care support fees

elsien

born_again said:

activities said:

i have POA she has dementia

Have you looked at placing in a care home yourself?

1. Would need health and welfare LPA.
2. Needs the money to pay for it, which she hasn’t got without LA funding. 

p00hsticks

activities said:

  The cost of the monthly care visits are £690 per month which finance dept , having completed their own assessment deem she can pay. 

Out of interest, how many care visits is that for ? 
My mother is paying considerably more than that for two visits a day (one for an hour in the morning and one for an half hour late afternoon)

elmer

At my authority, we would be reporting you to the OPG, as POA, for refusing to pay the care bills as not acting in your mums best interests

activities

I am withdrawing from this discussion as the participants seem to have failed to read the full content of my enquiry. Income is £2.662.98. Outgoings, rent utilities balance without food clothing  £1165,88 Add £300 for food leaves her £865.00 they want £690 plus £160 leaves her £10.00 without my brother taking anything ,

elsien

£300 a month for food is a very high amount for a single older person. And £300 to your brother is also a lot. 
But if you are not happy with the local authority assessment, then your option is to make a formal complaint to them. After which you can escalate further to the ombudsman if you are still not happy. Challenging it correctly may be in her best interests. Refusing to pay is not. 

In terms of taking them to court, which court and what for? And using whose money for the legal fees because using hers would not be acceptable. 

Cyclamen

I have 'care at home' in the form of a direct payment to employ my own team funded by the council.

When they do the financial assessment councils will not include payments to family members as bills.. they do usually accept receipts from others eg gardeners, window cleaners, cleaner etc as house bills but often cap the amount they feel is reasonable.  Sadly not family. Please note I am not agreeing with this policy.

They should take disability related expenditure (DRE) into account when deciding care contribution is she is under the capital limit. For care at home value of property does not count and savings seem below thresholds.  So anything bought due to a health or disability need that a peer on the same income would not buy can be submitted and this if approved is then deducted off what your mum is expected to contribute. 

Think about things like extra laundry, food allergies due to health, pre prepared food as cant slice chop, equipment, wear and tear to clothes if falling etc etc..  There is a website called inclusion london that has a DRE chat bot who can help explain the system. You will need proof of purchase or need.  Some items can be quite pricey eg a rising chair, or door ramp. 

Petrol for hospital appointments, parking etc .. she may be able to reclaim if on a low income benefit or it can be listed as an expense and included in DRE if above what is normally expected. 

I would also check she has been left with the correct Minimum Income Guarantee amount MIG. This si the amount of money the government says is the minimum amount someone needs to live, its not huge but councils usually expect anything above that as client contributions.  I don't know what this is for pensioners (more than younger folk) but sometimes council make a mistake when doing financial assessments and miss out on a premium .

Sadly having care at home is not free.  Its got a lot worse 15 years ago if you were on low income benefit it was free as it was accepted if government are topping your income up to minimum needed you couldn't afford to pay. Now most people i know in the community who have social care have to contribute to the costs and the DRE paperwork to evidence the need for money to be permitted to cover the extra costs of being disabled is a battle. 

Please think carefully about not paying assessed charge. For care to have been set up the person usually signs to say they will pay the care contribution amount.  I have heard of people being pursued for the money. 

Its a huge amount to learn but worth reading up on how care contributions are calculated and not necessarily accepting what council say is right and following care act law. 

sheramber

The OP has left this thread  as she did not get the answers she wanted. 

QrizB

activities said:

I am withdrawing from this discussion as the participants seem to have failed to read the full content of my enquiry.

I would disagree; people have read your enquiry and have responded to it.

Personally, I have some issues with your arithmetic.

activities said:

Income is £2.662.98. Outgoings, rent utilities balance without food clothing  £1165,88

£2622.98 - £1165.88 = £1457.10 

activities said:

Add £300 for food leaves her £865.00

£1457.10 - £300 = £1157.10.
£300 does seem quite a lot; it's £10 a day, which would let you live entirely on Tesco Finest (or equivalent). But that's a different argument.

activities said:

they want £690 plus £160 leaves her £10.00

£1157.10 - £690 - £160 = £307.10

So even after paying all her outgoings, plus £300 a month for food, plus £690 for care, plus £160 towards her arrears, she'll have more than £300 a month as spending money.

Savvy_Sue

sheramber said:

The OP has left this thread  as she did not get the answers she wanted. 

Which is a shame, but hopefully some of the answers will prove useful to others.