Care at home when funds reach £14,250

[witts1973]

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.

Thanks

 

[witts1973]

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.

I don't know what to do I have lived here since birth for 45 years and have always been very attached to my mother,we haven't ever parted,my father was an alcoholic and so my mum brought me up herself as my dad didn't come home often,I'm now in a situation where everything has changed and there is a worry that I will be made homeless at some time to top it off, my son who is nearly 16 lives with us half of the time and it would break my heart to be parted from both of them,it's amazing how quickly your life can change in a couple of years

 

[la lucia]

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

It's the problem of all the local authorities being squeezed until the pips squeak. It really is a postcode lottery too.

Do you live with her? If so you could reduce the cost of some of the double handed care visits by being the number two carer yourself. I did that when my mother needed double handed care visits.

If you live with her and you are over 60 there's a disregard on the property if it's your only home and the person you care for has to go into a care home. However, be warned this is very likely to change when the forthcoming Green Paper is finally published by the Tories.

But as I and @Zen master said, if she continues receiving domiciliary care they should leave your mum £189 per week to live on no matter what.

 

[la lucia]

I don't know what to do I have lived here since birth for 45 years and have always been very attached to my mother,we haven't ever parted,my father was an alcoholic and so my mum brought me up herself as my dad didn't come home often,I'm now in a situation where everything has changed and there is a worry that I will be made homeless at some time to top it off, my son who is nearly 16 lives with us half of the time and it would break my heart to be parted from both of them,it's amazing how quickly your life can change in a couple of years

Oh that's really tough but I'm assuming that you've done everything possible to reduce the bills?

I was shocked at how much I was able to reduce my mum's gas, electricity and other bills. I've got her on an excellent fixed rate deal for gas/electric so we know the cost won't rise during the year. And I hope you get the council tax reduction for her 'mental impairment' and some local authorities give a carer discount too. There's quite a lot you can tweak if you check. Even smaller things like house insurance is cheaper if you pay it up front and not monthly.

But why not get in touch with your local Age UK? They're very good at going into the specific details of your situation. It always helps to know what exactly you are facing.

 

[witts1973]

It's the problem of all the local authorities being squeezed until the pips squeak. It really is a postcode lottery too.

Do you live with her? If so you could reduce the cost of some of the double handed care visits by being the number two carer yourself. I did that when my mother needed double handed care visits.

If you live with her and you are over 60 there's a disregard on the property if it's your only home and the person you care for has to go into a care home. However, be warned this is very likely to change when the forthcoming Green Paper is finally published by the Tories.

But as I and @Zen master said, if she continues receiving domiciliary care they should leave your mum £189 per week to live on no matter what.

I think we have stumbled in to this in the worst political and economical times,sods law.That is a thought with regards to being the number 2 carer but I think that would meet resistance as it would mean less money for the care company,I'm not sure that they would like it too much as I suppose it leaves issues regarding who is to blame if something goes wrong,I have no qualms about doing it though as had to do all of that myself before my mum lost her mobility,I do help out with the care when only 1 person is sent and when it was snowing last xmas I gave my mum her full body wash in bed and changed her pads,I did float the idea past them once as only one carer was turning up often and I thought we are paying for 2 people and I'm doing the other persons work helping roll my mum,they said I would need training and they would get back to me,then didn't hear anything more of it,I think they just wanted to get me off the phone,it's frustrating paying for 2 people as one of them only has to hold on to mums thigh when pad changing and the only other time is using the hoist which isn't every day and even then that was used by one person now and again when it suited

 

[la lucia]

I think we have stumbled in to this in the worst political and economical times,sods law.That is a thought with regards to being the number 2 carer but I think that would meet resistance as it would mean less money for the care company,I'm not sure that they would like it too much as I suppose it leaves issues regarding who is to blame if something goes wrong,I have no qualms about doing it though as had to do all of that myself before my mum lost her mobility,I do help out with the care when only 1 person is sent and when it was snowing last xmas I gave my mum her full body wash in bed and changed her pads,I did float the idea past them once as only one carer was turning up often and I thought we are paying for 2 people and I'm doing the other persons work helping roll my mum,they said I would need training and they would get back to me,then didn't hear anything more of it,I think they just wanted to get me off the phone,it's frustrating paying for 2 people as one of them only has to hold on to mums thigh when pad changing and the only other time is using the hoist which isn't every day and even then that was used by one person now and again when it suited

I really stood my ground about double handed care and the senior social worker who organised my mum's hospital discharge had no problem with it We're self funding but we commission and pay through the local authority to get their discount rates (I know not many local authorities do this).

I was teaming up with two different agencies without any problem. The local NHS physio team trained me on everything. There was never any question of liability issues.

And if they only send you one carer then do NOT let them bill you for two. They sound like they're taking the micky. I just put a quick note of date/time in my Android calendar and then email the agency. And check the invoice when it comes.

I have to say I love the carers we've got now and the freelance carer we hire but I try to stay very much on top of things. I managed to cut our potential care bills down quite a bit. Because I had to if I want to keep caring for my mother at home.

 

[witts1973]

I really stood my ground about double handed care and the senior social worker who organised my mum's hospital discharge had no problem with it We're self funding but we commission and pay through the local authority to get their discount rates (I know not many local authorities do this).

I was teaming up with two different agencies without any problem. The local NHS physio team trained me on everything. There was never any question of liability issues.

And if they only send you one carer then do NOT let them bill you for two. They sound like they're taking the micky. I just put a quick note of date/time in my Android calendar and then email the agency. And check the invoice when it comes.

I have to say I love the carers we've got now and the freelance carer we hire but I try to stay very much on top of things. I managed to cut our potential care bills down quite a bit. Because I had to if I want to keep caring for my mother at home.

It's something I will think about,mums care sounds like your situation in respect of LA costings,when I was no longer to care for my mum on a solo basis as she had lost mobility care was arranged for her even though we pay it's at a discounted rate and quite a bit cheaper that going through the care company direct,do you think I should ring SS and see what they say,and they would be able to tell me about training,I've watched the carers and can see how things are done,and i've also seen how things shouldn't be done.
I haven't got health LPA though if that any difference

 

[la lucia]

It's something I will think about,mums care sounds like your situation in respect of LA costings,when I was no longer to care for my mum on a solo basis as she had lost mobility care was arranged for her even though we pay it's at a discounted rate and quite a bit cheaper that going through the care company direct,do you think I should ring SS and see what they say,and they would be able to tell me about training,I've watched the carers and can see how things are done,and i've also seen how things shouldn't be done.
I haven't got health LPA though if that any difference

You can ask them who to contact but you could also ask your GP because it's usually the local Occupational Therapy team who should organise it.

I've tried to keep a balance between not overdoing it myself and keeping costs down. So, for example, we have a bedtime carer every evening but we don't have morning carers every day. I was doing it completely alone for a couple of years.

But OT gave me training on the hoist and other things. And they left me with a printed picture leaflet. (For those duh! moments.) Ironically we don't need the hoist at the moment.

 

[witts1973]

You can ask them who to contact but you could also ask your GP because it's usually the local Occupational Therapy team who should organise it.

I've tried to keep a balance between not overdoing it myself and keeping costs down. So, for example, we have a bedtime carer every evening but we don't have morning carers every day. I was doing it completely alone for a couple of years.

But OT gave me training on the hoist and other things. And they left me with a printed picture leaflet. (For those duh! moments.) Ironically we don't need the hoist at the moment.

I hope they would let me do it,as in the long run it would also keep the LA from ever being near from having to pay for care,we have a carer on a lot of calls at the moment that seems to have issues with her concentration and has difficulty retaining information,the other carers are fed up with having to work with her on the double ups as they end up doing all of the work and the calls are taking too long,so it would be ironic if they decided I wasn't good material for the job