Think Homecare Limited (21 016 135)
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: Mrs C complained Think Homecare Ltd wrongly charged her parents, Mr and Mrs B, for domiciliary care services. Mrs C said they cancelled three days of domiciliary visits in advance, were told by Think Homecare Ltd they would not be charged, but were. This caused Mr and Mrs B financial hardship and distress. Think Homecare Ltd was at fault wrongly charging for cancelled visits. Think Homecare Ltd will reimburse Mr and Mrs B.
The complaint
- The representative, who I shall refer to as Mrs C, complained Think Homecare Ltd wrongly charged her parents, who I shall refer to as Mr and Mrs B, for domiciliary care services. Mrs C said they cancelled three days of domiciliary visits in advance and were told by Think Homecare Ltd they would not be charged but were. This caused Mr and Mrs B financial hardship and distress.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- We investigate complaints about adult social care providers and decide whether their actions have caused injustice, or could have caused injustice, to the person complaining. I have used the term fault to describe this. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 34B and 34C)
- If an adult social care provider’s actions have caused injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34H(4))
- Under the information sharing agreement between the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman and the Care Quality Commission (CQC), we will share this decision with CQC.
How I considered this complaint
- I considered Mr and Mrs B’s complaint and the information Mrs C provided
- Mrs C and Think Homecare Ltd commented on a draft decision. I considered their comments before making a final decision.
What I found
Think Homecare Ltd service agreement
- Think Homecare Ltd require two weeks’ notice to cancel a schedule domiciliary care visit, otherwise the client is charged.
- Think Homecare Ltd require a minimum of four weeks’ notice of a care package being cancelled.
- Bank holidays are charged at double time. Christmas bank holiday is from 24 to 29 December and the New Year bank holiday is from 30 December to 3 January.
What happened
- This chronology includes key events in this case and does not cover everything that happened.
- In October 2021, Think Homecare Ltd visited Mr and Mrs B to arrange domiciliary care for Mr B. At this meeting Mrs B said she did not want domiciliary care on days where Think Homecare Ltd charged double time, for example, bank holidays.
- Mrs B signed a service agreement with Think Homecare Ltd.
- Think Homecare Ltd began providing Mr B domiciliary care in November 2021.
- During a domiciliary care visit on 20 December 2021, a carer told Mrs B she was scheduled to provide domiciliary care over the Christmas period. Think Homecare Ltd had scheduled visits to Mr B on 24, 27, 29 and 31 December 2021.
- Mrs C contacted Think Homecare Ltd and confirmed Mr and Mrs B did not want any domiciliary visits where they would be charged double time. Think Homecare Ltd told Mrs C it sent Mr and Mrs B a letter with information about charges for visits over Christmas. It said it asked them to confirm by the end of November 2021 the visits they wanted.
- Think Homecare Ltd told Mrs C it had updated its system to record Mr and Mrs B did not want any Christmas visits. Visits on 24, 27, 29 and 31 December 2021 were cancelled. It said because Mrs C had not given two weeks’ notice it should really be charging for the cancelled visits but confirmed it would not. It asked Mrs C to give it two weeks’ notice in future.
- Mr B did not receive any domiciliary care between 23 December 2021 and 2 January 2022.
- In January 2022, Think Homecare Ltd charged Mr and Mrs B for visits on 24, 27, 29 and 31 December 2021. These were all charged at double time. Think Homecare Ltd took the money from Mr and Mrs B’s bank account.
- Mrs C complained. Think Homecare Ltd refunded Mr and Mrs B for the visit on 27 December 2021. It said this was because this was a bank holiday and when the package of care was agreed, Mrs B said she did not want domiciliary care visits on bank holidays. It said it would not refund the three other visits because the family had not given two weeks’ notice.
- Mrs C challenged Think Homecare Ltd’s response. She said Mrs B did not receive a letter about Christmas visits and when she cancelled these, Think Homecare Ltd told her Mr and Mrs B would not be charged. Think Homecare Ltd replied. It said the charges for the visits on 24, 29 and 31 December 2021 stood because they did not give two weeks’ notice of cancellation. Think Homecare Ltd pointed out these dates were listed in the service level agreement.
- Mr and Mrs B cancelled their contract with Think Homecare Ltd. The actions of Think Homecare Ltd caused them to lose trust in domiciliary care providers.
Analysis
- When Think Homecare Ltd met with Mr and Mrs B they said they did not want any domiciliary visits that were charged at double time. Despite this, Think Homecare Ltd scheduled four visits that were charged at this rate.
- When Mrs C told Think Homecare Ltd Mr and Mrs B did not want these visits, it confirmed it would not charge for these. However, it did.
- In its complaint response, Think Homecare Ltd pointed out its service level agreement listed dates where visits were charged at double time. This was correct. Given Mr and Mrs B said they did not want any visits that were charged at double time, they would have assumed visits would not have been scheduled on these days, and therefore that there was no need to cancel any visits.
- Think Homecare Ltd was at fault for scheduling and then charging Mr and Mrs B for domiciliary care on days when visits were charged at double time. It was also at fault for telling Mrs C it would not charge for these visits and doing so anyway.
- Think Homecare Ltd took the money from Mr and Mrs B’s account despite giving them assurances they would not be charged. This caused Mr and Mrs B financial hardship and distress.
Agreed action
- Within one month of the final decision, Think Homecare Ltd will:
- Apologise to Mr and Mrs B.
- Reimburse Mr and Mrs B for the cancelled domiciliary care visits on 24, 29 and 31 December 2021.
- Pay Mr and Mrs B £100 for the distress they experienced because of Think Homecare Ltd’s actions.
- Revise its service agreement to make it clear which dates are nationally recognised bank holidays and which other dates it will charge double time for.
- Review its recording system to ensure visits are not scheduled on days when it charges double time if the client has asked for this.
- Think Homecare Ltd should provide the Ombudsman with evidence it has completed these actions
Final decision
- I have completed my investigation and uphold Mr and Mrs B's complaint. There was fault by Think Homecare Ltd which caused injustice to Mr B. Think Homecare Ltd has agreed to take action to remedy that injustice.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman