Care home signed residency agreement query

[Deedee28]

Good evening I m wondering if anyone has dealt with anything similar to this and can offer any advice.
Mum went into respite care a few months ago following a fall at home. It became clear that returning home wasn't going to be an option in her best interests, the social worker met with the family and agreed to mum going into permanent residential care. She has been at the council approved care home for over 2 months, being classed as permanent since mid October.

I have just been given a 'signed residency agreement' by the care home to sign and return to them, it seems it should have been sent to me weeks ago but it was 'overlooked' by the care home.

I've not yet signed this agreement. Today I 've been offered a room at our preferred care home, mum has been on the waiting list for this nicer home for over 6 months.
My question is this, in the as yet unsigned residency agreement for the current care home it states that we have to give a month's notice (and obviously pay a contributiion towards the fees for the mohth) if we move mum to another care home. How do I stand legally on this bearing in mind that I haven't signed this agreement ( I have POA for mum) and now have no intention of signing it as i don't want mum to stay at the current place now that a room is available at the nicer care home? Mum is currently in the 12 week disregard period whilst her house is being put up for sale so she is at present partially funded by the local authority as her savings (not including the value of the house) are less than £10,000.
Grateful for any pointers if anyone has dealt with a similar situation
Thanks

 

[Kevinl]

There's no contract in place and you can't enforce a none existent contract, they literally don't have a leg to stand on in court. They could argue that by letting your mum stay there constituted consent but as been tested in court passive consent isn't consent.
No contract...no chance in court.
If the home want a contract with anyone then the should ask the LA to sign it as they're the ones funding the care, I did.
There is an investigation going on at present into care home notice periods and it's likely that homes will be restricted to a 7 or 14 day notice period, some (like yours) currently say 28 days in the future.
To be fair to the home they will need to deep clean the room and find a new occupant so expecting to give no notice is a bit unfair on them, but I understand Local Authorities only allow a couple of days as a notice period so I'd ask the LA what notice period they work to and match that, I doubt it will be anymore than a week if that.
As there's no contract then anything you may choose to offer them is a "goodwill payment" nothing more they can't quote a contract that they can't produce a copy of, signed by you in court.
Coming to a mutually acceptable agreement may be an idea as you may not want the new home hear you're someone who doesn't pay their bills so I'd go down the goodwill route for that reason and that, if in the future her money runs out and she becomes entitled to LA funding then any outstanding issues with the LA and money may be on file somewhere.
K

 

[Deedee28]

There's no contract in place and you can't enforce a none existent contract, they literally don't have a leg to stand on in court. They could argue that by letting your mum stay there constituted consent but as been tested in court passive consent isn't consent.
No contract...no chance in court.
If the home want a contract with anyone then the should ask the LA to sign it as they're the ones funding the care, I did.
There is an investigation going on at present into care home notice periods and it's likely that homes will be restricted to a 7 or 14 day notice period, some (like yours) currently say 28 days in the future.
To be fair to the home they will need to deep clean the room and find a new occupant so expecting to give no notice is a bit unfair on them, but I understand Local Authorities only allow a couple of days as a notice period so I'd ask the LA what notice period they work to and match that, I doubt it will be anymore than a week if that.
As there's no contract then anything you may choose to offer them is a "goodwill payment" nothing more they can't quote a contract that they can't produce a copy of, signed by you in court.
Coming to a mutually acceptable agreement may be an idea as you may not want the new home hear you're someone who doesn't pay their bills so I'd go down the goodwill route for that reason and that, if in the future her money runs out and she becomes entitled to LA funding then any outstanding issues with the LA and money may be on file somewhere.
K

Thank you Kevin, I appreciate your advice. Had to laugh at the 'deep clean' bit as i m doubtful the room was deep cleaned before mum moved in to it, going off the way my shoes stuck to the lino and the colour of the damp tissue after I d wiped it across said floor!

 

[Kevinl]

The rooms are always cleaned and usually redecorated between residents, the mattresses are either replaced or steam cleaned. It does happen that people on emergency respite do go into a cleaned but un-redecorated room sometimes but, like every room, everyday it's cleaned and the signed/initialled sheet left in a holder in the room saying who has cleaned the room.
K

 

[Deedee28]

Hi
I agree with Kevinl that there's no contract with the current home.
I'm just wondering about how soon the new, preferred, home will want payment.
When we found a care home for my aunt they wanted £11,000 upfront. (Deposit, admin fee and first month in advance.)
I didn't have access to £11k of my aunt's funds. It was pure coincidence that we'd just borrowed £10k to refurb our own kitchen and bathroom and the works had been delayed. Don't know whether the home would have been willing to wait for payment otherwise.

Good point, thanks I 'll remember to check on that one as until the house is sold there won't be much money available so i'll have to be prepared to use some of my own savings if necessary

 

[Sirena]

@Normaleila - that deposit sounds outrageous, I wonder if this is common practice. My mum's care home just ask for payment a month in advance, so I only had to find the usual £3300 when she moved in.

I'd try to come to an arrangement with the current care home, maybe give a week's notice. When I moved my mother from at-home care to the care home, the agency asked for 14 days notice. That seemed reasonable to me as they had to reassign the carers who had spent a large chunk of their time with my mother.