Some legal help needed, not car related at all

[lesstatt]

Mods, please feel free to move to a more appropriate thread if need be

My mother passed away in January and had private home carers for many years before that (approx. 5 years) for the last 2 years of her life the carer’s bill was paid by a long term care bond that kicked in once she reached a certain age. The care company remained the same throughout however the bill was paid directly by the Prudential for the last 2 years and my mum paid extra for anything that wasn’t covered by that (shopping etc.). after the funeral the care company owner rang me and said there were some outstanding bills etc. that needed taking care of and I said yes that’s fine please submit them and we will get it sorted out. The bill arrived this morning and it’s for £1800 for visits in April, May and June 2013. Now to me this sounds all rather odd as there is no way of proving that these bills are indeed outstanding or that she owed them any money at all. Surely if this was the case then this would have been pursued a long time ago as the bills are all stamped “Must be settled in 7 days” etc. all over them. Also my mother was one of these people that if she owed you £1 you would have had it the next day. I simply cannot believe that she left these bills and frankly think the slippery character is trying to pull a fast one as the only person who can truthfully back up his story is dead. Legally does anyone know where I stand, I am her only son and joint executer of her will along with the family solicitor.

[CMYKguru]

Not paying them would be the first thing.

Might be wise to pass it onto the solicitor and get them to request more detailed information. A solicitor is going to have more clout than a relative.

If they can't provide detailed receipts to account for the amount of £1800 then tell them to go and whistle and taking you to court isn't going to gain much if they can't stump up any dated receipts as evidence.

[lesstatt]

Ther are invoices yes but how do I know they weren't invented 1 week ago, there is no signature of them saying my mother agrees etc

[Beggarall]

What exactly were Prudential paying for and would these charges be covered by them? Might be worth asking for itemised accounts and checking to see what Prudential payed for. Good luck

[lesstatt]

All bills were covered by prudential, hes claiming these are from before prudential took over paying, buts that's 2 years ago

[Rude-boy]

lesstatt said:

All bills were covered by prudential, hes claiming these are from before prudential took over paying, buts that's 2 years ago

How did Mum pay her bills before the Pru kicked in? You need to get some copy bank statements I think and hope mum was paying DD or by cheque.

Depending on the financial sense it makes your co-executor should have seen this 1001 times. Care homes sometimes seem to find it difficult to invoice correctly.

[konark]

I'd ask the care provider if it's their normal business practice to wait nearly 2 years before raising an invoice.
If not, why are they doing it now.

[lesstatt]

konark said:

I'd ask the care provider if it's their normal business practice to wait nearly 2 years before raising an invoice.
If not, why are they doing it now.

This is exactly my point, never mentioned before at all. Legally I wonder where he stands with it being so long and she has died