Care Home Fees

Cnkp21

Hi 

My Mum has a degenerative brain disorder called Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP) and because of the rapid deterioration over the last few months she was placed in residential care. Prior to this my Dad was caring for my Mum, however this has become too much for him. 

My Mum has been refused for Continuing Health Care (CHC) funding because as this stage she does not need specialist nursing care. This is extremely frustrating considering my Mum is partially blind, is unable to speak and cannot wash or feed herself. She also cannot walk without falling over. 

Because CHC has been rejected a funding assessment will now be carried out to determine who funds the care, however it is likely that my Mum will have to self fund because her savings are slightly over the threshold of £23,250. Approximately £2000 over. 

We are slightly confused what will happen considering the savings are only just over and the threshold will be reached after just over a weeks care. Will the assessment take this into account or would we need to start the process again when the threshold is reached? 

We are aware that spending or gifting money may be deemed as depreciation of assets, however is anything not classed as depreciation as assets i.e house/car maintenance? 

My Dad is due a new car however he is concerned this will also be looked at unfavourably. 

If my Dad was to gift money taking us below the threshold, how likely is it that we will be penalised considering we are only slightly over? 

I may not be in the correct forum, however I would be grateful for some advice from someone who has experience in this area. 

Many thanks 

Chris 

middlewife

I'm sorry you are having to go through this . Age UK have a very readable guide to how the " care" system works, or sadly, in many cases doesn't.
Are the savings in her name alone or joint? 
Is she in a care home or nursing home?
The criteria for funded nursing care is ridiculously narrow, so she will as you say, need a needs assessment from Social services, for which there is usually quite a wait. It would be worth speaking to the home manager to ascertain their policy on funding. We are, 2 years after my mum's death, waiting for a refund of care fees after the care home and GP failed to submit paperwork in time once she was given a terminal prognosis. Few people are aware that the State pays the fees for end of life care, I appreciate that your mum isn't at this stage, but just a heads up as if you go down the posthumous claim route they will drag their feet, complaint procedure does nothing and the only route left open to us now,.( Involving the local MP achieved nothing) , is to go via the ombudsman.
You can also get advice from Citizens Advice, but I would try to find out as soon as you can,.Good luck, splitting health and social care was the worst decision IMHO.....

Keep_pedalling

Shifting any of her savings now will deffinately be considered DoA and you father cannot gift her savings away even if he has power of attorney. The financial assessment is going to take into account that her savings will rapidly drop below £23,250, ant the only contribution she will be required to make from that point is from income (including deemed income on savings above £14,250).

middlewife

Forgot to add that if she is in receipt of state pension, most of that will be used to fund her care, she will retain a small amount of "pocket money" but the rest goes to fund care

TimeLord1

As the savings are close to the level, Local Authorities (LAs) advise you to contact them when savings drop to around £3,000 to £5,000 above the threshold. This allows them time to complete the assessment so funding can kick in the moment she hits £23,250.

badmemory

Please forget those savings, they are gone.  What I would be far more concerned about is when the care home discovers she is not self funding & tells the LA how much her care is going to cost them & they have to find another home.  Not what you want to hear I know.

TimeLord1

Send this to the Adult Social Care Finance Team at your local council.

​Subject: Urgent Request for Financial Assessment - [Mum's Name] - Capital Depleting Rapidly

​Dear Financial Assessment Team,

​I am writing regarding my mother, [Name], [Date of Birth], who has recently been assessed as having significant social care needs.

​We wish to notify the council that while her current capital is slightly above the upper threshold of £23,250 (currently at approximately £25,250), this amount is depleting rapidly due to her high care requirements. Based on current care costs, we anticipate her capital will fall below the threshold on or around [Insert Date - e.g., 10 days from now].

​We request that a financial assessment be initiated immediately. Given the proximity to the threshold, we ask that the council conducts the assessment now so that funding can be seamlessly put in place the moment her capital reaches £23,250, avoiding any gap in her care provision.

​We look forward to hearing from you regarding a date for this assessment.

​Yours sincerely,

[Your Name]

Cnkp21

Hi everyone. Thank you so much for your information. It is massively appreciated 👌

Cnkp21

badmemory said:

Please forget those savings, they are gone.  What I would be far more concerned about is when the care home discovers she is not self funding & tells the LA how much her care is going to cost them & they have to find another home.  Not what you want to hear I know.

Hi. Is it likely the LA will want to place my Mum in a different home due to costs? 

Cnkp21

TimeLord1 said:

Send this to the Adult Social Care Finance Team at your local council.

​Subject: Urgent Request for Financial Assessment - [Mum's Name] - Capital Depleting Rapidly

​Dear Financial Assessment Team,

​I am writing regarding my mother, [Name], [Date of Birth], who has recently been assessed as having significant social care needs.

​We wish to notify the council that while her current capital is slightly above the upper threshold of £23,250 (currently at approximately £25,250), this amount is depleting rapidly due to her high care requirements. Based on current care costs, we anticipate her capital will fall below the threshold on or around [Insert Date - e.g., 10 days from now].

​We request that a financial assessment be initiated immediately. Given the proximity to the threshold, we ask that the council conducts the assessment now so that funding can be seamlessly put in place the moment her capital reaches £23,250, avoiding any gap in her care provision.

​We look forward to hearing from you regarding a date for this assessment.

​Yours sincerely,

[Your Name]

This is excellent. Thank you so much 

Brie

Don't forget that the assessment must take into account how much of mom's income is necessary to support the household.  So if both mom and dad were just on SP most of mom's would need to go towards maintaining dad in their home. (owned, rented whatever).   So not all her SP would be available to pay for her care.  

On the other side of this is dad has an income of £150k a year he has no obligation to pay towards her care and could go ahead and buy a Bugatti or whatever other car he fancies.  And mom's full SP would go on her care and not in supporting dad in his luxury lifestyle.  Obviously if a family has a load of cash available they may want to support a loved one in care, it's just that they are NOT obliged.  But basically if dad needs a new car then it's up to him to buy one if he can afford to.  Likewise fix the roof, continue to have a gardener cut the grass, whatever.