Cash account and fees: Cash in nursing homes: May storing it cost something?
Moving into a nursing home brings many changes. One affects cash: the home usually keeps this safe for the residents and pays it out as needed. This often leads to disputes.
When an individual or their family member resides in a nursing home and manages the personal cash account, it is generally not permissible for the facility to charge separate fees. This arrangement falls under what is known as a standard benefit within the context of institutional care, according to the Consumer Center Saxony-Anhalt.
However, during the review of nursing home accounting records, it is not uncommon for the cash management to be classified as an additional service, even though such a practice is legally impermissible, according to consumer advocates. Consequently, any unjustly levied amounts should be refunded.
Experts advise nursing home residents and their relatives to carefully scrutinize the monthly accounting of the nursing home, particularly looking for any additional charges and verifying whether they have been individually agreed upon. If a charge for cash management appears on the bill, the Consumer Center recommends taking the following steps:
1. File a protest against the bill. If unjust fees have been charged, the person responsible for the payment should be formally informed in writing to refund the amounts retained and to stop any future such calculations.
2. Initiate legal proceedings. If the nursing home refuses to refund the costs and persists in calculating future charges, legal action may be pursued. Many consumer centers also provide specialized legal advice for nursing home issues.
Written by urgent.news from Handelsblatt's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
