Worcestershire Council began court action over care bill despite error

A man was threatened with court action over a £61,000 care bill, despite being wrongly told he owed nothing.

Worcestershire County Council had previously told the man there was no debt owed for his sister-in-law's care.

The council was later ordered by the Local Government Ombudsman to pay him £2,250 in recognition of the error.

Despite the error the council said it was going to court to get the money back, but it later said the matter had been settled.

The man, named as Mr X in the ombudsman's report, was made executor of his sister-in-law's will following her death in October 2020.

At that time, he contacted the council and was assured in writing there was no debt outstanding relating to her care, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

However, in August 2021 the council discovered there was an error in the information it had given to the man, and sent a financial assessment to him in order to work out how much it was owed for her care between October 2018 and her death.

He ignored the assessment, so the council billed him £61,751 for the cost of the care.

The ombudsman said Mr X submitted a complaint, which the authority ignored for 10 months, although it continued to chase him for the outstanding care bill.

In April 2022 the council apologised for the delay in responding, but later said it would be taking formal action to recover the debt.

The ombudsman said it had been up to the courts to make a ruling over the repayment.

"However, the council acknowledges that its error led to injustice to Mr X and will make a suitable payment to recognise the distress caused and the time and trouble he has been put to in pursuing the complaint."

Following discussions with both parties, an agreement was put in place to settle the charges, preventing the need to go to court, the council said.

Mark Fitton, its interim strategic director of people, apologised for the errors.

"We have accepted the findings and recommendations given to us by the Local Government Ombudsman and we will be looking at where improvements can be made in the future with this process to ensure this does not happen again," he said.

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