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Hey guys.
Had a letter today from my nans care home claiming she owes over 3k in resident fees mainly from 2002.
Must say i was very disgusted at the cheek of the letter.
Basically what happend was, my nan was in a care home in southend, which Tower Hamlets Council, Southend Council and my mother were all paying towards her care home fees.
My mother has paid her share of the fees every month for every year for the last 11 years, when she gets the letter from the council informing her of the increase, she makes sure her payments also increase in line with it.
Around 4 years ago, my nan was transfered from the southend care home to one in Ilford (Both were part of the same group) Everything was agreed that the amounts everyone was paying would stay the same as before, and continue to be paid at whatever rate was set each year.
Today, my mother receives a letter from her current care home, claiming that there is a shortfall of just under 3k.
What they sent, was 1 page showing their care home rates per week, for each year, multiplied by the number of days as resident for each year, the total is around 60k for 11 years.
Then they have also supplied, what looks like a print out of supposed payments that have been paid, for each month, over those 11 years.
We rang the care home and spoke to the lady in charge of the finance department.
Firstly, she admits, that since the transfer, my mother has paid the correct amount each month.
She addmitted the shortfall was from around 2002 when my nan first moved in to the care home in southend.
she also stated, that she can NOT provide a breakdown of payments made by my mother during this time, because the original care home is no longer there
So, they cant provide evidence of what my mother has actually paid during this time, all they have, is what they believe were payments made.
Now, my wife is actually a management accountant for a group of care homes, when i spoke to her about this today, she had a very good idea of what has happend, and why.
She tells me, that its quite common, for care homes to not receive the council fee letters each year, showing the increase in payments. As a result of this and also due to one of her staff doing inproper accounting techiques, they generally, invoice for the amount they believe to be due, rather than the increased amount.
Therefore the difference that has been paid, isnt actually kept a record of until sometime in the future, when the council do send them a list of rates for previous years. At that point, they take the total that should have been paid, against what they believe to have been paid, and demand the difference be rectified, when in reality, there never was a shortfall, they just didnt record it at the time!
Now with the lady at the care home admitting she cant provide proof of payments made, but did supply a list of apprent payments they believed to be due, its quite obvious to me that they are wrong.
This has really angered me, as its not up to me, my mother or anyone else to pay them money which is not owed, simply because they cant reconcile their entries.
I intend to send them a letter next week, explaining that we do not accept the 3k is owed, that we always paid the correct amount every month, and increased the payments when notified to. Unless they can provide evidence of each payment that was made, against the amount that should have been due, we will not be paying it.
You know, the lady even had the cheek to ask if we wished our last payment to be offset against the shortfall!!
Perhaps someone can take a look over my letter when i type it up and tell me what they think before it gets posted?
Had a letter today from my nans care home claiming she owes over 3k in resident fees mainly from 2002.
Must say i was very disgusted at the cheek of the letter.
Basically what happend was, my nan was in a care home in southend, which Tower Hamlets Council, Southend Council and my mother were all paying towards her care home fees.
My mother has paid her share of the fees every month for every year for the last 11 years, when she gets the letter from the council informing her of the increase, she makes sure her payments also increase in line with it.
Around 4 years ago, my nan was transfered from the southend care home to one in Ilford (Both were part of the same group) Everything was agreed that the amounts everyone was paying would stay the same as before, and continue to be paid at whatever rate was set each year.
Today, my mother receives a letter from her current care home, claiming that there is a shortfall of just under 3k.
What they sent, was 1 page showing their care home rates per week, for each year, multiplied by the number of days as resident for each year, the total is around 60k for 11 years.
Then they have also supplied, what looks like a print out of supposed payments that have been paid, for each month, over those 11 years.
We rang the care home and spoke to the lady in charge of the finance department.
Firstly, she admits, that since the transfer, my mother has paid the correct amount each month.
She addmitted the shortfall was from around 2002 when my nan first moved in to the care home in southend.
she also stated, that she can NOT provide a breakdown of payments made by my mother during this time, because the original care home is no longer there
So, they cant provide evidence of what my mother has actually paid during this time, all they have, is what they believe were payments made.
Now, my wife is actually a management accountant for a group of care homes, when i spoke to her about this today, she had a very good idea of what has happend, and why.
She tells me, that its quite common, for care homes to not receive the council fee letters each year, showing the increase in payments. As a result of this and also due to one of her staff doing inproper accounting techiques, they generally, invoice for the amount they believe to be due, rather than the increased amount.
Therefore the difference that has been paid, isnt actually kept a record of until sometime in the future, when the council do send them a list of rates for previous years. At that point, they take the total that should have been paid, against what they believe to have been paid, and demand the difference be rectified, when in reality, there never was a shortfall, they just didnt record it at the time!
Now with the lady at the care home admitting she cant provide proof of payments made, but did supply a list of apprent payments they believed to be due, its quite obvious to me that they are wrong.
This has really angered me, as its not up to me, my mother or anyone else to pay them money which is not owed, simply because they cant reconcile their entries.
I intend to send them a letter next week, explaining that we do not accept the 3k is owed, that we always paid the correct amount every month, and increased the payments when notified to. Unless they can provide evidence of each payment that was made, against the amount that should have been due, we will not be paying it.
You know, the lady even had the cheek to ask if we wished our last payment to be offset against the shortfall!!
Perhaps someone can take a look over my letter when i type it up and tell me what they think before it gets posted?
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