Care homes charging for rooms after residents die, watchdog finds

[la lucia]

Care homes charging for rooms after residents die, watchdog finds

 

[CeliaW]

Interesting article Lucia - thanks. Well worth a read because it covers more than the title - looking at more general issues and I am sure there are many on here who, if they have the time and energy, would have plenty of the relevant information that they are asking for.

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[love.dad.but..]

Dad died recently and as a self funder and in his contract fees were payable up to 14days after death, I cleared his room 2 days after he died but although there had been a waiting list, that had been satisfied and therefore we will receive, eventually, a refund for 9 days...he only occupied 8 days in March and paid in advance for 31. Doesn't Seem fair but is in the contract however I would be interested to know whether if a deceased is LA or CHC funded the care home still get the 14 days fees after death, probably not I suspect!

 

[Kevinl]

The article seems to imply that 7 days is the normal notice period, I've read plenty of stories where 14 or 28 days is in the contract.
To be fair to the homes though standard practise (where my wife is) is that after the relatives have removed the property then the room is cleaned and then redecorated.
The clean up and decorating takes a few days before it's all dry then someone moves in. I've seen rooms empty for 10 days but I've also seen one not get decorated and turned round in 48 hours.
Cancellation fees are a standard part of any contract be it; holidays, car hire or whatever and I don't think 7 days for a care home is unreasonable anything more than that and I'd be tempted to tell the home I intended to keep the property there until the last day of the notice period and if they wanted to put someone in sooner they have to negotiate them renting the room back from me until the end of the notice period, see how that went down
K

 

[Shedrech]

the ending of the piece is:-

In a statement, the CMA said: “We are very keen to hear from care home residents and their relatives who have experienced issues such as unexplained or ‘hidden’ charges, unexpected fee increases or occasions when they feel that complaints have not been handled fairly.

“As part of our review we are looking at whether care homes are complying with consumer law so we’re encouraging people to come forward with any evidence of unfair terms or practices. We will be reporting our initial findings by the start of June.”

The CMA has also received complaints about a lack of transparency around care home fees, difficulties moving homes after a fee increase, and self-funders paying more than state-funded residents for the same services.

CMA is Competition and Markets Authority
https://www.theguardian.com/business/competition-commission

 

[nmintueo]

More information on the CMA case on this issue at:

Care homes market study
https://www.gov.uk/cma-cases/care-homes-market-study

We also want to hear from care home residents and their relatives who feel they may have been treated unfairly by a care home, because of concerns about the fairness of a care home’s contract terms or practices. More details including how to report your experiences can be found on our reporting page.

Previous discussions include:

Care Home notice period
https://forum.alzheimers.org.uk/showthread.php?94469

Care homes require a month's notice to terminate
http://forum.alzheimers.org.uk/showthread.php?62896

Invoice from care home after death
http://forum.alzheimers.org.uk/showthread.php?84438

Care fees, charged following death
http://forum.alzheimers.org.uk/showthread.php?45759


I recall this case from 2012:

Grieving daughter wins care home battle
http://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/9546519.Grieving_daughter_wins_care_home_battle/

“What they've done is they've decided to reduce it from 28 days to seven and I think that's much better. I'm so pleased. ...

“I call it my David and Goliath moment. If you feel there's something wrong, instead of just rolling over and accepting it, challenge it.

“That's the only way rules and policies can change.”

 

[LadyA]

Gosh though, it is like kicking someone when they're down, isn't it, to charge for the room after the person has died?! William's nursing home was always paid in advance at the beginning of each month,. They sent an invoice and I paid by electronic transfer. William died on 3rd august, a Bank Holiday Monday. On the Tuesday, 4th, I received by email the invoice for the full month of August, followed less than ten minutes later by a profuse apology explaining that the invoices had been prepared before the weekend, and they were sent automatically that morning. A corrected invoice was then sent only charging for the first two days of August. They didn't charge for the day he died, even though they had to get the Out of Hours doctor in which delayed the Funeral Director removing William until afternoon.
I thought that was very good of them. What's more, the staff packed his things and cleared his room so I didn't have to do it. I just had to collect his stuff from the office the following week.

 

[love.dad.but..]

That was good to hear a care home being compassionate at end of life not just with care but also making a judgement call on not squeezing more fees just because they could. Whilst disappointed the same discretion wasn't applied by dads home, I wasn't surprised judging by their stance in other financial matters during his time there. 7 days is ok, 14 I don't feel is but at the time of finding a care home a relative is usually so relieved to have found one that meets the pwd needs, seems decent and has a room the t and c's have to accepted. A business after all but therein lies the problem perhaps of being able to apply compassionate discretion.