Beware of Amigo Personal Care (ACN 661 135 431) (ABN 74 661 135 431)
Many companies providing personal care have been popping up recently to meet the increasing demands of NDIS participants. A number of these are set up by foreign nationals and are not registered with the NDIS. Amigo Personal Care one such company also trading as Amigo Home Solutions.
An NDIS participant had a service agreement with Amigo Personal Care. After the participant terminated the agreement because of poor service, he noticed billing discrepancies in invoices for the previous five months.
On 9th October 2023 he wrote to the founder (Specialist in Service Management) as to the discrepancies over thirteen invoices. According to his calculations he should have been charged $14,490.00 but invoices added up to $18,102.00. He asked the founder to provide receipts and/or supporting documents to justify the $3,612.00 overcharge.
In the letter he advised her that if the request was not complied with by 23rd October 2023, he may refer the matter to the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal. On 21 October 2023 he followed up with gentle reminders the founder's company and agreement email addresses, and also by SMS to the mobile number listed on the company's website.
On 24 October 2023 the participant received a registered letter (dated 19th October 2023) from the founder alleging he engaged in criminal conduct under the Crimes (Domestic and Personal Violence) Act 2007 (NSW) against her!!! Shell-shocked, on 31 October 2023, he asked the founder to report the matter to the police immediately so that the matter can be fully investigated. On 02 November 2023 he reported the matter to the police.
After due consideration of correspondences and messages on his phone, the police found absolutely no evidence whatsoever of any criminal misconduct on the part of the participant. They told him that no report has been lodged with the police against him.
On 03 November 2023 he wrote to the founder advising the findings of the police, asked her to make a police report by 17 November 2023, or in the alternative withdraw the allegation of criminal misconduct. To date he has not received a response from the founder.
All the NDIS participant asked for is the receipts and/or supporting documents to justify the claim from his NDIS plan for what appears to be $3,612.00 in expenses, and got accused of criminal misconduct! How low will service providers stoop just to avoid scrutiny!
NDIS has already put in motion plans to register all service providers. Participants should be mindful when engaging providers such as Amigo Personal Care who are not registered with the NDIS.