Deprivation of assets

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  • Keep_pedalling
    Keep_pedalling Posts: 16,438
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    fred246 wrote: »
    I had an elderly relative in a care home. They paid £700 a month because they had savings. The council paid £500 a month for exactly the same accomodation for people without savings. I used to come on this forum and people would say those without money would have awful care. It was a dementia home and I used to look around at the residents. None of them would have had a clue where they were or how much it cost. I always wonder how many people are unhappy in homes because they didn't have savings. They would have to be mentally well and unhappy with their care. My view is that I am going to enjoy life while I am well and I will take the risk of ending up in a lower quality home. The chance of being in a home is decreasing all the time as home carers are provided increasingly.

    From personal experience I know only too well that LA funded residential care will be put off as long as possible through home care visits, but in some ways that is worse than residential care. My mother really should have been in residential care 9 months to a year before she was given the go ahead by the LA panel. By then she was up to 4 visits a day, and although the staff were good the visits were brief, often late because of problems with a previous client and left here with long periods of social isolation which was really bad for her mental health.

    When she was eventually offered a place after yet another hospitalisation there were few choices, and although she was happy with where she ended up, it would have been a long way from the sort of home I would like to end up in. My step father on the other hand needed NHS funded nursing care spent his last year in a really nice place.

    In reality people with little or modest savings are not much better off than people with nothing, as even fully self funding they will be looking at the cheaper end of the market, and one of the best options, live in careers, is simply not an option.
  • Browntoa
    Browntoa Posts: 49,288
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    My father in law is in a home funded by council block booking . The home also accepts self funding (or top up) to get a better room , the better rooms are en suite and decorated to s better standard . The council rooms are basic but clean with a nearby toilet and bathroom .

    Apart from that it's the same carers , same facilities , same food so your actual care is not downgraded because its council funded.

    Cash gifts to family are not deprivation of assets unless excessive, wholesale transfer of property and cash to others is .
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  • elsien
    elsien Posts: 32,521
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    fred246 wrote: »
    I had an elderly relative in a care home. They paid £700 a month because they had savings. The council paid £500 a month for exactly the same accomodation for people without savings. I used to come on this forum and people would say those without money would have awful care. It was a dementia home and I used to look around at the residents. None of them would have had a clue where they were or how much it cost. I always wonder how many people are unhappy in homes because they didn't have savings. They would have to be mentally well and unhappy with their care. My view is that I am going to enjoy life while I am well and I will take the risk of ending up in a lower quality home. The chance of being in a home is decreasing all the time as home carers are provided increasingly.


    Part of my job involves people who don't understand their situation going into care. There are some good cheaper homes. Many of the ones people who aren't self funders go to (and the ones more likely to have vacancies) have below standard CQC reports and some dubious standards of care.
    Whether people know where they are or not, the standard of care and the time that staff have to spend with them makes a huge difference. More so when you're confused and don't understand what is happening to you. The homes I've been to where I've though "yep, this one will do" are all above what the local authority will pay. Even where the staff are caring and are doing things as they should, most cheaper places have little in the way of activities and don't support residents to get out and about.
    I'd like to keep my brain active as long as possible, and the thought being confined to a care home and never going out to the community again, bar a 5 minute stroll down the road once a month, fills me with horror.
    All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well.

    Pedant alert - it's could have, not could of.
  • AnotherJoe
    AnotherJoe Posts: 19,622
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    elsien wrote: »
    I'd like to keep my brain active as long as possible, and the thought being confined to a care home and never going out to the community again, bar a 5 minute stroll down the road once a month, fills me with horror.

    But when you get to that sorry state, going out will possibly fill you with horror. My dad hated going out on trips towards the end and would continually be asking when he was going back "home" (which was somewhere he lived 75 years previously! )
    I'm hoping if I am trending towards that I'll have enough smarts for a one way holiday to Switzerland.
  • onwards&upwards
    onwards&upwards Posts: 3,423
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    Sea_Shell wrote: »
    I think you'd have to pay all your own private care fees, until you're down to your last £26k or so...then if you have no one else who agrees or able to pay, you get shoved somewhere cheaper by the local authority!!!

    So you couldn’t pay the top up from your last 26k?
  • Mojisola
    Mojisola Posts: 35,551
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    So you couldn’t pay the top up from your last 26k?

    No. ...............
  • onwards&upwards
    onwards&upwards Posts: 3,423
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    Mojisola wrote: »
    No. ...............


    I’m horrified!

    What else are you going to be spending that kind of money on if you’re in a care home?

    If it comes to that in my old age i’ll fight that as high as it goes!
  • Sea_Shell
    Sea_Shell Posts: 9,272
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    I think the reasoning is that you still have something left to pay for your funeral, and pass on a small inheritance.

    It doesn't play well politically to leave people having to use every last penny, so they've drawn a line in the sand.
    How's it going, AKA, Nutwatch? - 12 month spends to date = 2.47% of current retirement "pot" (as at end February 2024)
  • onwards&upwards
    onwards&upwards Posts: 3,423
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    Sea_Shell wrote: »
    I think the reasoning is that you still have something left to pay for your funeral, and pass on a small inheritance.

    It doesn't play well politically to leave people having to use every last penny, so they've drawn a line in the sand.

    If you have no family a basic funeral is fine, and you certainly don’t need to leave an inheritance!

    I think it’s fine to say the last 26k can’t be taken from you but it’s ridiculous and cruel to stop someone of sound mind spending their own money on their own quality of life!

    So in theory someone who is perfectly comfortable and happy where they are, maybe even good friends with other residents, could be forced to uproot to somewhere worse even though it wouldn’t save the council any money, just to stop them spending their own?

    How has nobody taken this to court yet!
  • elsien
    elsien Posts: 32,521
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    AnotherJoe wrote: »
    But when you get to that sorry state, going out will possibly fill you with horror. My dad hated going out on trips towards the end and would continually be asking when he was going back "home" (which was somewhere he lived 75 years previously! )
    I'm hoping if I am trending towards that I'll have enough smarts for a one way holiday to Switzerland.


    That can be true - my grandmother ended up scared to go out. But I'd still like to have the choice. In part, the reason she became fearful was there was so little going on that she didn't see the point of coming out of her room. It was a bad care home, but sadly the power of attorney didn't want to see the issues.
    I’m horrified!

    What else are you going to be spending that kind of money on if you’re in a care home?

    If it comes to that in my old age i’ll fight that as high as it goes!

    Extra expenses - chiropodist, hairdresser, clothes (care homes aren't noted for the care they take of laundry), cigarettes, continence pads if the NHS ones either aren't prescribed and don't suit, toiletries, newspaper/anything else you want to treat yourself to, activities and trips out (where available), for one person I know, kennel fees as she won't contemplate her dogs being rehomed, your own wheelchair if you have mobility issues.
    If you're not doing much, the personal allowance is probably adequate; if you're still active it may not be.
    All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well.

    Pedant alert - it's could have, not could of.
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