Care homes

DCM2022

Hi, quick question..can a care home request a residents Winter energy allowance from them to pay towards the care homes energy bills? Thank you.

EssexHebridean

I'd imagine it depend what the T's and C's in their contract say?

herebeme

Care homes can only do what the contract they have signed with the resident allows them to do. 

It seems unlikely if you are talking about the £400 thing, as that is per metered address, so unless there is an electricity meter in the resident’s individual accommodation then they won’t be getting the £400. 

If you are talking about the winter fuel allowance for pensioners, then if the care home resident is eligible for this payment, then you need to refer to the care home contract to see if paying this over to the care home is part of the agreement. 

Given care home residents can be under pensionable age it would be very surprising if this was a contract condition as then older residents would be paying more for the same service which would likely be discrimination. 

elsien

Does it also depend who is paying for the care home? If local authority funded then all income bar the £25 personal allowance is used towards the fees so I would expect the £400 to be part of this. Although that would go to the local authority not directly to the care home.

Although having said that I don’t think it’s an unreasonable request although obviously  it does depend on the terms and conditions. I’ve been wondering for awhile now how care homes are going to manage to keep going given the temperatures that they have to keep the home at  and I can see more going under with the increased costs.

Alnat1

I work in a care home and believe (I'm a cook not admin) that the price is set weekly with no variation for seasons. How much pension the individual resident receives doesn't affect the total paid over to us each week. 

Nebulous2

Alnat1 said:

I work in a care home and believe (I'm a cook not admin) that the price is set weekly with no variation for seasons. How much pension the individual resident receives doesn't affect the total paid over to us each week. 

The amount paid over to you may not change, but where the money comes from does. People dependent on state funding often have to pay in all their benefits / income above a certain level, as elsien said. I haven't dealt with this for a few years now, but in Scotland social work did a financial assessment to work out the contribution from the resident. 

jbuchanangb

It is rather odd that residents of care homes (of state pension age) receive £100 winter fuel payments, this year augmented by a further £150 cost of living payment, but they are free to spend this in whatever way they want.

MattMattMattUK

jbuchanangb said:

It is rather odd that residents of care homes (of state pension age) receive £100 winter fuel payments, this year augmented by a further £150 cost of living payment, but they are free to spend this in whatever way they want.

Everyone who receives them is free to spend them on whatever they want.

macman

jbuchanangb said:

It is rather odd that residents of care homes (of state pension age) receive £100 winter fuel payments, this year augmented by a further £150 cost of living payment, but they are free to spend this in whatever way they want.

How are you proposing that the payments should otherwise be audited to ensure that it's not spend on frivolities other than energy bills? 
People not in care homes can spend the COL allowance and WFP on whatever they wish to. And any surplus they might have left after the EBSS rebate is paid.

billy2shots

elsien said:

Does it also depend who is paying for the care home? If local authority funded then all income bar the £25 personal allowance is used towards the fees so I would expect the £400 to be part of this. Although that would go to the local authority not directly to the care home.

Although having said that I don’t think it’s an unreasonable request although obviously  it does depend on the terms and conditions. I’ve been wondering for awhile now how care homes are going to manage to keep going given the temperatures that they have to keep the home at  and I can see more going under with the increased costs.

No. The residents that are LA funded get to keep the COL (cost of living payment (s) AND the Winter Fuel payment. They are not counted in the financial assesment. 

DCM2022

Thank you very much for all your comments, much appreciated....kind regards.