Adult and Community Services (ACS) debt management

The purpose of this document is to set out consistent and effective processes for the collection, recovery and enforcement of Adult Social Care charges owed to the Council.

Effective financial management is fundamental to being able to fund the quality of services the Council provides. The best method of debt management is the prevention of debt arising and this policy covers both prevention and recovery. 

Key principles of the policy:

• Collection of all money due quickly, efficiently and economically, taking into account the financial circumstances and mental capacity of the Adult.
• Prevention of debt and arrears by prompt billing and collection of money due and affordable repayment plans, and early intervention when an Adult is in arrears.
• Ensuring that principles protecting the rights of vulnerable Adults underpin all actions and that where there are issues of financial mismanagement or exploitation, appropriate investigations are carried out under the relevant Adult Safeguarding policy and procedures.
• Provision of a legal framework to enable legal enforcement (where necessary and appropriate) to recover debts.
• Compliance with the Care Act 2014, the Care and Support Statutory Guidance.

This document should be read in conjunction with the SCC Debt Recovery Policy, ACS charging policy, the Care Act 2014 and Annex D of the Care Act statutory guidance.

To maximise the level of income collected by the Council by:

• Ensuring clear communication of the ACS charging policy
• Accurate and timely billing
• Provision of timely support and assistance to maximise income and reduce the level of debt arising
• Effective and timely recovery procedures in line with the requirements of the Care Act 2014

To recognise that causes of debt and reasons for non-payment of care charges vary and recovery methods should be focused accordingly.

To ensure that debts are managed in accordance with legislative provisions and best practice.

To foster good financial management and control across ACS.

To ensure performance in relation to debt recovery is reported.

There are a variety of reasons why debt occurs. Putting effective processes in place, charging and invoicing accurately and speedily, ensures that invoices raised are correct and do not discourage timely payment.

Customers fail to make payments for a variety of reasons.

Where people genuinely have difficulty maintaining their payments, ACS will make every effort to provide support. This may include encouraging care recipients to donate power of attorney, and taking timely steps to identify a potential Court appointed Deputy for a care recipient who lacks capacity if no attorney has been appointed.

Others may deliberately set out to delay or not make payments at all. In these situations, ACS will take action to secure and recover payments as outlined in the SCC Debt Recovery Policy.

ACS will follow the principles of good practice set as follows:

• Fair charging policies that are reviewed regularly
• Accurate and prompt billing
• Prompt review of care charges where these are unaffordable
• Encourage the use of Direct Debit as the preferred method of payment
• Take security for all or part of the debt where that is practicable
• Where an Adult does not have access to the use of Direct Debits, alternative payment options will be offered
• Provide advice on ways to maximise income and reduce bills
• Consider payment arrangements for those customers experiencing financial difficulties
• Keep customers informed
• Take appropriate recovery action
• Where appropriate review and write off debt- partially or in full.

Direct Debit is the easiest payment method for customers and is the most efficient for the Council which helps keep the cost of collection as low as possible. We will promote Direct Debit as the preferred method of payment to all customers unless they are unable to pay this way. Where an Adult is unable to pay by Direct Debit or it is appropriate for another method of payment to be used (e.g. for a one-off bill) we will provide a choice of convenient methods of payment.

ACS will provide a range of options to reduce the reliance on cash transactions. The current payment options are Direct Debit, Debit and Credit Cards (allowing payments to be made 24 hours a day, 7 days a week using automated telephone line or internet facility) and Standing Order. Further payment options (i.e., cash payments) will be considered only as a last resort where no alternative is available and may be introduced as cost effective alternatives.

When appropriate, FIAS and/or Corporate Services will work together with allocated social care practitioners who know the unique circumstances of the Adult when exploring payment options.

Refer to SCC Debt Recovery Policy and ACS charging policy.

ACS’s approach will be consistent, transparent, person-centred and, firm but courteous.

Consistency means taking a similar approach in similar circumstances to achieve similar ends. ACS aims to achieve consistency in the advice it gives, the use of powers, and the recovery procedures used.

ACS recognises that consistency does not mean simple uniformity. Guided by person-centred approach to practice, we will take account of many variables such as the individual’s needs and ability to pay and the need to secure the debt on behalf of ACS.

Transparency is important in maintaining public confidence. Helping people to understand what is expected of them and what they should expect from ACS and clearly explaining the reasons for taking recovery and enforcement action.

Recovery action will be taken in a timely manner, and whenever possible, technology will be utilised to automate and expedite processes.

ACS will consider the individual circumstances of the adult, including their reasons for non-payment. This will target the most effective recovery methods to recover the debt.

When appropriate, Adults who meet the eligibility criteria shall be offered the option of entering into a Deferred Payment Agreement with the Council.

A range of recovery options will be used where arrangements to pay have broken down. The choice of recovery method will depend on a number of factors including the method available, but options can include:

• Payment in full
• Repayment arrangement
• When, despite all effort to resolve the debt by agreement, the debt remains unpaid, the ACS Accruals, Deferred Payments and Debt Management Team (ADDM) will refer to the SCC Legal Department to initiate civil court action to recover the debt – seek a charging order to secure the judgment debt where possible; potential alternatives include insolvency (bankruptcy) action.

When an Adult tells us they cannot pay, we will offer advice on ways to reduce their bills and maximise their income. Staff involved in the recovery of debts will be trained on social inclusion awareness so they can inform customers of their entitlements to relevant benefits, discounts, reliefs, and exemptions, and signpost them to relevant organisations for further help and advice.

If an Adult is vulnerable (e.g. elderly, seriously ill, mental health issues, assessed as lacking capacity or have substantial difficulty) and this makes it difficult for them to pay, we will try to avoid formal civil proceedings and provide the assistance they need to make payment. We can only do this if we know the Adult's circumstances.

Where appropriate an application may be made to the Court of Protection for appointment of ACS as a deputy where the Adult lacks capacity, and this may include an application for an interim order that enables an application for a deferred payment arrangement to be made.

Where an Adult has died and fees remain unpaid, we will make prompt contact with the person responsible for administering the Adult’s estate to ensure that the debt to the council is paid from the assets in the estate before these are distributed to beneficiaries. Where no appointment has been made we will seek to work with families to enable them to apply for representatives to be appointed.

ACS will make all necessary attempts to trace any debtor that we have been unable to contact to ensure that payment is received. This will include checking internal and external sources of information, sharing information with other authorities and use of people tracing agencies.

The timeliness of tracing, allowing time for the debtor or other relevant person to be found will be considered before the debt is submitted for write off. 

ACS will take all necessary and appropriate action to recover what is due. Debts will be subject to the full recovery, collection and legal procedures as outlined in this policy and the SCC Debt Recovery Policy.

ACS recognises that where a debt is irrecoverable, prompt and regular write-off of such debts is good practice.   

ACS Budget Managers may delegate decisions about write offs where the value of a debt is not more than £10,000 to the ADDM team. Should this authority be exercised, the ACS ADDM Team shall involve the Budget Manager or Area Business Managers where appropriate and inform them of the decision in a timely manner. The ACS ADDM team have authority to write off debts of under £250 where this is appropriate (for instance a single unpaid invoice subject to an unresolved dispute).

ACS ADDM Team shall exercise authority to write off debts pursuant to Section 12 (Writing Debts Off) of the SCC Debt Recovery Policy, as may be amended. In this regard, all references to the Corporate Services (CS) Income Team under this section of the SCC Debt Recovery Policy shall also apply to the ACS ADDM Team. 

All reasonable and economical debt recovery action should be taken before consideration is given to writing off a debt. The degree of enforcement action attempted should be dependent on the amount owed, the type of debt and the customer's personal circumstances where they are known.

Reasons for write off of debts should be classified, recorded and reported.

When appropriate, learning from write-offs will be shared with relevant teams and Budget Holders for purposes of practice improvement and to minimise risks of reoccurrence.

ACS will monitor the implementation of the process to ensure that it is effective. Monitoring by the ACS ADDM team’s work will include:

• quality checks on work processes to ensure fairness and consistency
• audit and quality checks on work processed by individuals
• rate of collection — to identify our performance around the collection of debts
• number of cases at each stage of the recovery process
• Classification of the reason for the debt to enable focused prevention
• complaints received — to assist us with making service improvements and ensure that service is customer focused
• setting targets to improve performance
• benchmark our services with other Local Authorities.

ACS is committed to continuous learning and improvement, and it is critical that new approaches and ways of working will be introduced. This policy will be reviewed annually to allow it to be updated and to take any service improvements or changes into account.