Care at home when funds reach £14,250

[witts1973]

Does anyone know what happens when funds reach the £14,250,will my mother have much money to feed herself and pay any bills after the LA have taken what ever it is that they want towards care at home payments when the lower level threshold is met,I think some people think that the LA pays for the care at this level,but I assume they will take most of what my mother has coming in,she will still have to pay for heating and food and inco sheets,hairdresser and clothes,I'm wondering do they squeeze you so hard that you can't even afford to stay in the family home?If anyone has any experience of this I would love to hear how it works.
I live with my mother as her full time carer and she has care visits through the day,I pay council tax and for half of our shopping

 

[Rosettastone57]

Does anyone know what happens when funds reach the £14,250,will my mother have much money to feed herself and pay any bills after the LA have taken what ever it is that they want towards care at home payments when the lower level threshold is met,I think some people think that the LA pays for the care at this level,but I assume they will take most of what my mother has coming in,she will still have to pay for heating and food and inco sheets,hairdresser and clothes,I'm wondering do they squeeze you so hard that you can't even afford to stay in the family home?If anyone has any experience of this I would love to hear how it works.

Others will be able to give better advice soon but I don't think LA take over pension for home care as is done with going into a care home

 

[la lucia]

Does anyone know what happens when funds reach the £14,250,will my mother have much money to feed herself and pay any bills after the LA have taken what ever it is that they want towards care at home payments when the lower level threshold is met,I think some people think that the LA pays for the care at this level,but I assume they will take most of what my mother has coming in,she will still have to pay for heating and food and inco sheets,hairdresser and clothes,I'm wondering do they squeeze you so hard that you can't even afford to stay in the family home?If anyone has any experience of this I would love to hear how it works.

Your mum is entitled to help from the time her funds drop to £23,250. At this point the local authority will pay some of the costs. Obviously, they will have to assess her finances to do this.

Then when her income/ savings drop to £14,250 they will pay for ALL the domiciliary (home) care they think she needs. Your mother shouldn't be contributing anything. Here's a link to the details.

The only exception to this, which varies from one area to another is if the cost of care in the home is more expensive than the cost of the cheapest local care home, in which case the local authority can refuse to pay for the domiciliary care and insist on a care home instead. This is a very common situation.

 

[la lucia]

Others will be able to give better advice soon but I don't think LA take over pension for home care as is done with going into a care home

Just as an FYI, the link in my post explains the details but there's something called the 'Minimum Income Guarantee' that says the person in receipt of home care should be left with £189 pw IF they are above the Pension Credit age.

 

[Beate]

If your mother is cared for at home instead of in a care home, nothing of her money will be taken to pay towards home care once she goes below £14,250. She can keep her pension and any Attendance Allowance and pay any bills from that. The only thing my OH ever had to pay for was his lunch at the Day Centre, as that is separately funded, and any respite weeks in a care home - though they were heavily subsidised in our borough. Otherwise, Day Centre, carers, sitters etc were free of charge, so please don't worry.

The situation in a care home is different precisely because she wouldn't have to pay any rent or utility bills anymore, so pension is used towards it, bar a monthly allowance for clothes or whatever else is still needed.

 

[witts1973]

Others will be able to give better advice soon but I don't think LA take over pension for home care as is done with going into a care home

Thanks

 

[la lucia]

If your mother is cared for at home instead of in a care home, nothing of her money will be taken to pay towards home care once she goes below £14,250. She can keep her pension and any Attendance Allowance and pay any bills from that. The only thing my OH ever had to pay for was his lunch at the Day Centre, as that is separately funded, and any respite weeks in a care home - though they were heavily subsidised in our borough. Otherwise, Day Centre, carers, sitters etc were free of charge.

They assess your income now above the £189 limit I referred to above. The rules changed in 2015.

 

[witts1973]

Thanks folks that's not so bad,at the moment she has 4 calls with 2 carers as she has lost her mobility and so has to have 2 carers for each call so they can roll mum,which obviously doubles the cost at the moment it costs £1100 a month,the cynic in me feels that one day the LA will decide to put her in a home as then mum would pay for care rather than them,as the LA's are that cash strapped

 

[Beate]

Even the cheapest care home would cost a lot more than £1,100 a month so I doubt that. They'd still pay the majority of it.

 

[witts1973]

Thinking about it her savings would go up if she wasn't paying for care once hitting the £14,250 as she would have £1100 extra each month,would they not want any of this money then as it would build up taking the person to a level above £14,250 where previously they had to pay towards their care

 

[Beate]

It depends on what her income (pension, AA etc) is against her monthly outgoings (utility bills, food, clothing). If the first is not high while the second one is, it might not make a difference. She is allowed to keep the last £14,250 so once care payments cease, that's the spreadsheet you could make to check out the situation. Even with pension and AA, my OH's savings steadily went down as he had rent and bills to pay, and his incontinence was a costly hobby too.

 

[witts1973]

It depends on what her income (pension, AA etc) is against her monthly outgoings (utility bills, food, clothing). If the first is not high while the second one is, it might not make a difference. She is allowed to keep the last £14,250 so once care payments cease, that's the spreadsheet you could make to check out the situation. Even with pension and AA, my OH's savings steadily went down as he had rent and bills to pay, and his incontinence was a costly hobby too.

My mum owns her home,so hasn't got to pay any rent,but at the moment with the bill for carers things are squeezed

 

[la lucia]

Thinking about it her savings would go up if she wasn't paying for care once hitting the £14,250 as she would have £1100 extra each month,would they not want any of this money then as it would build up taking the person to a level above £14,250 where previously they had to pay towards their care

They will want some of it. They do take pension/benefits income into account.

If you read the link I posted above this has up to date details and here's another with even more detail on which pensions/benefits/income are counted.

And the cost of Care homes varies according to the area. In Devon it could be around £700 a week but in London and the South East it's a lot more. I did a R4 piece on this earlier this year after trying to find out for my mum it was quite shocking how many people were refused care at home.

You could just ask your local authority what their limits are for paying for domiciliary care.

 

[Zen master]

When you do the financial assessment be sure to include any and all Disability Related Expenditure to offset the £189 weekly limit of what’s left. Home care packages cannot take into account property. Look up DRE and consider additional expenses due to the changing circumstances. These can be cost of things that the person can no longer do to maintain their home such as a window cleaner, domestic help seperate to carers, increased washing and water costs if incontinent or changing clothes frequently, gardening costs. Higher heating bills if up and down at night requiring higher usage of gas and electric.
You may have done all these things in advance so apologies if it sounds like preaching but it all may help a bit.
Also look at Class U exemption for council tax which may save a chunk and as needs change review the entitlement for Attendance Allowance.

Local authorities cannot cap a limit on home care but realistically do when either the cost is approaching levels similar to full time care or is unsafe to support or continue.

Hope this helps

 

[witts1973]

When you do the financial assessment be sure to include any and all Disability Related Expenditure to offset the £189 weekly limit of what’s left. Home care packages cannot take into account property. Look up DRE and consider additional expenses due to the changing circumstances. These can be cost of things that the person can no longer do to maintain their home such as a window cleaner, domestic help seperate to carers, increased washing and water costs if incontinent or changing clothes frequently, gardening costs. Higher heating bills if up and down at night requiring higher usage of gas and electric.
You may have done all these things in advance so apologies if it sounds like preaching but it all may help a bit.
Also look at Class U exemption for council tax which may save a chunk and as needs change review the entitlement for Attendance Allowance.

Local authorities cannot cap a limit on home care but realistically do when either the cost is approaching levels similar to full time care or is unsafe to support or continue.

Hope this helps

Thanks no I hadn't thought of any of that,so do you mean they might try and take some of the £198

 

[Zen master]

No the opposite. Any contribution made towards care has to leave that as a minimum afterwards. If you show evidence, although in reality not sure how rigorous as longs as it’s not ridiculous, that there are increased costs due to disability then this should be added onto the £189.
So in essence if you showed extra costs for these things as being an extra £80 a month then it may be £189 plus £20 per week as a rough example.
It can’t be everyday things that we would all need regardless. Just increased due to illness/disability.

 

[witts1973]

They will want some of it. They do take pension/benefits income into account.

If you read the link I posted above this has up to date details and here's another with even more detail on which pensions/benefits/income are counted.

And the cost of Care homes varies according to the area. In Devon it could be around £700 a week but in London and the South East it's a lot more. I did a R4 piece on this earlier this year after trying to find out for my mum it was quite shocking how many people were refused care at home.

You could just ask your local authority what their limits are for paying for domiciliary care.

Hi that's what I'm thinking,in an underhand way it may benefit them more to have my mums home sold,anyway we are happy and living our lives,and like everyone else we can just live one day at a time,Mum and I are lucky that she has good carers that make us laugh when they call,it's that fun and laughter that we have that is the best therapy

 

[Zen master]

As with most things although there is a lot of experience on these forums either through bitter experience and or work related knowledge. Formal advice may be more specific to your needs. Age Uk, Community Law etc.

 

[witts1973]

No the opposite. Any contribution made towards care has to leave that as a minimum afterwards. If you show evidence, although in reality not sure how rigorous as longs as it’s not ridiculous, that there are increased costs due to disability then this should be added onto the £189.
So in essence if you showed extra costs for these things as being an extra £80 a month then it may be £189 plus £20 per week as a rough example.
It can’t be everyday things that we would all need regardless. Just increased due to illness/disability.

Thanks I see what you mean,it's quite a headache isn't it,giving care is one thing and I'm lucky to enjoy that,it's the red tape and the form filling,and the rest of that stuff that goes with it that stresses me

 

[Zen master]

Sorry waffling on now! You may want to look into Deferred Payment Agreements as well if the time comes for full time care.
Then see if renting it out offsets a bit of care costs and hoped for increased value in the time makes it slightly more valuable.