FALSE and impossible deadlines are being imposed by the NHS on thousands of families claiming refunds on care homes fees they shouldn’t have had to pay in the first place, say experts.

Some families have recovered more than £100,000 in fees wrongly paid by elderly relatives, others have had to sell their homes to wrongly pay for care home fees of up to £1,000 per month.

Families are being misled by the NHS by wrongly being told they need to complete and return complex questionnaires and medical records within just 28 days of receiving claim documents.

Experts say the ’28 day deadline’ is impossible for most people to meet and are urging people to ignore it and seek independent legal advice.

In a standard letter issued to families NHS Trusts pressure them to return a complex medical questionnaire within 28 days.

Andrew Farley, Director of Farley Dwek Solicitors represents more than 250 families battling to recover fees from the NHS:

“It is scandalous that families are being bullied and given an unenforceable and illegal deadline of just 28 days to gather all the evidence they need. It’s an impossible task without external help and I feel this deadline is put in place to put people off claiming. When people realise how complicated it is they are put off even though they are owed significant amounts of money. The fact is that families have until 31^st March 2013 to lodge their claim – not just 28 days as the NHS claims.

“We estimate the Government had earmarked at least £10m for the relatives of victims but we believe they are quietly satisfied at the relatively slow take up thanks to a strategy of making it more complex than it needs to be to make a claim.

“If your relative was rejected for funding on financial eligibility alone then they should challenge the decision immediately. We’re handling more than 250 cases and it’s just the tip of the iceberg.”

The actual deadline of 31^st March 2013 has been set by the Department of Health for families to lodge a claim to recover care home fees spent between 1^st April 2011 and 31^st March 2012.

ANGRY relatives of elderly care home residents say the Government is ‘covering up’ a little-known compensation scheme for victims of mistakes made by NHS trusts over care home fees.

Lawyers estimate that tens of millions of pounds has been set aside for families to recover care home fees wrongly paid by elderly patients.

Too many people are unaware because the NHS is only fulfilling its minimum obligation to communicate the policy – putting it on a single page of its enormous website.

Many victims of the admin blunder had to sell their home to pay for their care even though they were entitled to full funding.

Alarmingly even family members who kept appealing the initial decision and were rejected again and again – have now been told they were entitled to funding after all.

Experts say new deadlines to make a claim set by the Department of Health have been poorly communicated and ‘smack of a cover up’.

Andrew Farley, director of Farley Dwek Solicitors, said:

“This is a national disgrace and if the Government is to avoid being accused of a cover up it has to give the NHS the resources it needs to communicate this policy effectively. Putting it up on asingle webpage where it will never be found is scandalous.

“We estimate the Government had earmarked at least £10m for the relatives of victims but we believe they are quietly satisfied at the relatively slow take – thanks to a strategy of trying to keep the issue low profile.

“If your relative was rejected for funding on financial eligibility alone then they should challenge the decision immediately. We’re handling more than 250 cases and it’s just the tip of the iceberg.”

A new deadline of 31^st March 2013 has been set by the Department of Health for families to lodge a claim to recover care home fees spent between 1^st April 2011 and 31^st March 2012.

They are losing out on inheritances because health authorities have failed to pay for care home costs, sometimes topping £100,000, when they should have done.

The Government is believed to have set aside £10 million or more to pay back wrongly-charged care home fees, according to Andrew Farley of Farley Dwek Solicitors in Manchester.

But he said primary care trusts (PCTs) across England were using a “scandalous” strategy of “making it more complex than it needs to be to make a claim”.

They were imposing false 28-day deadlines for making claims to scare people off pursuing them, he said.

In usual circumstances, people in England with assets over £23,000 have to meet the full cost of their care.

However, if their health is so bad that they would otherwise have to be in hospital, the NHS should pick up the tab.

Mr Farley said many people only found this out after a parent had died.

“Some elderly people have had to sell their homes to pay for their own care, when they should not have needed to,” said the solicitor, whose firm is acting for about 250 families.

“We estimate the Government had earmarked at least £10m for the relatives of victims but we believe they are quietly satisfied at the relatively slow take up thanks to a strategy of making it more complex than it needs to be to make a claim.”

He continued: “It is scandalous that families are being bullied and given an unenforceable and illegal deadline of just 28 days to gather all the evidence they need.

“It’s an impossible task without external help and I feel this deadline is put in place to put people off claiming.”

One family was claiming £250,000, he said, while the firm had successfully claimed £45,000 for another.

“When you are talking about care home fees of up to £600 to £1,000 a day, it soon mounts up,” he said.

The Department of Health has introduced new guidelines stating that ‘eligibility’ reviews regarding recent care must be completed within three months of receipt of the request. Under these guidelines, it is up to PCTs to inform individuals of “the process and timescales which apply”.

Jo Webber, interim policy director at the NHS Confederation, which represents PCTs, said: “It is obviously good practice to make the review paperwork as simple to complete as possible and trusts should ensure that their forms are understandable and people are signposted to where they can get help with the process if needed.

“PCTs have a responsibility to see that individuals and families who request reviews get clear, easy-to-understand information about the process and contact details for someone at the PCT with whom they can discuss any queries.”

Pensioners forced to sell their homes at knockdown prices to pay for care home fees, which should have been paid for by the NHS, have less than six weeks to lodge a claim, say experts.

Last year, more than 24,500 people sold their homes to pay residential care bills, a rise of 20 per cent in a decade.

Legal experts say a bungle in the system means thousands of families can reclaim fees the NHS should have covered.

These families have less than 6 weeks to lodge a claim to recover care home fees paid before the Government’s 30^th September deadline.

Many residents, or their families, were forced to drastically reduce the asking price of their family home as a result of a dire property market and an urgent need to access finance to fund the fees.

Andrew Farley, Director at law firm Farley Dwek Solicitors, which acts for more than 100 families, said:

“The predicament of selling up and knocking down the price tag to pay for care is one that many families across the UK have faced in recent years. It’s a tough decision and for many, a last resort, but knowingly selling at a cut price is rubbing salt in the wound.

“People who have had relatives in care, with medical needs, who were forced to sell up, should investigate if they can claim back fees.”

“It’s a national scandal that people who have worked, saved and paid taxes all their lives are let down by a system that should be looking after them in later life.

“Many relatives of such residents have seen their inheritance vanish. It’s these individuals who need to claim back some of the money they are entitled to. Time is ticking though – the onus is on families to step forward and lodge a claim before the deadline expires on September 30^th 2012.

“Successful claims will involve the patient having intense, complex or unpredictable physical or psychological health needs, or in some cases both. They require sustained nursing care over a 24 hour period as opposed to general care needs which can be met by the social services.”

It is estimated that 155,000 people or 41 per cent of care home residents are self-funders with fees averaging £25,000 a year. Families can claim back fees paid covering the period between April 1, 2004 and March 31, 2011.

Last week we featured on the front page of The Daily Express in a piece entitled: ‘Sell Home to Pay for Care.’ Andrew Farley, a director at our company, explained the issues to the journalist at the paper and gave advice to readers on how to go about reclaiming fees. You can read the full article here: https://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/337182/Sell-home-to-pay-for-care