The Ombudsman has upheld a complaint by a man in his 80s who was charged for home care services by Trafford Council without his agreement.
The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman also ruled that the authority failed to carry out a financial assessment of the man and continued to send him invoices for care services he had cancelled.
The council agreed to apologise, cancel all outstanding care charges, make a symbolic payment and review its practices.
The law says councils can charge for care and support services they provide or arrange but they must assess a person’s finances to decide what contribution they should make.
In June 2021 the elderly man was admitted to hospital after a fall and the council arranged a period of short-term ‘reablement’ care at home provided by an agency, provided at no cost for three weeks.
It had been made clear from the start that the man, ‘Mr X’, did not want to pay for care, but the council said he would be charged unless he provided his bank account and pension details.
However, it was claimed he did not receive either the financial assessment form or letter and continued to be charged.
The Ombudsman’s report said: ‘The council accepted there was an error and cancelled the charges that had accrued since Mr X cancelled the care package.
‘This was because the council was not told by the care provider it was no longer providing services.
‘The council has established this was due to a communication error with the care agency.’
