Top-up fees for care home?

(This following info comes from a Care Directions e-mail newsletter I receive and the contact may be helpful to youin getting advice about your f-i-l's care funding.

"The fight for continuing care fees to be paid by the NHS or a Local Authority remains a consuming nightmare for thousands of families. Everything hinges on the definition and interpretation of the ruling as to whether the primary need for care is a health need.It becomes a matter of expert evidence and application – and many
families are left floundering and bemused by delay, intransigence and complexity. It can be costing them many thousands of pounds. Challenging denial, securing eligibility

Robert Campbell & Company is a specialist legal practice handling continuing care cases for a wide range of clients all around the UK. One recent case, involved a son whose father, an Alzheimer's sufferer, was prevented from returning home after hospitalisation. For over a year, the son and daughter challenged the denial of NHS continuing care for their father – without any success. Robert Campbell & Co. was asked to take on the case and, in a relatively short time, was able to establish a report reflecting the seriousness of the father's condition and secure an agreement that he was eligible for fully funded NHS continuing care. The father eventually was able to move into a nursing home paid for by the NHS. Delighted at this outcome, grateful son Chris Leeds, said: “I do not believe we would have achieved this highly satisfactory outcome without Robert Campbell's involvement – and I am very happy to recommend Robert's services to anyone. He is highly efficient, focused and good to deal with. At crucial points in the process, he gave us extremely good advice.” The success almost certainly saved the family tens of thousands of pounds in care costs without,in any way,compromising the father’s care. Robert Campbell & Co. offer a free on line assessment of a person's potential to achieve Continuing Care eligibility. You can access this now by going to: http://www.carelaw.co.uk/nursing-care-assessment.html. Robert Campbell & Co will then offer a 'Capped Fee Scheme' to
clients, at £595 plus VAT. Full details of this scheme can be viewed at http://www.carelaw.co.uk/capped_fee_scheme.html "

Sometimes when you're desperately stressed, (and it sounds as if your partner is getting to this state) it may be worth the money to have an expert steer you through the Care Funding minefield. I wish I had known about this when I was trying to cope with my father's care. In the light of the subsequent battle I had it would have been worth every penny.

Primrose wrote: »

Sometimes when you're desperately stressed, (and it sounds as if your partner is getting to this state) it may be worth the money to have an expert steer you through the Care Funding minefield. I wish I had known about this when I was trying to cope with my father's care. In the light of the subsequent battle I had it would have been worth every penny.

I would have thought this would be a legimate expense which could be paid from the father's capital.

That seems to be right Biggles. If both parents each have enough money of their own to pay for their care then they do so, without top-up fees coming in to it at all.

Once their capital assets reduce to the level at which the local authority will contribute to their care, only then does the question of top-up fees possibly arise depending upon the home / costs involved. If there is a shortfall in LA funded placements and top-ups are a possibility, they can only be made by a third party as the resident will already be contributing all they are considered to be able to afford.

It's worth exploring all the possible options though, including whether either or both might qualify for continuing health care funding, http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_079515

Do they have a property that could be rented out?

Is the care annuity a good option - weighing up and balancing costs against possible duration?

Also, Rosie, is there no way that both parents could be placed in the same home together?