Dundee City Council has apologised to a pensioner after he received a £50 bill following the death of his wife.
Widower John Cord, 81, lost his wife Jemima, who was a resident of Rose House, on October 22 and was surprised when an invoice from Dundee City Council arrived last week.
The bill included a charge of £50.57, described as “three days to allow for collection of personal effects for Rose House Nursing Home from 23/10/14 to 25/10/14”’.
When he got the bill Mr Cord contacted his daughter, Barbara Stewart, who told him not to pay.
She said: “I got in touch with Rose House and they were really nice, but said they had never heard of that either.
“It is quite terrible that if someone dies they charge for emptying the room.
“We are still grieving. We have only just got everything done and now we are hit with this.
“I have spoken to the council who could not give me a breakdown of how they arrive at the £50 figure.”
Mrs Cord suffered from vascular dementia and spent her final days at Rose House.
The night she died both John and Barbara were at her side, and the next day they went back, took some personal items from her room and left the rest for use at the home.
Mr Cord said: “We had a lot of new clothes and bedding that could be used by other residents and we also left a £200 wheelchair that we have no use for.
“We were gone in 10 minutes and the home staff were happy with that.”
Barbara said they would be quite happy to pay any charges for the home, which also benefited from a collection at the funeral, but not if the money is going elsewhere.
Rose House, in Constitution Terrace, is part of the Kennedy Care Group.
The owners declined to comment, but it is understood the charge is levied in the case of all care home residents where the council makes a contribution towards care.
Dundee City Council said it is a standard national charge that covers a three-day grace period when the room cannot be used.
A spokesman for Dundee City Council said: “We are sorry if the wording on the invoice is not clear.
“This charge has been levied as part of the National Care Home Agreement and applies to all of the care homes we deal with.”