A SICK woman was horrified after a care home boss demanded ‘outstanding’ cash more than three years after her mother’s death.

Margaret Sheridan of Crown Street, Worcester, feels like she is reliving her beloved mum’s death after she received the letter demanding the money over Christmas.

Mrs Sheridan, 77, who is battling bronchitis, said she has suffered panic attacks and sleepless nights after she received a demand for the cash she insists her mum did not owe, on Tuesday, December 29.

Her mother, Vera George, died at the age of 100 at St Stephen’s Residential Care Home in Droitwich Road, Worcester, on August 31, 2012.

The letter from Allan Coldicott, home administrator at Gold Care Homes, titled ‘outstanding balance’, says Mrs Sheridan owes them £272.45 for her mum’s care and must pay within 30 days.

The company has since apologised and vowed to sort the matter out.

However Mrs Sheridan maintains she was never responsible for her mother’s finances and her mum always paid her own way out of her state pension.

She also insists the cash was paid at the time and that her mum never owed Gold Care Homes a penny.

Mrs Sheridan says she never had power of attorney and her mother remained fiercely independent and ‘on the ball’ about money until she died at the home from a combination of old age, hypertension, atrial fibrillation and chronic kidney disease.

Mrs Sheridan, who was in tears when she spoke to the Worcester News, said: “It feels like they are digging up my mum. I’m nearly 80 myself and I’m only on a pension. I can’t afford it. I never signed any paperwork, saying I was responsible.

“Sometimes (when her mother was still alive) they would say they had not received a cheque but I had the receipt to prove it has been paid.

“I feel like my guts have been ripped out by this. I’m reliving the day she died.

“This year I have been really ill. I had bronchitis and a chest infection all over Christmas. This has caused me anxiety and panic attacks.”

Her mother, who had previously lived in St John’s and in sheltered accommodation in Brookthorpe Close, Warndon, Worcester, spent seven years at the home where she died.

Mrs Sheridan would pay either cheques or cash on her mother’s behalf after collecting her pension from the post office. She added: “I’m not going to pay this money. I will fight this. I will go to court first. It is absolutely disgusting.

“I would like an apology and a letter to say my mum doesn’t owe them anything.

“I have never lived in their care home and my mum would never owe them a penny.

“If my mum was still alive she would tell them to get lost. She would soon put them right. She was very feisty.”

In a statement, David Slater, Chief Operating Officer of Gold Care Homes, said: "GCH apologise for sending of the letter and the distress this has caused to the family.

"We are actively cooperating with a representative to resolve the situation at the soonest opportunity.”