West Sussex County Council has paid £1,500 to a mother and son after delays in assessing the woman’s finances left her owing a ‘significant’ amount for her care.

A complaint was lodged with the Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman after the woman – named only as Mrs X – received an invoice for £9,260 from the council.

Her son – named as Mr A – said the council had started to pay his mother just under £260 per week for care costs in May 2022.

While he understood she would be expected to cover some of the costs herself, he said that it was implied that it would only be a small amount.

Instead, after months of delay while her situation was assessed, she was told her portion would be more than two-thirds.

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In a complaint to the council in January, Mr A said: “By making payments to her of £259.39 without giving us any indication of how and when her contributions might be calculated, you have encouraged mum to employ carers and pay them.

“When we made our initial appeal for help, we were told that mum might have to contribute something: the inference was something small…a minor contribution, as she had no savings of any substance.

“We did not realise you were intending to re-claim two thirds of the money you have been sending her.”

Another issue raised by Mr A was the council’s attempt to contact him via the wrong address.

The ombudsman decided the council should apologise to Mrs X within one month for its errors when it came to the delay and communication issues.

A £500 payment was agreed for Mr A for the anxiety caused, with £1,000 for Mrs X recognising that the delay in making the assessment caused a ‘larger than expected debt’.

The report said: “Had the assessment been undertaken in a timely manner, the accrued debt – and the consequent anxiety and stress – would have been considerably less.”

Mrs X will still have to pay back what is owed to the council, but the ombudsman said a sensible payment plan had to be agreed.

A council spokesman said: “We accept the ombudsman’s findings that we were at fault for the delays in properly assessing finances in this case and for attempting to make contact at an incorrect address.

“We have apologised to the family involved, offered a payment plan and offered a financial remedy in recognition of the distress and inconvenience caused.”