full and final settlement offer rejected

Lozald84

Good afternoon all
Im looking for advice. I have had a bill come through for my mums care of £40,845 they claim deprivation of capital which just isnt true!! i have explained that i dont have the funds to pay this and sent 2 full and final settlement amounts as they said they would consider this to clear the debt quick. One was £12,500 which they rejected ( i expected this). I then managed to get a loan and offered £20,000 which they have again rejected. They state it is too low. I have no other way to pay more, I am seeking legal advice on the decision that i owe it but i have been told by them i have 14 days to send an offer or set a repayment plan. They wont accept a repayment plan without putting a charge on our property which is don't want to do as this can effect my change of remortgaging in 3 years. 

Any advice on where to go now that 2 have been rejected? Ive explained that this is everything i have and can get but they have no empathy at all. I have explained by situation concerning other debts and health issues ( MH for me and MS for my husband) but they just don't care, they wont even give a counter offer. 

Brie

Presumably they are saying that mum gave away assets that should have allowed her to pay her bills while she was alive.  Why do you say this isn't the case?  

If she didn't give away any assets and she died without any savings then the bill should die with her.  You are not responsible for your mum's debts.  But is she did have savings, property in her estate then this bill should have been paid from that.  

You seem to be willing to pay towards this so why not start off by paying the £10 a month while you get more information about what is needed.

Lozald84

Hiya
Shes still alive, shes in a care home. basically she gave us money for a deposit on a house before we knew she would need the level of care that she does. Long story involving amputations and a lack of aftercare by NHS making her MH deteriorate. I dont dispute having to pay some back but its the amount were contesting. We didn't know that her giving us the money would result in the situation it has or we would never of accepted it. 

They emailed me to say they would accept a settlement amount which i have offered 2 amount sand both rejected. I just dont have the ability to offer more. 

Brie

Lozald84 said:

Hiya
Shes still alive, shes in a care home. basically she gave us money for a deposit on a house before we knew she would need the level of care that she does. Long story involving amputations and a lack of aftercare by NHS making her MH deteriorate. I dont dispute having to pay some back but its the amount were contesting. We didn't know that her giving us the money would result in the situation it has or we would never of accepted it. 

They emailed me to say they would accept a settlement amount which i have offered 2 amount sand both rejected. I just dont have the ability to offer more. 

sorry I don't quite understand.  are you saying they are willing to negotiate but not given you a settlement figure?  Why not ask them to make a suggestion for you to consider while you pay them a nominal amount.  

FlorayG

I think you need legal advice from a solicitor first, to find out if you really do owe it or not. There's a chance that you don't in which case they can chase you all they like and get nowhere, so that's the thing you need to establish; was it Deprivation of Assets or not?

Grumpelstiltskin

OK Who exactly is 'they', Social Services? Care Home?

fatbelly

Hang on.

Who is saying this money is owed? Your local council? Or the care home itself?

Why are you liable to pay this? Why is your mum not the liable person?

Lozald84

Hiya

ok so its social services i'm talking about Sorry if im not very clear, i have mild learning difficulties and struggle explaining myself sometimes.

 I sent them an email when i got the invoice to say that i wouldn't be able to pay this in full and the reasons why. I was first told they would accept a repayment plan, then another officer i believe a manger emailed me saying that she had taken over and was now my point of contact and they  would consider a  settlement amount to clear the debt quickly. I looked this up to see how much was a reasonable amount to offer to which everything i read said a good amount to offer was between 30 and 75%. I first offered 30% as this is what we had in savings and this was rejected. I then managed to take out a loan which allowed me to up it to 40% which again has been rejected. They will not give me any indication of an acceptable percentage as its down to me to make the offer. 

I suffer bad anxiety and am just trying to get this cleared. now they have said they want to do a repayment plan BUT only with the security of a charge on our property. 

Im in contact with a solicitor for help but when they say you have so many days to rectify this i get worried. 

Lozald84

Just to confirm its social services saying that she intentionally deprived herself of funds by giving us the money for a deposit so they have come after me for the money. Its regarding in home care before she went into a care home. 

Brie

It's a fairly standard thing I'm afraid that if someone gives away their money and then depends on the council to pay for their care that they will come after the people who received that money.  No doubt your mom did what she considered a kindness in giving you money so that you could buy your home.  Unfortunately this is consider deprivation of assets and so they will go after the people who received the money to pay a short fall.  

Likely if your mom hadn't given you the money she would have had this in her savings and then not be eligible for council support to pay for her care. 

What you might manage to argue is that she was getting value for what she gave away.  I was told that this would be the case with us in that my MiL gave us money to let us buy a house where we could live with her and look after her.  In that way she was putting the money towards something that would keep her out of a care home longer than would otherwise be required.  Care homes are expensive and she would have burned through the money in about a year or so whereas she lived with us for nearly 5.  

Frankly I don't think it's a solicitor that is needed but someone like citizen's advice.  CA is at least free and they do sometimes have a legal expert should something more be required.  

Lozald84

Brie said:

It's a fairly standard thing I'm afraid that if someone gives away their money and then depends on the council to pay for their care that they will come after the people who received that money.  No doubt your mom did what she considered a kindness in giving you money so that you could buy your home.  Unfortunately this is consider deprivation of assets and so they will go after the people who received the money to pay a short fall.  

Likely if your mom hadn't given you the money she would have had this in her savings and then not be eligible for council support to pay for her care. 

What you might manage to argue is that she was getting value for what she gave away.  I was told that this would be the case with us in that my MiL gave us money to let us buy a house where we could live with her and look after her.  In that way she was putting the money towards something that would keep her out of a care home longer than would otherwise be required.  Care homes are expensive and she would have burned through the money in about a year or so whereas she lived with us for nearly 5.  

Frankly I don't think it's a solicitor that is needed but someone like citizen's advice.  CA is at least free and they do sometimes have a legal expert should something more be required.  

Thank you. 

I will contact CAB and see what they recommend as its more the settlement side of things i need help with as they just dont seem to want to know and keep moving the goal posts which is very frustrating.