PART 5CHARGING AND FINANCIAL ASSESSMENT

Enforcement of debts

70Recovery of charges, interest etc

(1)

Any amount due to a local authority under this Part is recoverable by the authority as a debt due to it.

(2)

But subsection (1) does not apply in a case where a deferred payment agreement could be entered into, in accordance with regulations under section 68, unless—

(a)

the local authority has sought to enter into such an agreement with the person from whom the amount is due, and

(b)

that person has refused.

(3)

An amount recoverable by a local authority under subsection (1) is recoverable summarily as a civil debt (but this does not affect any other method of recovery).

(4)

An amount is recoverable under this section within six years of the date on which the amount becomes due to the local authority.

(5)

Where a person mentioned in subsection (6) misrepresents or fails to disclose (whether fraudulently or otherwise) to a local authority any material fact in connection with the provisions of this Part, the following amounts are due to the authority from that person—

(a)

any expenditure incurred by the authority as a result of the misrepresentation or failure, and

(b)

any amount recoverable under this section which the authority has not recovered as a result of the misrepresentation or failure.

(6)

The persons are—

(a)

an adult—

(i)

who appears to the local authority to have needs for care and support or (in the case of a carer) support under Part 3, and

(ii)

who has capacity to understand whether a fact may be material in connection with the provisions of this Part;

(b)

an adult—

(i)

to whom something is provided in order to meet another person's needs for care and support or (in the case of a carer) support under Part 3, and

(ii)

who has capacity to understand whether a fact may be material in connection with the provisions of this Part;

(c)

an adult of a description specified in regulations in relation to care and support or (in the case of a carer) support which appears to the local authority to be needed by—

(i)

a child, or

(ii)

an adult who does not have capacity to understand whether a fact may be material in connection with the provisions of this Part.

(7)

The reasonable costs incurred by a local authority in recovering or seeking to recover an amount due to it under this Part are recoverable by the authority as a debt due to it; and subsection (3) applies to the recovery of those costs as if they were amounts to which subsection (1) applies.

(8)

Regulations may—

(a)

make provision for determining the date on which an amount becomes due to a local authority for the purposes of this section;

(b)

specify cases or circumstances in which an amount due to a local authority under this Part is not recoverable by it under this section;

(c)

specify cases or circumstances in which a local authority may charge interest on an amount (including any costs recoverable by the authority under subsection (7)) due to it under this Part;

(d)

where interest is chargeable, provide that it—

(i)

must be charged at a rate that exceeds the rate specified in or determined in accordance with the regulations;

(ii)

may not be charged at a rate that exceeds the rate specified in or determined in accordance with the regulations.