Sunrise Senior Living is set to dole out more than £2 million—roughly $2.7 million in today’s exchange rate—to many residents who reside at its United Kingdom care homes.
The UK government’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) helped arrange the deal, which applies to all residents who paid the senior living provider’s mandatory “upfront” fees since Oct. 1, 2015, reported BBC News. Sunrise has 25 care homes across the UK, according to its website.
Payouts will average about £3,000 per resident. Additionally, Sunrise will no longer ask future residents to pay the fees, according to the Guardian.
The decision to initiate the refunds was voluntary, according to Dr. Natalie-Jane Macdonald, who oversees the senior living provider’s UK operations as CEO of Sunrise Senior Living Limited.
“We previously charged an up-front community fee, which helped maintain the outstanding facilities and communal areas that our residents expect and enjoy,” Macdonald told the BBC. “However, we have agreed with the CMA that residents who stayed with us for shorter than average periods were not able to enjoy as much of the benefit of our facilities as residents who are with us for a longer time.”
The CMA previously raised concerns regarding how Sunrise described the payments and what they were used for, the fact that residents had to pay before they secured a place in the community, and that the fees were non-refundable after residents lived in the community for more than 30 days.
Senior Housing News was unable to reach a representative of Sunrise Senior Living for comment.
Written by Tim Regan
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