Ombudsman orders council to refund overpayments in care costs

Lincolnshire County Council has been ordered to refund the care costs of people who had been charged too much for short-term residential care.

The local authority had been charging a fixed fee for respite care without assessing whether people could afford it, an investigation by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has discovered.

The council’s actions were found to have gone against Care and Support statutory guidance stipulating that a charge must be affordable for an individual.

Its policy saw a different flat rate charged for the care based on people’s ages, but stated people could have a full financial assessment if they wished.

The Ombudsman was informed by the local authority that it had identified 4,387 respite users who later went on to receive full-time residential care. Of that number, 2,991 had either paid the correct charge or had underpaid.

Amounts of £10-£50 'may seem small'

However, the rest had overpaid by between £10-£50 for every episode of respite care. Some 115 people overpaid by £10, 156 people overpaid by £20 and 164 individuals overpaid by between £21-£50. The Ombudsman has requested the council look into the amounts paid by 1,396 people and reimburse them.

Michael King, Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, said: “Although to some the amounts people overpaid may seem small, those people have still suffered a financial loss.

"These sums may have made a material difference to peoples’ weekly income, so I welcome the council’s acceptance of my recommendations to put things right for them.”

Although there was no individual complainant in this case, the Ombudsman stated that while investigating another complaint against the council about charging for adult social care, it discovered it was charging a fixed rate for short-term residential care without carrying out a financial Final report 4 assessment.

The council agreed to reimburse people it has already identified as having overcharged and identify and reimburse the remaining cases (for people who are still alive). If this is not possible, it will offer those people a retrospective financial assessment and calculate any refunds due.

The Ombudsman looks at individual complaints about local public services and all registered social care providers throughout England. It has the power to make recommendations on behalf of the public.