Belongings "Lost" by care home

[djsky]

Hello, I hope this is the right place to post this.

My Nan died whilst in a care home a few months ago, during the Covid Pandemic. The Care home would not let us into her room to collect her belongings, but took some photos from around her room and emailed us them, asking us to clarify what we wanted.

We stated that we did not want the furniture, or her clothes, but wanted all of her belongings, which included figurines, pictures etc.

The care home said that they would box everything up, and have it ready for us to collect.

We collected their boxes, and they had made an inventory of everything that was packed in the boxes, which I signed on collection, despite not actually checking each item off on the list.

On unboxing, we discovered that there were several items missing... however, these items WERE visible in the photos that the care home sent us, but they were NOT either in the packaged boxes, OR listed in the inventory that they provided us with.

We have naturally been on to them about this, simply stating that there are some items missing, and sent them their own photo back with the items circled, but we don't hold out much hope of them saying "Ah yes, those are still here in another box we forgot to give you!"

I would like to know what our rights are. Naturally some of the items are quite valuable, albeit more personally, and obviously some item's values cannot be determined as they are limited edition pieces that would fetch more at an auction dependent on condition etc.

The care home were adamant that due to Covid, no one was allowed into her room at any time, except staff, so if they've been "stolen" then where do we stand? Can we simply put a value on the missing items and claim this from the care home due to negligence? I presume they would have insurance that would cover losses and theft?

Any recommendations of course of action would be welcomed.

[twohoots]

That’s not good is it? Have you settled your grandmother’s final bill yet or was her care paid for by social services? If it hasn’t then, if it were me, I would deduct what I thought was the appropriate costs from her bill before paying it. my friend had to do this when over £500 worth of clothes were stolen from her mother.

I would also write another letter saying this is your final attempt to recover these items before going to the Police with your photographic evidence. See if that shakes them up!

If nobody other than staff went in the room then it must be staff who stole them. When my late uncle was in a care home he had new expensive leather slippers stolen, 3 watches, cash and some brand new shoes.

You might get more help from Age UK who I believe have a forum too.

Sorry this has happened to you.

[djsky]

They’ve replied back asking for receipts or professional valuations of the items so they can then discuss this with their insurers.

for starters, we don’t know what OTHER items have gone missing, nor can we put a price on some of the things that are rare.

Then the question is, what if a valuation reveals that something was worth thousands of pounds????

id be happy if they simply admitted making a huge mistake and offered us a gesture of good will if I’m honest, but I’d like to know if there are actually any “legal beagles” on here that can help me out?