Last year I blogged about the issue of the limitation period for claims brought by local authorities for recovery of care home fees which they have paid and seek to recover from the individual care home resident or their estate. At the time I was concerned that there may be a gap in the law. Curiously, that blog post itself led to a court case which has now resolved the issue.

The issue, in a nutshell is this: section 69(3)(b) of the Care Act 2014 provides for a three year limitation period on claims brought by local authorities for the recovery of care home fees. This appeared to represent no change in the law. Yet the previous limitation period, applicable when section 56 of the National Assistance Act 1948 still governed such claims, was generally six years rather than three. Read more »