In order to be able to decide on a nursing home, the operator must inform you in writing about the most important services of the nursing home before concluding the contract. You can refer to this later.
The essentials in summary:
- Nursing home providers must provide you with comprehensive information about the services they offer before you sign the contract.
- Pre-contractual information must be written in written form and in clearly understandable language.
- Pre-contractual information is the basis of the subsequent contract. You can refer to this if you have any problems.
- If a supplier fails to fulfill its information obligations, you may terminate without notice.
Transparency through pre-contractual information
Deciding to move into a nursing home is not an easy step. There is therefore a great concern that something important may be overlooked in contractual matters with the nursing home. The good news: The legislature took precautions here. At the Housing and Care Contract Act (WBVG) It is stated that the nursing home operator will provide you with all important information before concluding the contract in written form and more simply, easy to understand language must be sent.
This gives you the opportunity to obtain comprehensive information in advance, compare and claim promised services more easily.
We will explain what this so-called pre-contractual information looks like and what it must contain.
Pre-contractual information must be clear and concise
Before signing a contract, a nursing home provider should provide you with a variety of information to make your decision easier. This information should in writing and in understandable and clear language be written. So no cool German. How you receive this information may vary from home to home. It is possible a prospectus, a brochure or even a document. If the contract is concluded later, the care company is bound by this information – which means it can rely on it.
The contract must also indicate what pre-contractual information it refers to. If the entrepreneur deviates from the information he received in advance in one or more points of the housing contract, he must clearly indicate this.
It sometimes happens that nursing home operators deliver pre-contractual information within a very short period of time or even together with the contract. We recommend that you definitely insist on the information before the conclusion of the contract to obtain. Only those who have time to check the information and compare it with others can decide with peace of mind.
Exception: In certain cases, the law allows the nursing home operator to provide pre-contractual information if it is omitted in the consumer’s interest. For example, because a place in a house had to be organized quickly after a hospital stay.
Content of pre-contractual information
When it comes to pre-contractual information, it’s not just the language that’s crucial. The legislator also stipulated that the provider must inform you about its general range of services, as well as specifically about the services that can be considered for you.
The general range of services
In the content section about the general range of services, the care company lists information that fundamentally affects the nursing home. Important aspects expressly listed in the law are:
- Building facilities
(Points of interest: number of floors or buildings, number of rooms, number of beds, elevator) - Building location
(Points of interest: location on the outskirts, in the city center, at a bus stop, nearby shops) - Community Facilities and Facilitiesthat can be used by residents (e.g. garden, lounges, cafeteria, library, public telephones, computers with Internet access)
- Terms of use of community facilities
(For example, house rules or special conditions for using the library and computers with Internet access) - Quality inspection results by the medical service and the responsible state authority.
Services that may apply to you
In addition to the general offer, you should also receive information about the services that are individually applicable to you. These are:
- Size of living space and equipment
- Kind of Meals and number of meals
- Type, content and scope of Care and support services
- concept the institution (for which group of people, in what form and for what purpose are services provided?
- requirements for changes to services and/or costs (for example, if your health status changes)
- Notice which people not maintained by facility and can be taken care of. This representation must be made prominently, for example through color, size or type of font.
You must also provide a list of Cost received for individual services, divided according to
- Living room
- Meals
- Care and/or support
- Investments
- Training costs
Your home operator must also inform you if you are participating in a Dispute Resolution Procedures participates or not in a consumer arbitration board in accordance with the Consumer Dispute Settlement Act (VSBG).