Top Up Fees - Or not....???

doodle-bug_2

A bit long, I'm afraid.

After my mum died last year my dad had to go into Residential Care. He has a brain disorder that affects his speech (sometimes) and his balance, making him unstable. Apart from looking in on him, and helping him have a bath, his needs are few.

When he entered the home, it was an awful time - mum was in hospital, dad needed respite care until things were sorted out. I had to sign to say that I would pay the £10 per week top up fees that were specified by the home. Really, it was 'sign agreeing to pay or he doesn't come in'.
After sorting things out with the local authority, all of his pension goes towards his care, leaving him with the minimum few pounds for his own use. The authority pay the remainder.

After looking carefully at the amounts, it appears that the authority are willing to pay x-amount per week, and obviously with dad's input they are not paying anywhere near the maximum they said they would.
However, it seems that the 'top up fees' are a 'personal issue' between the family and the home, and nothing to do with the authority.

Can they charge me 'top up fees' when the authority are technically underpaying?

I suppose that the answer is for me to find out exactly what these fees cover - if they are towards his main care then I may approach the authority to see if they will pay instead.

I do feel a bit awkward, as he really likes it there and I don't want them to blame him indirectly for the actions of his daughter.

Has anyone else come across this before?

Errata

The local authority is not underpaying, it's paying the amount it negotiated with the home. Many, but not all, local authorities negotiate a lower weekly fee for those residents they are funding than the fee self-funders pay.

doodle-bug_2

I do appreciate this, but I thought that 'top up' fees were exactly that - to top up the shortfall of the maximum the authority were willing to pay.

I think I'd better bite the bullet and actually ask (in writing) what these payments are for. When asked verbally, a straight answer is not forthcoming.

It just seems a bit strange to blindly pay and not know what this is for.

Errata

There are two contracts in existence: the one between the LA and the Home and the one between yourself and the Home. So it would seem that you need to discuss the contract you have with the Home with them; there's no reason for them to be anything other than open and transparent.

dzug1

doodle-bug wrote: »

I do appreciate this, but I thought that 'top up' fees were exactly that - to top up the shortfall of the maximum the authority were willing to pay.

I think I'd better bite the bullet and actually ask (in writing) what these payments are for. When asked verbally, a straight answer is not forthcoming.

It just seems a bit strange to blindly pay and not know what this is for.

Well yes - the maximum the LA is willing to pay TO THAT HOME is what they have negotiated with them.

Follow it up though.

monkeyspanner

Each council set "usual fee" levels each year this is the agreed fee level for which the council will provide support for that care need level. This is not the maximum the council will pay as a prportion of these fees is the assessed fee contribution from the resident. This contribution is taken from the resident's income including state pension less as you say a small weekly allowance which the resident can keep to use for personal purchases. Effectively all care home residents are at least partially self funding.

The care home is under no obligation to accept these "usual fee" levels as their standard fee and this is where the request for 3rd party top-up payments arise. Under CRAG rules a resident cannot make his/her own top-up payments. Although I understand many councils turn a blind eye to the resident paying their own top-ups.

However, at the time your Dad first went into a care home the council were under an obligation to demonstrate that there was at least one local care home with a vacancy that would have taken your Dad at the "usual fee" level. If this was not the case they should have picked up the full fees and not asked for a 3rd party top-up. Only if you or your Dad opted to use a care home with fees higher than the "usual fee" level should you have been asked for 3rd party top-up fees. No doubt you were under pressure at this time and the social services probably did not explain this properly.

In addition the council cannot set their "usual fee" levels unreasonably in effect this usually means they have at least one less than desireable care home they can say has a place available. You may wish to challenge the council on this basis if they did not provide an alternative with no top-up required.

Another alternative is to approach the council or care home and find out what care need level has been assigned to your Dad and if they believe there is any grounds for changing this need assessment. For instance if there has been some change in your Dad's medical condition. There is a possible downside to this as they may well agree this is the case and if the gap between their fee level for this care need and the councils "usual fee" level is wider than at a lower level, you could well be faced with a higher top-up payment.

Third party top-ups can also leave you open to requests for additional fees as the care home could decide to increase their fees at a higher rate than the council raise their "usual fees".