if this is a widespread practice. In a privatised system these things will happen I guess. It is truly appalling.

All bills are frozen when before probate granted . this took 3 months with my mother not in a home .

 

[sinkhole]

It is a horrible thing to have to deal with, absolutely.

I presume you would have signed an agreement with the care home originally? It's going to boil down to the Ts and Cs within that I'm afraid. If they stated clearly what they were going to charge you for and the payment terms then there's not a great deal you can do.

 

[Pickles53]

All bills are frozen when before probate granted . this took 3 months with my mother not in a home .

If you are the executor of your mother's estate, you can simply inform them that no further payments can be made from your mother's account pending the grant of probate. If you are instructing a solicitor, s/he can do that for you. Either way, it should be a very familiar situation. They are in the exact same position as any other company or organisation who have an outstanding bill (eg telephone or utility bills). Usually banks will only release funds before probate for the bills for funeral expenses.

Please do not feel you need to pay it yourself even if the T&Cs confirm it is due. My mother didn't have FNC, but in her care home the fees were paid monthly in advance. She died in the first week of the month. According to T&Cs, a full month's fees would have been due, though they did not ask for any further payment so she effectively paid for three weeks after her death.

 

[Saffie]

This is an area where the LA seems to act more kindly.
My husband was in a lovely LA owned nursing home and the payments were always a month in arrears. The final invoice was up to the exact day he died.

 

[stanleypj]

That's good to hear Saffie.