The booming multibillion-dollar retirement village sector is in for a big shake-up following revelations of wide-ranging dispute issues dogging residents.
Troy Churton, the Commission for Financial Capability's retirement village programme strategy manager, this morning announced a big change in the sector following an investigation which showed:
• The formal dispute resolution process is not user-friendly for all residents;
• There is a lack of alternative options to resolve disputes;
• There is a need for greater advice and support for residents in resolving disputes, as well as better information about the dispute process.
A forum will now be established by the Retirement Commissioner and the commission to investigate better ways to resolve disputes in retirement villages.
The moves follow a new report from the commission which identified significant issues in the sector for residents.
That examined the needs of all residents, especially those who are vulnerable who have impairment that make communication difficult or who are reluctant to complaint, the commission announced.
Statutory supervisors also raised concerns about the costs, delays and the lack of alternative processes for resolving disputes, the commission said.
As a next step, the commission is now conducting a stakeholder forum to determine ways to integrate solutions - such as mediation and alternative dispute resolution - into the current framework.
That could result in an entirely new set of rules being established, implemented via a variation to the Code of Practice process, the commission said.
Residents told of their frustration with the current system: "I would have liked to sit down with the operator but it was their intransigence, they stuck to their view".
Another said: "The operator would not discuss anything with us, I wanted to sit down with the operator right from the start and they wouldn't sit down so where do you go?"
Yet another resident complained: "The main driving force behind my actions was the fact that too many residents were complaining to me of what they considered high handed behaviour and lack of consultation," while another said: "I didn't feel there was anyone else to go to for advice, filing a dispute notice was the only course of action to sharpen their [operator's] attention."
The report outlined how between 2007 and last year, there were 19 villages involved in 23 retirement village disputes. One village was involved in three disputes and two villages were involved in two disputes.
The remaining villages were involved in one dispute each, the report said, without identifying the villages.
Those disputes were over:
• Disposal matters including marketing, valuation, length of sale, refurbishment, ongoing charges and exit payments: 11
• Fees setting, amount and increases: 2
• Validity of termination of occupational rights agreements: 2
• Resident's behaviour: 2
• Conduct of manager towards resident: 2
• Residents' expectations around the provision of promised facilities and services: 2
• Repairs and maintenance to resident's dwelling: 2
• Treatment of GST in fees and charges: 1
• Compliance with regulations regarding village bank account: 1
• Provision of information about village expenditure and budgets: 1
• Consultation with residents about changes in communal and personal spaces: 1
John Collyns, Retirement Villages Association executive director, said most complaints were resolved at village level and the industry treated every complaint extremely seriously.
He indicated support for the existing system.
"The current complaints process is neutral, thorough and impartial. However, we're always looking at ways to ensure residents' expectations are met wherever possible. The sector also treats every complaint extremely seriously.
"Given the negligible number of dispute hearings, it is clear the current system, involving Statutory Supervisors at the start who can resolve issues, is working, but the association will always welcome further improvements if possible."
Collyns also questioned the need for change, given only 23 disputes went through the formal process between 2007 and last year.
"With over 32,000 residents living in villages, the number of disputes represents around one for every 17,000 residents per annum, which shows the industry responds to resident concerns," Collyns said.
But Nigel Matthews, whose mother is in a Christchurch aged-care facility and who founded the web site Aged Advisor, called for change and said the existing system did not work.
"It's a shame that villages aren't named," he said of the commission's report into complaints against villages.
"I find it staggering that the latest random surveying of residents undertaken in April and May 2015 suggests almost 12% of residents made a complaint to their village over the last two years ... and that's only the ones that were bold enough to complain. My experience is that many don't.
"Over the past four years in helping parents transition into a village and then residential care was a real eye-opener. Then when talking to others, they shared similar experiences. A team of us got together to work out how we could improve the situation," Matthews said.
Aged Advisor allows people to give feedback on their experiences in aged care and retirement villages, Matthews said.
- By Anne Gibson of the New Zealand Herald
