Ombudsman criticises council over failure to send invoices for care of service user to appointee for more than three years

The case concerned Mr X, who does not have capacity to deal with his finances. He lives in supported living accommodation.

Miss R is a professional representative who was commissioned by the council to represent Mr X.

The Ombudsman said the appointees wrote to the council in November 2022 to tell it they were representing Mr X.

Miss R said the appointees asked for any outstanding invoices and asked for invoices to be sent by the council to the appointees from that date.

Miss R said their company received an email from the council in August 2024, asking if they still represented Mr X. Miss R said they confirmed this was the case on the same day by email.

The council said in its response to Miss R’s official complaint that it had been at fault. It had received the emails but officers had not updated the system correctly and invoices were not sent to Miss R.

The corrections were made on 3 June 2025.

The council said: “I sincerely apologise for the multiple missed opportunities to action your request and issue invoices as appropriate. This has caused a substantial and avoidable delay, resulting in a large outstanding balance being accrued”.

Mr X was sent an invoice for £15,075.

Miss R asked for the debt to be written off. The council said: “Mr X did continue to receive care services and so the associated charges remain valid”.

Following this, Miss R complained to the Ombudsman.

Analysing the case, the Ombudsman said: “The council has been at fault. My role is to establish the injustice caused to Mr X. Miss R does not dispute the charges, so they would have been paid if the invoices had been sent monthly. So, if Mr X has the money and the invoice can be paid, without causing Mr X financial hardship then the apology, along with a review of procedures is a suitable remedy to this complaint. It puts Mr X back in the position he should have been in, if the fault had not occurred.

“However, I have no information from Miss R on whether Mr X has the money available to pay the invoice. So, I consider the council should carry out an assessment of Mr X’s finances and consider whether he will be able to repay the debt with a repayment plan or if it should be written off.”

To remedy the injustice caused, the Ombudsman recommended the council:

• Conduct a full backdated financial reassessment from the date charges first applied and re-calculate based on corrected savings.
• Consider waiving any costs relating to issues that have been caused by the council or produce an affordable repayment plan for Mr X.
• Refund any extra charges paid by Mr X above those routinely charged by Miss R’s appointee agency in dealing with the administration from the delay in invoicing.
• Ensure future charging is communicated clearly to the appointee and review procedures to ensure the fault is not repeated.

Worcestershire County Council has been approached for comment.

Lottie Winson