Care home contracts can see residents evicted in 24 hours

 Care home residents are unwittingly signing contracts that could see them kicked out within 24 hours, Which? has found.

The watchdog warned that vulnerable older people and their families could be subjected to unfair terms because they don’t know what they are signing.

Which? contacted 50 care homes posing as a person looking for care for an elderly relative. Just four homes agreed to send a sample contract, three of which contained clauses that could be unfair to residents, including the right to end an agreement with 24 hours’ notice for “detrimental behaviour”.

Another contract said the home could charge a resident up to a month’s fees after their death, which the Competition and Markets Authority has said is illegal.

Caroline Dinenage, the minister of state for care, said: “If improvements aren’t seen, we will look to change the law to protect care home residents from unscrupulous practices.”