Hi, my husband went into care in November, he has vascular dementia, I was told we wouldn’t have to pay towards the fees, my husband has his state pension and a small works pension, I also have state pension and a very small work pension,we have a joint bank account with under 5,000 in, now I have been told that we have to pay toward the care home fees which are £750.22 a week. Our one bedroom apartment is rented from a housing association, I will be getting more help towards my rent and council tax, but I still have all the usual bills to pay, I have reduced my tv and phone package down to the lowest possible amount. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Care home fees
- Thread starter ladyboxer
- Start date
Welcome @ladyboxer
I don`t know who told you you would have to pay towards your husband`s care home fees. Your husband might have to pay his pension towards his fees but nothing will be taken from you or your joint account.
I`m not sure whether or not your husband will have to contribute his works pension towards his care too but I`m sure those with more experience will be able to put your mind at ease.
I don`t know who told you you would have to pay towards your husband`s care home fees. Your husband might have to pay his pension towards his fees but nothing will be taken from you or your joint account.
I`m not sure whether or not your husband will have to contribute his works pension towards his care too but I`m sure those with more experience will be able to put your mind at ease.
Hi @ladyboxer
Please clarify. You said you were told that your OH wouldn't have to pay the care fees. Then you said you're paying £750.22 pwk care home fees.
If your OH has assets of £14,000 or less, if you are in England, then the LA ASS should be paying the care home. Only one half of your OH's private pension should be taken into account. Yes, state pension would be taken; attendance allowance would stop
I think you need to speak again with the LA ASS about the means test for your OH's care home fees and get them to explain to you in as much detail as poss, what they are paying, what is being taken from your OH.
Are you referring to top up fees? Doesn't sound from what you say you should be called upon to pay.
Sorry I didn't explain that well, since he went into care on nov10 his fees have been paid by the local authority, at £133 a week , which were the fees as a respite patient, from January 11th he became permanent so the fees are £750.22 a week. The social worker told me that one of us have to pay the fees backdated to the day my husband went into care.
Hello @ladyboxer I really do not think that the social worker is correct, you are not responsible for your husbands care home fees and should not have to pay anything on his behalf.
If your husband has assets of under £23,250 it is the local authority who will pay the care home fees, but they will take his state pension and usually half of any works pension. I would suggest that you contact the society for advice on how to proceed. I have attached their contact details below.
Contact us
Find out how to get in touch with Alzheimer's Society by phone, email, post or online.
www.alzheimers.org.uk
That should have been made clear to you when your husband went for respite care @ladyboxer
Please contact the helpline.
www.alzheimers.org.uk
Please contact the helpline.
Dementia Support Line
If you need dementia support, we’re here for you. Get personalised information, support and advice by calling us on 0333 150 3456.
www.alzheimers.org.uk
There is a lower limit and upper limit for assets:
LL £14,250 UL £23,250 between these limits you pay £1 per week for every £250 towards care = £23 per week.
Only a percentage of his pension should be going towards care home fees if you remain in your home.
LL £14,250 UL £23,250 between these limits you pay £1 per week for every £250 towards care = £23 per week.
Only a percentage of his pension should be going towards care home fees if you remain in your home.
I know little about how LA funding works but it appears the default position for LA's is to assess a persons financial position before carrying out a health and care needs assessment. Has your husband received a health and care needs assessment? If not, then it's not possible for the social worker to determine who is responsible for paying towards his care. If the only assessment he has received is a financial one then the LA is not following the correct process.
caretobedifferent.co.uk
Care fees means testing: 3 reasons to object to a financial assessment
When an older person needs care, there's an incorrect focus on care fees means testing. However, this should be done only after a health needs assessment.
caretobedifferent.co.uk
It would not be unusual for a social worker to make a mistake like this. Go back to them, chances are that they haven’t done or looked at the financial assessment. Call the finance assessment dept and ask for clarity. By the way, you are not responsible for paying any of your husbands care so when the sw said that one of you would need to pay ,I knew they didn’t know what they were talking about.
Thank you all for your replies, my husband has been assessed has not having capacity, on top of everything else the solicitor mis informed both of us regarding lasting power of attorney, We both signed paperwork in the solicitors office to start the LPA process, however when we were called back to the office to complete everything my husband had gone into care, so despite the fact that we had signed paperwork I was told I couldn't go ahead and apply for lpa for my husband.
Thank you , I will definitely check it out.Hello @ladyboxer I really do not think that the social worker is correct, you are not responsible for your husbands care home fees and should not have to pay anything on his behalf.
If your husband has assets of under £23,250 it is the local authority who will pay the care home fees, but they will take his state pension and usually half of any works pension. I would suggest that you contact the society for advice on how to proceed. I have attached their contact details below.
Contact us
Find out how to get in touch with Alzheimer's Society by phone, email, post or online.
The local authority should send you a letter outlining what your husband will contribute towards his weekly fees and what they (local authority) will pay towards the weekly fees. My dad is under the Scottish system but they did send a letter making it very clear why/how they were getting the figures they arrived at. I found the finance department staff didn’t always give correct or clear information going so far as to give me in corrrct info but no point me going into detail as you’re not in Scotland.
Thank you for that, I finally received an email today telling me how much my husband has to pay towards the care home fees, glad I checked it because they have started charging him from November 6th, he didn’t go into care until Nov 10th. Still waiting for the invoices to be sent out so I can get everything paid up up to date, .
Whilst the first part of this is right in essence, the maximum payable as a tariff on savings between the thresholds is £36 per week:
23250 - 14250 = 9000
9000/250 = 36
The percentage of pension that goes towards a person's contribution iis dependent on the type of pension. In my wife's case this is as follows:
- 100% of state pension
- 50% of occupational pension (the other half having been deemed to be gifted to me)
The fact that I still live in our house means that this was disregarded from the calculation of her contribution.
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