Kingston Council has apologised for overcharging a mum for her care after the family received an unexpected notice that they were £7,000 in debt to the authority.

The woman's daughter raised the alarm after telling Kingston Council she was not aware the family had fallen into arrears of more than £7,000, as she claimed they had not been receiving invoices.

A Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman report found that confusion over how much support the woman, referred to as Mrs Y, needed meant she had been overcharged.

It told the authority to apologise to Mrs Y and her daughter, named Miss X, and pay them £100 each for the frustration and distress they were caused.

Miss X contacted the council in April 2023 asking for extra support for her mum as she was struggling with housework because her health had declined.

The provider that was already supporting Mrs Y agreed to provide one hour of support in the mornings and evenings, with one hour of additional support for household tasks every week.

Miss X said she never received a copy of the new care plan.

The council said it emailed Mrs Y's husband, named Mr Y, a reminder for the unpaid February invoice later that month.

It said it then emailed Mr Y an invoice, a reminder letter and a legal letter warning it would take action if the payments were not made for each month's bill between May and September.

The invoices showed a charge for 15 hours of care at home per week, a separate charge for 1.5 hours per week and a weekly administrative fee.

But Miss X told the council in September that Mr Y had not received the invoices, which she discovered after receiving a letter for a debt of more than £7,000 and the threat of court action.

She said her mum was receiving 14 hours of care a week, but they were being charged for 15 hours plus the cost of the old care package.

Miss X gave the council notice to end the care package in January 2024.

The report said: "When Miss X contacted the council to request additional support for Mrs Y it reviewed her care plan in a timely manner. However, there was a lack of clarity over exactly how much additional support Mrs Y required.

"The care provider's logs show on the days Mrs Y required a shower it generally stayed over one hour. However, it is unclear whether this additional time was actually necessary.

"This lack of clarity was fault and meant, on balance, Mrs Y was charged for more care than she required.

"In late September 2023, when Miss X first raised her concerns with the council about the charges, it failed to review Mrs Y's care plan. This was fault and meant Mrs Y continued to be charged too much for longer than was necessary."

It added: "When the council reviewed Miss X's complaint it accepted there was confusion, and that Mrs Y had not received the additional hour of domestic support originally recommended. It agreed to retrospectively review the care charges."

The watchdog said it could not resolve why Miss X claimed Mr Y had not received the invoices, which the council said it sent.

The ombudsman told the authority to reissue Mrs Y's invoices from April 2023 to January 2024, charging her for 14 hours of care per week.

It also ordered the council to agree a plan to allow her to repay her debt over 12 months.

A Kingston Council spokesperson said: "We are committed to putting people at the heart of all our adult social care services.

"We work to maximise independence, choice and control, providing support for those who need it, building resilience and delivering accessible and personalised services.

"We accepted the ombudsman's findings and have apologised to Mrs Y and Miss X.

"We have made a payment to acknowledge the distress and frustration caused and have issued revised invoices."