Jump to content


style="text-align: center;">  

Thread Locked

because no one has posted on it for the last 2555 days.

If you need to add something to this thread then

 

Please click the "Report " link

 

at the bottom of one of the posts.

 

If you want to post a new story then

Please

Start your own new thread

That way you will attract more attention to your story and get more visitors and more help 

 

Thanks

Recommended Posts

Apologies if this is in the wrong section but it was the only one close to the problem I have.

 

My 94 year old Mother in Law is going in to a care home this week, she suffers badly with Dementia. As well as taking all her pension, I have been told by Social Services that I need to make "Top Up" payment of anywhere between £30 and £70 a week.

 

We haven't asked for any upgrade to Mum's accommodation, she will have one of the basic bedrooms within the care home.

 

Can anyone offer any advice or help please?

Edited by BarryH2000
Link to post
Share on other sites

Hello and welcome to CAG. I'm sorry to hear about your MiL.

 

We need to move you to a different forum, but I'm not sure which would be best. I've flagged your thread for the team to have a look.

 

Did social services suggest your MiL should go into care? And does she have any assets or a house? I'm not sure why social services say you should pay, I haven't come across this.

 

My best, HB

Illegitimi non carborundum

 

 

 

Link to post
Share on other sites

Thanks for the reply HB, really appreciated.

 

Social Services made the suggestion that MiL would be better off, safer in a care home but we were told the decision was ours to make.

 

With regards to the property, she lives in a council house and only has a small amount of savings.

 

Thanks again for the help.

Link to post
Share on other sites

I have been told by Social Services that I need to make "Top Up" payment of anywhere between £30 and £70 a week.

 

If your mother's savings and assets fall below the threshold for self funding, then the council should be picking the bill in its entirety. Any top up contributions you make should be on a voluntary basis and only after you have been fully informed of all the options. About the only time you would be expected to make any contributions would be when you have opted to place your mother in a more expensive home.

 

Has the council advised you that these top up contributions are voluntary ?

Have they advised both you and your mother of your rights on this subject ?

Has the council sign posted you towards any independent advice ?

 

One last question: Have you signed any agreements in respect to top up payments yet ?

PLEASE HELP US TO KEEP THIS SITE RUNNING

EVERY POUND DONATED WILL HELP US TO KEEP HELPING OTHERS

 

 

No... you can't eat my brain just yet. I need it a little while longer.

Link to post
Share on other sites

I've moved this thread to the local authorities forum and left a link to follow from the Pensions Media forum.

 

Another member of the site team has mentioned AgeUK's information. They were very helpful when my mother had dementia problems and had to go into care.

 

Here's a link to their pdf and the website with contact details. I rang the office closest to where my mother lived.

 

http://www.ageuk.org.uk/Documents/EN....PDF?dtrk=true

http://www.ageuk.org.uk/

 

HB

Illegitimi non carborundum

 

 

 

Link to post
Share on other sites

I've moved this thread to the local authorities forum and left a link to follow from the Pensions Media forum.

 

Another member of the site team has mentioned AgeUK's information. They were very helpful when my mother had dementia problems and had to go into care.

 

Here's a link to their pdf and the website with contact details. I rang the office closest to where my mother lived.

 

http://www.ageuk.org.uk/Documents/EN....PDF?dtrk=true

http://www.ageuk.org.uk/

 

HB

 

Agree, you need to speak to Age UK helpline about this.

 

Don't sign up to an extra payment via a contract, as that will be with a private care home and in your name. The amount required per week can increase. Very few councils have care homes and private homes say they don't receive full funding, so expect families to top up required amount.

 

An elderly relative went into a care home with similar issues at about the same age. Over the 3 years she was in there, it cost most of her life savings, as it was not just the £30k + a year standard fees, but they also charge for various e.g hairdresser, clothing, activities. The NHS only provides basic care i.e GP visits, normal treatment. You don't get additional help via NHS funding or additional benefits.

We could do with some help from you.

PLEASE HELP US TO KEEP THIS SITE RUNNING EVERY POUND DONATED WILL HELP US TO KEEP HELPING OTHERS

 

 Have we helped you ...?         Please Donate button to the Consumer Action Group

 

If you want advice on your thread please PM me a link to your thread

Link to post
Share on other sites

 

Has the council advised you that these top up contributions are voluntary ?

 

Have they advised both you and your mother of your rights on this subject ?

 

Has the council sign posted you towards any independent advice ?

 

One last question: Have you signed any agreements in respect to top up payments yet ?

 

Thanks for all the help, really appreciated. I'll try and answer the questions in order if I may.

 

No. Basically we were just given a list of homes that were available. These listed the top up fees we were expected to pay.

 

No.

 

No.

 

MiL went into the care home today for a respite period of two weeks. This we were told was to see if she liked it. I had to sign an agreement for this period before they would accept her in to the home. I also had to pay almost £350 in advance, again before they would accept her in to the home.

 

To HBs question, yes, I do believe MiL was getting attendance allowance but everything is lumped together in her pension.

Link to post
Share on other sites

I'll try and answer the questions in order if I may.

Has the council advised you that these top up contributions are voluntary ?

No. Basically we were just given a list of homes that were available. These listed the top up fees we were expected to pay.

 

Have they advised both you and your mother of your rights on this subject ?

No.

 

Has the council sign posted you towards any independent advice ?

No.

 

One last question: Have you signed any agreements in respect to top up payments yet ?

[...]I had to sign an agreement for this period before they would accept her in to the home.

 

It sounds like the council has failed in its duties as laid out in Guidance on Choice of Accommodation Directions

 

I've only had a brief scan of the document, and have pulled a few sections out that will be of interest:

 

If an individual requests it, the council must also arrange for care in accommodation more expensive than it would usually fund provided a third party or, in certain circumstances, the resident, is willing and able to pay the difference between the cost the council would usually expect to pay and the actual cost of the accommodation (to ‘top up’). These are the only circumstances where either a third party or the resident may be

asked to top up (see paragraph 3).

Funding councils may refer to their own usual costs when making placements in another council’s area. However, because costs vary from area to area, if in order to meet a resident’s assessed need it is necessary to place an individual in another area at a higher rate than the funding council’s usual costs, the placing council should meet the additional

cost itself.

Individual residents should not be asked to pay more towards their accommodation because of market inadequacies or commissioning failures.
See what AgeUK have to say before going guns blazing after the council. It may be that they have (conveniently) forgotten about the guidance and need a gentle reminder of their duties.

PLEASE HELP US TO KEEP THIS SITE RUNNING

EVERY POUND DONATED WILL HELP US TO KEEP HELPING OTHERS

 

 

No... you can't eat my brain just yet. I need it a little while longer.

Link to post
Share on other sites

I work in Adult services for my Local Authority. Every Local Authority has varying/different rules/criterias regarding charging for care. My local authority will only pay a set amount - which is the contracted rate once it has been agreed that the service user meets the criteria for residential care. There are two contracted rates - one for nursing and one for residential. Like all businesses there are residential/nursing homes that have agreed to the contractual rate and there are those that haven't. Usually the ones that have agreed to charge the contracts rate are the ones who don't have spare beds very often because the local authority will always try to place service users in contracted rate homes - for obvious reasons!

 

If the service user/family pick a residential/nursing home that has not agreed to the county's contracted rate or they have chosen a room that is above the standards of that offered at the contractual rate then the family are asked to pay a top up fee.

 

This cannot be paid by the service user or come from the service user's savings etc.

 

Some local authorities will agree to pay the top up fee if the family can't afford it but these are exceptional cases and usually involve senior management agreement, which doesn't normally happen very quickly......

 

If you want further information regarding your local authority's charging policy then I'd suggest you contact the financial assessment team who calculate what a service user's contribution is towards their care. Some benefits/savings/pensions are exempt when assessing a service user's income.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Thanks for all the replies, they are really appreciated. As has been suggested, I'll wait for the contact from my local Age UK advisor and see what they can tell me, hopefully. I'll know a lot more after that.

 

As the dementia accelerated so quickly we have had little or no chance to do anything about MiLs affairs. We now need to get the Power of Attorney to try and get what bit of saving she has from her bank. These she will need to spend on what "niceties" are available in the care home, a few new clothing items and such like.

 

Thanks again for all the help.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Thanks for all the replies, they are really appreciated. As has been suggested, I'll wait for the contact from my local Age UK advisor and see what they can tell me, hopefully. I'll know a lot more after that.

 

As the dementia accelerated so quickly we have had little or no chance to do anything about MiLs affairs. We now need to get the Power of Attorney to try and get what bit of saving she has from her bank. These she will need to spend on what "niceties" are available in the care home, a few new clothing items and such like.

 

Thanks again for all the help.

 

We had a power of attorney done for a relative and as part of this a Doctor had to visit to certify that the relative was incapable of dealing with her affairs. The Doctor had to ask very basic questions to understand how badly the dementia was affecting them.

We could do with some help from you.

PLEASE HELP US TO KEEP THIS SITE RUNNING EVERY POUND DONATED WILL HELP US TO KEEP HELPING OTHERS

 

 Have we helped you ...?         Please Donate button to the Consumer Action Group

 

If you want advice on your thread please PM me a link to your thread

Link to post
Share on other sites

I think you may need a lawyer for this. It's harder to get power of attorney once someone has lost capacity. I ecpect AgeUK have info on this too.

 

This is from the Office of the Money Advice Service website.

 

https://www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en/articles/if-the-person-you-want-to-help-has-lost-mental-capacity

 

HB

Illegitimi non carborundum

 

 

 

Link to post
Share on other sites

I think you may need a lawyer for this. It's harder to get power of attorney once someone has lost capacity. I ecpect AgeUK have info on this too.

 

This is from the Office of the Money Advice Service website.

 

https://www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en/articles/if-the-person-you-want-to-help-has-lost-mental-capacity

 

HB

 

Yep you will do. My relative had a power of attorney drawn up in advance, which basically said that upon a Doctor and their Solicitor confirming the conditions had been met, the power of attorney could be brought into action.

 

There is a process that will have to be gone through.

We could do with some help from you.

PLEASE HELP US TO KEEP THIS SITE RUNNING EVERY POUND DONATED WILL HELP US TO KEEP HELPING OTHERS

 

 Have we helped you ...?         Please Donate button to the Consumer Action Group

 

If you want advice on your thread please PM me a link to your thread

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • Recently Browsing   0 Caggers

    • No registered users viewing this page.

  • Have we helped you ...?


×
×
  • Create New...