Many older adults require a variety of support services. They may have a home health aide who helps them clean their house once a week or administers medication. They may need the services of a local handyman for everything from fixing a leaking sink to changing hard-to-reach light bulbs.
Older adults may outsource tasks that they once performed themselves, including vehicle and yard maintenance. Some businesses help protect older adults by offering discounts for senior citizens and retirees. Others might go the opposite route and could take advantage of vulnerable older adults who patronize them. Families may need to watch for warning signs of unethical and inappropriate conduct from businesses providing support to an aging individual.
What types of misconduct may indicate attempts at financial abuse?
Questionable relationships
Loneliness is a common issue among older adults, and some people take advantage of that fact. Professionals ranging from home health aides to neighborhood handymen might befriend older adults or even create a false sense of romance with them. The goal may be to ask the older adult for financial support or convince them to add that professional to their estate plan.
Businesses that work with older adults should have strict policies about financial compensation, including gratuities and gifts. Businesses that do not train their workers to treat older adults with respect and dignity may set older customers and clients up for fraud and financial abuse.
Questionable billing practices
Some companies take advantage of older adults by implementing questionable billing practices. They do not disclose that they charge a monthly fee to provide on-call handyman support, for example. Other times, they may bill an older adult at higher rates than other customers or may bill them multiple times for the same services.
Companies may count on older adults having minimal support from others. Family members may be able to identify questionable charges, unapproved recurring expenses and other signs of billing fraud if they help an older adult balance their checkbook and review their incoming financial statements. In scenarios where businesses have defrauded older adults, family members may need to help them take action.
Fighting back against the financial abuse of older adults may require litigation. A successful lawsuit can compensate those affected by fraud and create consequences for those enriching themselves at the expense of vulnerable older adults.
