Care Home stops charging fees after resident dies

Topics covered: Ridouts professional advice

Following action from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), a care home provider running 64 care homes has agreed to stop charging fees after a resident dies. The provider has agreed to amend its contract terms to stop charging one month’s worth of fees after the death of a resident. This will ensure that fees will be only taken up to the date of a resident’s death.

This decision follows an investigation by the CMA into fees charged by care home providers and their study of the care home market. The CMA found it was ‘widespread across the sector’ with many care homes charging fees after residents’ deaths.

The period for which fees are charged after death (‘payment period’) varies between different care homes and between types of contracts. Self-funding residents are sometimes required to pay for much longer periods than local authorities.

CMA have said they will be publishing compliance advice for the sector as a whole ‘in order to ensure that care homes take a consistent and lawful approach’. Providers can add their view to the consultation via the governments website. The deadline for this is 16 February 2018.

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