Case study: challenging local council to help a vulnerable individual recover costs from care funding error

Our elderly, care and mental capacity team recently acted on a case that involved challenging a local council’s refusal to fund the accommodation of a vulnerable adult’s care.

After the initial complaint was unsuccessful and they were confident that the council’s decision had been flawed and unfair, this resulted in the case going to the ombudsman and the individual receiving £92,000.

Our client is a vulnerable adult with a range of mental health needs, who is under the care of the local Community Mental Health Team. She is entitled to aftercare services under Section 117 of the Mental Health Act 1983, which covers accommodation in appropriate cases.

In 2019 the care home our client resided at was deregistered by the care provider and made into a supported living home. The local council and integrated care board (ICB) stopped the financial support for her accommodation due to this change. They advised that she should apply for housing benefit. However, due to her savings she was ineligible for this and had to cover her rent and service charges herself. This led to financial depletion.

We contended that the council should not have discontinued the funding for our client’s accommodation and asked the council to provide evidence of any change to our client’s section 117 aftercare needs.

The council had decided that since the status of the property had changed it could separate the provision of accommodation and provision of care, meaning they did not have the responsibility to provide our client with section 117 aftercare services.

We believed this to be incorrect and set out the reason why in case law our client met the criteria for the funding of accommodation. A complaint against the council was progressed and after many letters and hurdles, it eventually went to the Ombudsman.

Following this the council and ICB later agreed that there was a need in funding accommodation for our client’s care.

We requested the council and ICB repay our client the full amount she had paid for rent and service changes as well as the legal fees in pursuing this complaint.

Our client was awarded with £92,000. As this case was taken to the Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman, the local council has now been asked to investigate all cases that have been affected with this same issue and have found 23 so far. With the checks ongoing, they expect to find more.

Our elderly, care and mental capacity team continue to act as a Professional Deputy for property and financial decisions, as our client is unable to manage these affairs.

For further information on this case or if you or someone you know may have been affected by a similar issue please contact partner, Genevieve Powrie.

Or you can read more about this case here.