Who pays for social care ?

alwaysonthego_2

3card wrote: »

I think you will find the correct term for the top up is actually a 3rd party top up which means that it must be paid by a 3rd party so as others have indicated it cannot be paid from the residents finances.

Not strictly true it can be paid by the person during the 12 week disregard of a property and/or if there is a deferred payment on the property.

Mojisola

alwaysonthego wrote: »

Not strictly true it can be paid by the person during the 12 week disregard of a property and/or if there is a deferred payment on the property.

That's only if a person is a self-funder.

Someone whose bills are being paid by the council only has the option of a third party top-up.

3card

Mojisola wrote: »

That's only if a person is a self-funder.

Someone whose bills are being paid by the council only has the option of a third party top-up.

Do homes charge a top up if you're self funding?
From my experience with my mom none of the homes i looked at were going to charge the top up whilst she was self funding.

As soon as my mom became LA funded the 3rd party top up would kick in but i had a sympathetic care home that realised this would cause some financial difficulties and agreed to waive the top up fee.
I think they thought that my mom had already paid enough during her self funding period

Mojisola

alwaysonthego wrote: »

Not strictly true it can be paid by the person during the 12 week disregard of a property and/or if there is a deferred payment on the property.

3card wrote: »

Do homes charge a top up if you're self funding?

From my experience with my mom none of the homes i looked at were going to charge the top up whilst she was self funding.

As soon as my mom became LA funded the 3rd party top up would kick in but i had a sympathetic care home that realised this would cause some financial difficulties and agreed to waive the top up fee.
I think they thought that my mom had already paid enough during her self funding period

What happened with Dad was that the council were willing to pay their contribution while the deferred payment scheme was in force but not the extra that the home was charging.

Dad had some cash available and so we used that to pay the difference.

The home he was in didn't accept residents at the council rate - someone had to sign the contract to pay top fees or the resident had to have enough capital to pay the full amount.

alanq

3card wrote: »

Do homes charge a top up if you're self funding?

What would "top up" mean if self funding? Wouldn't a home just quote a higher price for a service rather than a "standard price"+a top up?

Mojisola

alanq wrote: »

What would "top up" mean if self funding? Wouldn't a home just quote a higher price for a service rather than a "standard price"+a top up?

If you're a straightforward self funder, there is no top up fee. You pay the price asked.

If you are a self funder but need time to, say, sell a house before you have access to your capital, the council will set up a deferred payment scheme but they will only contribute up to the their set level - the difference between this and the care home cost has to be paid by the resident or someone else - this is where the top up comes into play.

Larac

Sadly my experience of fast trak CHC funding is that the patient is terminally ill and close to death. My Mum was put on fast trak, so she could return to the CH and be under the care with them till end of life. 2/3 days later the CSG were faffing around and she then became too ill to move and died in hospital. She was self funding and I could not believe we were put through this, when my Mum was so ill.

SevenOfNine

Hypothetical, & not sure if this is a simple question!

Which is the 'better' way for husband/wife to own their home IF either was to eventually need a care home, in order to protect the asset for the one still living in it, Joint Tenants or Tenants in Common?

If owned as Tenants in Common, could the LA simply put a charge on the 1/2 owned by the one needing the care home & collect the value once the spouse living there dies (or sells in order to downsize)?

Could they do the same thing even if the home is owned as Joint Tenants?

Sorry if this is a bit vague. Perhaps someone has a decent link to a simple explanation!

:beer:

Catswhiska

The house is disregarded while a spouse is living there. Tenants in common its best as you can leave your half of the assets to whoever you want.

missile

Interesting question.