Council requesting payment from 2 ywaes ago

[nellen]

Hi all my mum has been in a nursing home for almost 2 years years following a 3 month spell in hospital. Yesterday I received a letter from her council asking for a payment dating back to when she first went into nursing care i.e. Sept 2015. I'm trying to decide where I stand on this and what to say to the council when I ring them tomorrow. Mum doesn't have the money. Mum has no property, no savings and I'm a pensioner

Mum is funded by the council and by health and when she left hospital the only nursing home that could meet her complex needs and had vacancies was a newly opened very expensive one - another more suitable (cheaper) one was being refurbished and couldn't offer her a place until later in the year. So I took the decision to get her into the expensive place temporarily and find the money to pay the £400+ weekly top up from the little bit of spare money my mum had and make it up from my money - my pension. I told social services what we were doing and that it was important to get mum out of hospital as it was having an extremely detrimental effect on her health and her Alzheimer's and that it was a temporary measure until I could get her into the cheaper nursing home and at no time did social services help or advise me in this - they could have stepped in and tried to find a place that we could afford or helped us with top up fees

Since my mum has been in her current nursing home she has £130 taken out of her pension a week as a contribution to fees leaving her with about £29 a week for pocket money it seems that when she was in the other home this money wasn't taken out of her pension and now -almost 2 years later they've realised that they forget to take it and they now want this money

My argument is that mum doesn't have the money to pay this now
Also all the spare money that mum had at that time went on paying the top up fees at this expensive nursing home and that if the Hospital social services had given us advice and support at that time when we were trying to find a suitable home for my mum she might now have some spare money to pay this sum that the Council is demanding now
The other issue is that I moved house 3 months ago and can't find the paperwork relating to that time about my mums care or her bank statements.
I have POA for mums finances and I've always been scrupulous and honest with the council and social service and DWP in relation to mums finances and have paid back any money owed to them when requested. But I feel so angry that they are chasing us yet again for what is a paltry sum by council standards.

 

[Pete R]

.......almost 2 years later they've realised that they forget to take it and they now want this money

My argument is that mum doesn't have the money to pay this now
Also all the spare money that mum had at that time went on paying the top up fees at this expensive nursing home.

Hi Nellen,

It does seem that the lack of advice and support from the LA has not been helpful to you but I am sorry to say that they are well within their rights to want this money back. How they do that must be open to discussion and agreement with you. They cannot just demand it all in one go.

Unfortunately though, and I do hate to say this, it would appear that as PoA you have also made, in good faith, some mistakes.

As the LA are involved I am assuming your Mum does not have a property and has savings of under £23,250. When she moved into the "expensive" home I also assume the LA were paying the home their agreed budget and you were paying the top up.

If that is the case you should not have used any of your Mum's money to help pay the top up. The law is clear that any top up has to be paid by a third party. Your Mum's pension should have been accumulating in her account with whatever else she had.

The LA should have copies of any lost paperwork and you can always ask the bank for copies of any account statements.

Sorry.

 

[nellen]

Pete my mum is in the same county as you. I don't doubt that my mum owes this money but as I've said, she hasn't got the money to pay it. My experience, as an advocate for my mum with this county has been in someways very good but sadly, in other aspects not so good, especially the lack of advice and support of the hospital social service

Yes as you say I've probably made some mistakes but we don't go into this with o and a levels in how to get through the elderly care system and I've always asked the various involved agencies for advice to help me through it. It looks like someone in finance ****** it up hence catching up with us almost two years later.

 

[Pete R]

......we don't go into this with o and a levels in how to get through the elderly care system.

I do remember your previous posts and I completely empathise with your situation. We are all doing our best with having to learn so much with there being oh so little help to guide us along the way.

I do not mean to be harsh or overly worrying but am not one to sugar coat things and can speak plainly. It is quite possible that your Mum may not be the one that is liable for this debt. You should not have used her pension or any of her other savings to pay the top up. If you agreed to pay the top up when she moved into the "expensive" home then the responsibility to pay it back may well fall on you.

Get yourself an appointment with Citizens Advice as soon as possible.

 

[cragmaid]

I would contact the LA and say to them that Mum does not have the money, and the debt is not yours. Make them chase the funding if they can, don't do the donkey work for them. If there is a debt to be repaid tell them that it cannot be repaid until you are settling Mum's estate in due course, or make an offer for repayment in instalments affordable to you.

 

[nellen]

Thanks Pete- I've been out to a 59th birthday party so just got round to replying. It's no problem I don't mind a bit of bluntness.

Thanks Cragmad that's what I'll do. I'll take my chances tomorrow when I ring the council I'll let you know what they say

 

[Pickles53]

I would follow up your phone call with a written letter or email and keep a copy. Ideally send it registered post. Paper trails can become critically important in these disputes. Whatever the council say on the phone, ask for that to be confirmed in writing too, or at least when you write include what they said so you have a full record.

 

[Pete R]

Nellen,

Were any contracts signed by you at the "expensive" home?