Care Home costs and property remains unsold

Mojisola

Susan1942 wrote: »

A friend went in to a care home last July 2017.

Her savings are now almost depleted.

When her savings came close to £23,250 they should have got back in touch with the council to arrange a deferred payment scheme - the council will pay up to their limit as a loan and will put a charge on the property.

The difference between the council limit and the care home fee will still have to be paid.

lisyloo

the council will pay up to their limit as a loanp

Assuming they agree she needs to be in a care home and that the type of home is appropriate for her needs e.g. won't put someone in a nursing home if they only need residential care.
As the nursing home selection was not done by the LA none of this is a given.
They might for example say she can stay at home with 4 care visits per day (just an example know nothing of her circs) but it's fair to say there is price pressure on LAs.

Rambosmum

Yes, as Flugelhorn says, get on to the LA. My question was for clarification on how you would go about that.


If they went in of their own accord with no input from the LA then they will need a full assessment and the LA will only fund if the friend meets the criteria for residential care, despite them being able to claim it back out of the house.


If the LA supported the placement in the first place it's much easier.


Either way, contact them asap.

Flugelhorn

Suspect if she was no longer coping in an over 55's setting and having been in care home for over a year now, she is likely to be considered to be in the right place.

Many people can become a little institutionalised over that period of time and would find transition back to independent living (even with qds carers) impossible - having said that an old friend was in a care home for a few months and her health improved ++ and she was able to move into an over 55's but these sort of bods are few and far between

lisyloo

Suspect if she was no longer coping in an over 55's setting and having been in care home for over a year now, she is likely to be considered to be in the right place.

I don't see why that has to be true at all.
What if she'd put herself in somewhere in excess of her needs? (her choice if she is paying)


What is the LA don't want to pay £850? (that's certainly over budget in my area)


I agree it would be unkind to move her, but don't bank on the LA not being unkind.
They wanted to split up my MIL and FIL who had been married for 60 years to save a few quid.
We fought and won, but we were prepared to stand our ground (and they didn't want a costly delay as hospitals fine LAs and he was bed blocking).


I'm not necessarily saying the worse will happen.
Just saying to be prepared as the LA will be looking for the least cost option to meet her needs.


My own personal experience having visited about 20 nuring homes is that you would NOT choose to put yourself in the same place the LA would choose on cost grounds (and some are overmydeadbody territory).

Rambosmum

It's unlikely the LA will pay the full cost but it's also likely that the self funder charge is what the LA will be charged, and once the LA take the contract over from the OPs they'll only pay the LA rate (which the home may or may not accept as full payment). There may well be a top up which someone will have to agree to pay.


It's also totally possible the LA will advise her to return home with a care package (they can't force her, but they can refuse to pay the homes fees).


But there is lots of info the LA will need which we don't have here.

Rambosmum

lisyloo wrote: »

My own personal experience having visited about 20 nuring homes is that you would NOT choose to put yourself in the same place the LA would choose on cost grounds (and some are overmydeadbody territory).

I think that depends entirely on your area. And also to a certain degree what it is you are looking at. Where I work the best homes are some of the cheapest. In terms of 'best' from my perspective are those we get fewest safeguarding's from, have the highest levels of care and have the highest satisfaction rates from residents and their families. Unfortunately they are frequently the ones which look the shabbiest.

lisyloo

There may well be a top up which someone will have to agree to pay.

No-one has to agree a top-up.
No-one in our family was able to agree to an unlimited liability.


Of course the LA will suggest that someone can do this as an option that they would be happy to encourage, but it's difficult for people to agree to an increasing, unlimited liability especially if you have more than one parent (for example a couple with 4 parents).

But there is lots of info the LA will need which we don't have here.

Totally agree. I don't wish to scaremonger but often it's better to be forewarned.

And also to a certain degree what it is you are looking at

Agree but some we saw had people who had dressings hanging off, stench of urine and filthy toilets. Hard to imagine how that would be to anyone's liking.

Margot123

There are 2 things that must be done sooner rather than later:
1) Your friend must ask for a meeting with the care home manager, and be clear about the situation. They will have experience of what to do.
2) Ask the manager to arrange an assessment for Continuing Healthcare. If the person qualifies, then they will receive NHS funding for at least 6 weeks but sometimes ad infinitum.

lisyloo

Ask the manager to arrange an assessment for Continuing Healthcare.

NHS continuing healthcare is for people who's primary need is medical rather than person, so most people don't qualify for this and it's extremely hard to get.
NHS funded nursing care (about £155 per week) is for people who have medical needs, to pay for the nursing element of their care (usually those people would be in nursing homes and not residential homes).


Has she ever applied to attendance allowance? This is not means tested and private payers can get this. If she's in a home it's a fair assumption that she needs some people to attend her.

Also pension credit might be an option if her income is low. In my MIL's case they excluded the house although they wanted regular chapter and verse to show efforts were being made on the sale.