The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has launched a consultation on draft advice it has prepared for providers of residential and nursing care homes for people in the UK over 65 on their consumer law obligations.

The purpose of the draft advice is to help care homes understand and comply with their obligations under consumer law. It covers:

• Upfront information – what information should be provided to prospective residents and their representatives, and when and how to do so;

• Treating residents fairly – what should be done to ensure that contract terms and the way residents and their representatives are treated are fair under consumer law;

• Quality of service – complying with the obligation to provide services to residents with reasonable care and skill; and

• Complaints handling – what to do to ensure that policies and procedures are easy to find, easy to use and fair.

The draft advice follows the CMA’s investigation into the sector with its study concluding that some care homes are potentially breaching consumer law. Earlier this month, Sunrise Senior Living agreed to pay more than £2million to former residents as part of the CMA’s investigations.

The consultation closes on 12 July and you say have your say by emailing [email protected]

The CMA plans to publish a final version of the advice, taking into account comments received, together with a summary of responses in Autumn 2018.

We are inviting views on draft CMA advice for providers of residential and nursing care homes for people in the UK over 65 (‘care homes’) on their consumer law obligations.

The purpose of the advice is to help care homes understand and comply with their obligations under consumer law.