How can care homes charge fees after a death?

I hold power of attorney for my aunt who is in a care home run by Avery Healthcare. Avery recently sent relatives its new contract, which states that care home fees are payable for 14 days after a resident’s death, and levies an upfront £595 charge for “dilapidations” (damage or wear and tear).

These charges contradict advice given by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and are probably unenforceable.

Avery knows these charges are unfair because the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman dropped its investigation into a similar complaint when the company offered to refund the family of a deceased resident as a “goodwill gesture”.

It offered the same to me when I complained, but while the clauses remain in the contract, how many unsuspecting people will be hit with unfair charges while dealing with a bereavement?

YR, London

It is extraordinary that Avery should spirit these clauses into a new contract eight years after the CMA announced that it was potentially unlawful to automatically charge families for more than three days after a resident’s death. The regulator also deemed charges for “normal wear and tear” potentially unfair.

Avery, whose majority stakeholders are the multibillionaire Reuben brothers, demands £595 for dilapidations upfront when a resident moves in, long before the length of the stay, or the condition of the room, can be known.

After the CMA ruling in 2018, care providers were required to amend their terms and conditions with immediate effect, or face enforcement action.

Avery, which operates more than 100 care homes across the UK, dug in when I asked how it justified flouting regulatory guidance. It claimed that the 14-day charges were to allow relatives “time and space to prepare appropriately” after a bereavement.

This excuse is undermined by its own terms and conditions, which make clear that income, not wellbeing, is the rationale.

Relatives who remove the deceased’s possessions promptly, still have to pay for the full fortnight, whereas in the previous contract charges ceased as soon as the room was cleared.

Now, the fees are only waived if Avery manages to relet the room within those 14 days, in which case they must keep paying up to the day the new resident moves in.

I put these points to Avery. It remains unabashed, and points out the old contract predated its acquisition of the care home, and that its charging policy is longstanding.

I asked the CMA if it takes action when care homes ignore the rules. It refused to say.

So I tried the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, which tells me it does receive complaints about such fees but doesn’t record how many. It says: “We expect providers to follow the law and consider the CMA advice when drawing up contracts.”

You are now going to make a complaint to the ombudsman. I would advise anyone with a relative in a care home to check the contract and to complain if such fees are charged.

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