Seniors Money Managed by Council

Lou1973

Hi all,

I've previously messaged about an elderly friend moving into a nursing home. At that time, it was agreed that it would be best for the council to manage her money, as we are not blood relatives. She has been there at least 4 months now.

Today, I received a call from the nursing home asking if I could add some money to her account, as she is seeing a chiropodist next week and that will need to be paid for. They were unaware that this is supposed to be being managed by the council (even though I told them when she first moved in).

I have contacted the council, and it seems that her money is not yet being managed by them, and we will need to pay for anything she needs and keep receipts for reimbursement.

I'm disappointed with this and am now starting to wonder if I should look into managing her finances myself, which I don't really want to do, but I also want to make sure that she can get what she wants and when she wants it.

Does anyone know how long it takes for councils to take over financial management?

How do people in nursing homes manage who have no family/friends?

Keep_pedalling

They need to obtain deputyship which can be a long drawn out process.

437222

I had to apply for Deputyship years ago. It was bureaucratic, but it meant I could more easily deal with the issues you outline here.

elsien

You are under no obligation to pay anything, whatever the council or the care home may be telling you.

The local authority can pay an allowance to the care home while the formal financial stuff goes through. They may not want to, but the option is certainly there.

And although deputyship takes months, whoever is applying (in my area the council does not do this directly, the service is contracted out to an independent organisation) can apply to the DWP to be an appointee for the state pension in the interim which is a lot quicker.

RAS

Make it plain to the home that the Council needs to pay and should by now have arranged to be DWP appointees for your friend and have access to resources,