Advinia Health Care has apologised after the Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman found it had breached CMA guidance by giving six weeks’ notice of a 46% fee hike.

The care home operator apologised for the lack of clarity about the resident’s FNC award and the short notice of the large increase in fees which forced them to move from the home.

Advinia agreed to offer £500 to the complainant in compensation and review the alterations in its terms and conditions in respect of CMA guidance.

The complaint arose after Advinia wrote to the complainant’s son in December 2022 to inform him that his mother’s fees would rise from £950 to £1,390, which included a £209 reduction from a FNC contribution.

In his decision, the Ombudsman said Advinia had failed to explain how the FNC was applied and did not comply with CMA guidance by announcing at shorter notice than stated in its terms and conditions a very significant price increase which forced the resident to be moved from the home.

The Ombudsman said this contrived CMA guidance about the fairness of terms, which states: “Terms which give you, in effect, an unlimited right to increase the price of your service after it has been agreed are likely to be unfair under consumer law, especially where the resident has no choice but to pay the higher price or leave.”

An Advinia spokesperson said: “We once again apologise to the family affected by the lack of clarity in the billing system on this occasion.

“There had been many changes in our finance team during this period and this error was regrettably overlooked.

“We have since fully complied with the requests of the Ombudsman and we thank them for their assistance.”