Nursing Home Contract (or lack of)

[Booj79]

I don’t know if anyone can help, but my Mum
went into a nursing home last May and following endless drama and poor care we’re moving her to a new home when she’s out of hospital after a month long stay following another fall.

We had just paid Jan when we decided to move her and asked for money to be returned to us as she’s not been there since Dec and will be going to new home.

They are arguing they won’t give back the Jan invoice as they have 28 day notice period but none of my siblings or I were ever given a contract with these details agreed to. She was moved in under emergency circumstances and I guess the contract was forgotten along the way.

With no signed contract, are they entitled to keep the money??

 

[Izzy]

I’m sorry I have no personal experiences of the issue but I just wanted to welcome you to the forum. I’m sure others with more experience of this wiill be along soon.

 

[nitram]

You need legal advice.
However I think that in general payment for and acceptance of a service indicates implied acceptance of the (unseen) contract.

Was your Mum self funding or was there a contract with the LA?

 

[Booj79]

Hello, thanks for replying. She’s self funding and it’s eye wateringly expensive (as I’m sure everyone on this forum is painfully aware of!)
I think you’re right about legal advice. It’s a bit confusing to know where we stand, and always harder to get money back that’s already been paid.
Very worried.

 

[jugglingmum]

My understanding is that there is implied acceptance of a contract after a period of time. Regular payments would be seen as acceptance.

Onerous terms could void but the general situation that comes up on TP is a month's notice - whether moving elsewhere or in the sad event of death.

Beware of paying out for legal services that will not resolve the issue - ask how much it will cost for each letter etc and ask to be informed before further costs are incurred.

 

[nitram]

Ask AgeUk or similar.
I think that when you buy an item in a shop there is an implied contract

 

[Booj79]

Thanks everyone. Really appreciate the advice.

 

[nitram]

Watch out for paying monthly in advance and extra month added when leaving.

 

[Booj79]

Thanks for the comments and advice. In the end the Care Home we’re super decent and refunded us half the invoice! A fair compromise. Thanks again.

 

[MartinWL]

Of course there is a contract here but the issue is, what are the terms on which it can be terminated? I don't think this can be simply implied from the monthly payments. A notice period of 28 days is quite a long period but I suspect not uncommon. This case has been resolved but others should take note to get things confirmed in writing at the earliest achievable stage - there should always be a written contract in the interests of avoiding future disputes.