Care home quandary

Vickyville

My mother has advancing Alzheimer’s, we’ve been her carers for the last 3 years but her needs are more advanced now and sadly we can’t manage so we have found a suitable residential home. It will be part funded by the LA as she has no property of her own and no savings. Her pensions will be taken off her and we as her family have to pay a 3rd party top up of £50pw. (Which could go upto £100pw in the future).

 It turns out she has life Insurance/ funeral policies that she’s paid into for many many years by direct debit totalling £54 pm. The companies have told us if the monthly payments stop or cannot be paid, the policies will be cancelled and she will lose everything. 

She will be left with NO income when the state will take her pensions from her. 

Can her funeral policies be halted in this situation? The insurance company has been extremely unhelpful and told me that I would need to continue paying them. Surely this cannot be right?? Please can you help.

frederick1950

Unfortunately they are not savings plans , it is insurance so if the payments stop the policies end.
You say the insurance company are being extremely unhelpful but what do you really expect them to do?
The only people who really benefit from these policies are the beneficiaries of her will ( you and your immediate family ? ) so it is in your best interests that you continue to make these payments otherwise you will have to finance any funeral and will not receive any benefit from the life policy.
I am sorry to be so blunt but this is how this type of  insurance works and it will all be evident in the original terms and conditions that will have been accepted when taking out the policies.


 

BooJewels

Vickyville said:

She will be left with NO income when the state will take her pensions from her. 

Sorry for the situation you find yourselves in, they're really tricky, I've just been through similar.  The one comment I would add is that the local authority don't leave the resident with no income at all.  There's an allowance in the calculations for personal expenses - for buying clothes, shampoo etc.  So they won't leave her potless, there will be something left for her to choose what she does with it - I can't just find the numbers in my notes here, but I think it was £30.65 per week for us.  

Does she not qualify for full continuing care funding with Alzheimer's?

Old_Lifer

From your post and  the response of the Life Officies,  these are not savings policies.  There is no pot of savings.    The premiums paid  each month   have been used  to purchase life cover each month..     The life cover continues as long as the premiums continue to be paid.     If the premiums stop the life cover will cease.        This is all quite normal.

TELLIT01

The only way to decide whether or not it is worth continuing with the policies is to determine the cost of a funeral, your mother's life expectancy and do the calculation of cost over benefit.  Not an easy or pleasant thing to do.  Even a basic funeral will cost in excess of £3k, so it would take in the region of 5 years for cancelling the policy to make a real world saving.

I'm guessing that you are having to contribute to her care home costs because the home you have chosen is more expensive than the max figure the council will contribute.  I'm not criticising you for that as the quality of the home and care is paramount to most families in the same situation.

Bossyboots

BooJewels said:

Does she not qualify for full continuing care funding with Alzheimer's?

Sadly no.