2023-06-12 16:03:53
It is difficult to find the ideal place to shelter the elderly. If nursing homes have been violently questioned in recent months after the revelations about the Orpea company, now it is also senior residences that are being singled out.
The Directorate General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Prevention (DGCCRF) published a report on Monday showing that 40% of senior residences give misleading information about their establishment, whether these companies are private or associative.
As a reminder, a “senior service residence” is different from a retirement home: it is a set of independent dwellings rented or purchased by elderly people who live there independently. Each resident has their own apartment and can benefit from specific services such as collective catering, cleaning or sometimes home help.
Spas and non-existent doctors
DGCCRF agents looked into some 256 establishments in the territory between 2021 and 2022. Among them, 4 out of 10 do not correctly inform consumers about the services, even though many families seek information beforehand to choose the best solution to shelter their elders.
First pitfall, the most recurrent: many establishments explain that they are health service providers, when they are not listed as medical-social. Some websites, for example, highlight the presence of health professionals within a residence, even though this is not included in the operation of senior residences.
Other establishments embellish the reality on service delivery schedules: some report a 24-hour service, misleading information, according to the DGCCRF. Same thing for the presence of a sports hall or a balneotherapy within the residence which sometimes… do not exist.
Ghost tax credit
To attract consumers, some residences put forward the possibility of obtaining a tax credit on the provision of personal services, but “they do not meet the required conditions”, says the DGCCRF.
On prices, the repression of fraud pinpoints a lack of transparency for the benefit of service providers. Some establishments also charge unjustified supplements, for the use of service-employment vouchers, for example.
“A large majority of the establishments inspected spontaneously returned to compliance” after the visit of the DGCCRF agents, nevertheless notes the report. The agency linked to the Ministry of the Economy nevertheless issued 71 warnings and 32 compliance injunctions as part of this investigation.
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