Big Day Today - Care Home paper work and signing

iworry

Registered User
Nov 4, 2013
23
0
Hi All

Today is a big day. A reason for not sleeping..:(

We're taking dad to see the care home we have chosen for mum and to complete paper work so mum can go in probably second week of October.

It will be costing around £1,000 p/week and dad will be paying out of savings (they want 8 weeks up front) whilst we pursue funding.

Excluding my mum's personal details below you will find the contract.

Not looking for any professional advice but though it worth sharing.

Thanks


Part 2 – Terms and Conditions
THIS AGREEMENT is made between:
1.Company name and details removed as per T & Cs(referred to as “we” and “us”) and
2. The resident named in Part 1 of this Agreement (referred to as “you”)
BACKGROUND
The Terms and Conditions in this Part 2 together with the Admission Request in Part 1 of this Agreement (the “Admission Request”) completed by you and us form the agreement (referred to as “this Agreement”) between you and us for the acceptance by you of accommodation in the home identified in the Admission Request (referred to as the “Home”).
GUARANTOR
If someone (referred to as the “Guarantor”) in addition to you is to be responsible for ensuring that you pay fees under this Agreement, you must arrange for the Guarantor to sign this Agreement as well.
RESIDENTIAL FEES
In return for our Residential Fees set out in the Admission Request, we agree to provide food, heat, light, accommodation, laundry and all reasonable personal care as would normally be required by a resident of a care home for older people. Residential Fees are calculated on a weekly basis.
We shall be entitled to increase the Residential Fees on an annual basis in April. Any increase will be to take into account an increase of our running costs and/or the provision of extra care and/or inflation. We will give you, any Guarantor who is liable to pay your Residential Fees and any Third Party Contributor to your fees at least 6 weeks’ advance notice in writing of the amount of the annual increase and the notice will state the date that the increase will take effect, together with a statement of the reasons for any increase. The annual increase will take effect on the date notified unless, before the date the increase is to take effect, you give to us (and do not withdraw) one month’s notice in writing to terminate this Agreement and your residence with us.
Furthermore, we shall have the right to increase our Residential Fees and other fees at other times if, in our opinion, your care needs have changed from those previously assessed and/or there has been a material change in our operating costs due to (i) the introduction of new or amended legislation and/or (ii) inflation and/or (iii) other factors which increase our running costs and were not foreseen when our annual review took place. Again, we will give you, any Guarantor who is liable to pay your Residential Fees and any Third Party Contributor to your fees at least 6 weeks’ advance notice in writing of the amount of any such increase and the notice will state the date that the increase will take effect, together with a statement of the reasons for any increase. Any such increase will take effect on the date notified unless, before the date the increase is to take effect, you give to us (and do not withdraw) one month’s notice in writing to terminate this Agreement and your residence with us.
The weekly Residential Fees for you at the date of admission are stated in the Admission Request. They are payable by you, but if they are unpaid for two weeks after they are due, the Guarantor (if any) referred to in the Admission Request will also become liable to pay them.
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We will invoice our Residential Fees in advance on a calendar monthly basis. Residential Fees are payable immediately upon receipt of our invoice. Where invoices are submitted to a Guarantor and/or a Third Party Contributor, the fees are payable within seven (7) days of posting of the invoice. However, the process of collecting a varying amount by direct debit means that we shall collect your payment on the last working day of the month, to which the fees relate. Whilst a direct debit remains in place, this will not be treated as a “late payment” on which interest is charged.
The monthly payment of Residential Fees is calculated by taking the weekly fee and dividing this by seven (7, the number of days in a week) and multiplying the resulting total by the number of days in the month being invoiced. Any part of the day of arrival or departure constitutes one full day’s residence.
Where practicable, we will give at least four weeks’ written notice to you if the method of payment needs amending. If it is not practicable to give you at least four weeks’ prior notice, you will be notified as soon as it is practicable.
DEPOSIT, PAYMENT METHOD AND INTEREST
Prior to admission we require a payment equivalent to eight weeks fees in advance. This encompasses:
a) four weeks residential fees in advance (“Four Weeks Deposit”);
b) an additional two weeks deposit (“Two Weeks Deposit”); and
c) a two weeks non-refundable payment to cover administration costs (“Non-refundable Deposit”).
These together shall hereinafter be referred to as the Deposit.
If, for any reason the amount paid in advance is less than the Deposit, the amount paid will firstly be utilised towards satisfying your obligation to pay the Non-refundable Deposit and then the Two Weeks Deposit. Only then will any excess sums be used towards satisfying your obligation to pay the Four Weeks Deposit.
An invoice will be provided in respect of the Non-refundable Deposit. The Two Weeks Deposit will be held by us for the duration of your residence at the Home. At the end of your residence at the Home, the Deposit will be used first to pay any sums due to us and any remainder will be repaid to you. We will not pay any interest on the Deposit.
Cheques will only be acceptable for payment of the Four Weeks Deposit and initial fee for the first four weeks of residence. After four weeks you must have a direct debit in place for payment.
Interest will be charged on late payments to us at the rate of 4% above the base rate of HSBC Bank.
ADDITIONAL COSTS
In addition to the Residential Fees, we shall have the right to pass on for payment by you any additional costs together with any applicable VAT incurred in providing additional care to you beyond that normally provided by us to residents of the Home.
For example only, you shall, from your own resources provide for hairdressers, chiropody, newspapers, clothing, toilet requisites and items of a luxury or personal nature. Further details of additional costs can be found in our ‘Service User Guide’.
ACCOMMODATION
In return for the Residential Fees payable under this Agreement, we agree to provide:
(i) Such food as is normally required by a resident of a care home (in addition we may agree particular meal times and types of food with you from time to time);
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(ii) Reasonable heat and light; and
(iii) Personal care that is reasonably considered necessary for you. The personal care provided shall include the personal care that is identified in your “Personal Care Plan”. If we agree with you to provide any personal care in addition to what is in your “Personal Care Plan”, we will notify you in advance of the additional charges (and any applicable VAT) that will be payable by you for the additional personal care.
NURSING/TOP UP/THIRD PARTY PAYMENTS
If your Local Authority has agreed to fund your residence in the Home but a top up contribution is required to meet our fees, you, any Guarantor and any Third Party Contributor who has agreed to pay toward the fees who intends to make the top up contribution must sign this Agreement confirming your and their liability for that top up contribution.
Where Nursing Care is to be provided as a part of your package of care, we will arrange for it to be provided as far as it is practicable, but on the following terms about cost:
(i) You will be invoiced our fees for these in full, monthly, and you shall pay these fees (together with any applicable VAT) in the same way as the Residential Fees. We will apply a credit note on your fees account for any Funded Nursing Care Contribution (“FNCC”) that we recover for your Nursing Care from any PCT or other authority. You only bear the balance of the Nursing Care charges in excess of any FNCC we recover for your nursing care;
(ii) We will, where practicable, inform you by no later than four weeks after the date on which you become a resident, of any FNCC to be paid by any PCT or other authority that we are aware of. If it is not practicable to give you at least four weeks’ prior notice, you will be notified as soon as it is practicable.
(iii) Any liability you have to pay for Nursing Care and any FNCCs that we may be able to recover may change over time and we shall notify you of any changes as soon as reasonably practicable.
QUALITY
We agree to maintain a standard of care as required by the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and the accompanying regulations and standards under that Act. The Care Quality Commission (“CQC”) is responsible for ensuring that the standards under that legislation are maintained.
If a complaint or query arises, you should refer to the Home’s written procedure for dealing with complaints. We will be pleased to help. If you are not satisfied with the way we have handled your complaint you can refer it to the CQC or contact the Local Government Ombudsman, who provides a free independent service, and ask for a review.
This warranty about quality is in addition to your legal rights in relation to any services which are not carried out with reasonable skill and care or which otherwise do not conform to this Agreement. Advice about your legal rights is also available from your local Citizens’ Advice Bureau or Trading Standards office.
NEEDS ASSESSMENT
Before your admission to the Home, you must ensure that a full assessment of your needs has been carried out by people trained to do so and the outcome of that assessment reported to the Home. Admission to the Home will only be permitted if we have confirmed to you that your needs identified in such assessment can be met.
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MEDICATION
All of your drugs and medication must be handed to the senior nurse on duty or person in charge at the time of your admission.
If you wish, and in our opinion are able to manage your own medication administration, you will be assisted to continue to do so. However:
(i) We cannot be held responsible for the safekeeping and dispensing of the medication; and
(ii) The lockable drawer provided in the room you occupy must be used to store the medication and you should ensure it remains locked whenever you are not in the room.
RESIDENCE
The room you will occupy will be allocated on admission. Residence in the Home does not constitute a tenancy. You will occupy the room as a licensee only.
We reserve the right to relocate you at any time to another room, though in practice we do not expect to use the right to relocate residents regularly. There will be discussion with you before any such relocation takes place and you will be given notice in writing of any proposed change and the reason for the proposed change. The period of notice we give you will be at least 5 days except in cases where we believe there is an urgent need to make the change sooner.
You acknowledge that we shall have, and need, full, free unrestricted access to the room you occupy in order (amongst other matters) to provide the agreed services.
TRIAL PERIOD
The first four weeks following your admission to the Home shall be a trial period for the benefit of you and us. Either we or you may terminate this Agreement upon seven days written notice to be served on the other at any point during such trial period. Following any such termination, to the extent that any payment you have made to us in advance relates to the period when the accommodation you occupied has been cleared after you leave the Home, it will be refunded to you.
In this eventuality the Non-refundable Deposit will not be refunded unless it is evident that the home has been negligent and failed to fully identify your care needs through the assessment process.
TERMINATION
This Agreement shall continue in force until terminated:-
(i) by either you or us giving to the other at least one month’s prior written notice of termination and in the case of a notice given to you, a copy of that notice shall also be given to any Guarantor; or
(ii) by your death (except for conditions which are intended to continue after your death).
However, termination shall not affect rights and obligations that arise out of anything done or omitted before termination.
If you leave the Home without giving the period of notice required above, then you, any Guarantor and any Third Party Contributor will continue to be liable to pay Residential Fees for as long as they would have been payable if you had given the correct period of notice.
When you are away from the Home for any reason (e.g. if you are in hospital) you, any Guarantor and any Third Party Contributor will continue to be liable to pay Residential Fees in full during your absence.
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In the case of your death, the Residential Fees will continue to be charged for an additional period of two weeks. This will allow your accommodation to be cleared of personal effects for collection. It also provides us with sufficient time for the accommodation to be prepared for subsequent occupation. If we agree at your request, or the request of anyone representing you, clearing your accommodation may be delayed, and the period for which Residential Fees are payable will be extended accordingly.
In addition we may terminate this Agreement and require you to leave the Home in the following circumstances:-
(i) by giving you written notice effective immediately at any time for non payment of fees if such non payment continues for 30 days after a request in writing from us to you (and to any Guarantor and, where relevant, any Third Party Contributor) for the necessary payment to be made; or
(ii) by giving you written notice effective immediately at any time if you or any Guarantor or any Third Party Contributor become bankrupt or take advantage of any statute for the time being in force providing for relief of insolvent debtors; or
(iii) by giving you not less than two weeks’ written notice if, having consulted you and taken advice from the appropriate members of the relevant “Primary Health Care Team” (i.e. general practitioner, community nurse or social worker) concerning your present and future care needs, we no longer believe we are able to meet your needs; or
(iv) by giving you written notice effective immediately where there are circumstances or behaviour, which we feel (taking account of the type of care we have contracted to provide) may be seriously detrimental to the Home or the welfare of the other residents and such circumstances or behaviour are/is ongoing notwithstanding reasonable efforts to manage them/it,
and we may send a copy of such notice to any Guarantor.
Any notice under this Agreement to you or any Guarantor or any Third Party Contributor will be validly given if sent by special delivery post or hand delivered to the intended recipient. Notices sent by post will be deemed to be received forty-eight (48) hours after posting.
In addition you shall be entitled to terminate this Agreement forthwith following material breach by us if such material breach continues for 30 days after a request in writing from you to us asking for the breach to be remedied.
OUTSTANDING FEES AND REFUNDS
In the event of your death, any outstanding fees, costs or other charges due and payable by you to us, together with any interest due thereon, shall be charged to your estate, though any Guarantor will also remain liable to pay them.
Where, for whatever reason, this Agreement ends if you have paid for a month in advance and the accommodation you occupied is cleared before the end of that month, you shall be entitled to a pro-rata refund for the period from when the accommodation you occupied is cleared until the end of that month.
We shall have the right to charge interest at the rate of 4% per annum above the base lending rate of HSBC Bank plc from time to time on sums still outstanding 30 days after the invoice date, such interest to be calculated on a day to day basis from the invoice date.
PERSONAL FINANCES
We cannot accept responsibility for your personal finances.
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INSURANCE
You are responsible for insuring to full replacement value all personal furniture and belongings brought into the home. The home shall not be responsible in any way unless the home has been negligent, fraudulent or breached this agreement in respect of your belongings.
Our existing Insurance Policy covers residents’ cash up to a maximum of £100 per resident providing the cash is held securely in the care home safe. We will not be held liable for any loss of your personal money that is not deposited in the care home safe. If you wish to hold any additional cash at the Home above that amount, or hold cash either in your room or personally, you must make your own independent insurance arrangements.
FURNITURE
Small items of personal furniture may be brought into the Home with the prior agreement of the manager. Such items should be clearly marked with your name.
You must not bring into the Home soft furnishings which are not certified as being fire retardant. Transportation, insurance and eventual removal of such items shall be your, or your executors’, responsibility.
ELECTRICAL ITEMS
You must make available to us promptly for inspection all electrical items you bring at any time into the Home, and must not use such items if they have not been inspected or fail the inspection.
CLOTHING/PERSONAL ITEMS
We cannot accept liability for items of clothing and other personal possessions that become lost or damaged. All your personal clothing must be clearly labelled and documented on admission and during your stay in the Home. This is a simple precaution that will minimise the risk of your clothing being mislaid or lost. A member of staff should be informed of and shown any clothing or articles brought into the Home for you at any time, for the purpose of documenting and/or labelling.
We agree to provide a laundry service for your personal belongings which are machine washable (but not including professional dry cleaning or hand washing of any item). The Home shall not be held responsible for items of clothing damaged in the normal process of laundering unless it has been negligent in providing the laundry service.
VARIATIONS
We shall have the right to make variations to the terms of this Agreement from time to time if, in our opinion, it is necessary or appropriate because of (i) the introduction of new or amended legislation and/or (ii) to meet the changing needs of our residents and/or (iii) to improve our service. Variations will be notified at least one month in advance and will take effect from the date stated in the notice, which shall be the expiry date of such notice or a later date stated in the notice.
LIABILITY
Nothing in this Agreement shall exclude or limit liability for:
(i) death or personal injury resulting from negligence by us or by our agents or employees; or
(ii) any breach of the obligations implied by section 12 of the Sale of Goods Act 1979 or section 2 of the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982; or;
(iii) losses for which it is prohibited by section 7 of the Consumer Protection Act 1987 to limit liability; or
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(iv) fraud, fraudulent misrepresentation or any other matter for which it would be illegal or unlawful for us to exclude or attempt to exclude our liability
Subject to the preceding paragraph, we shall not be responsible or liable to you or any Guarantor for any losses (including any indirect, economic or consequential loss or special damages) that you suffer as a result of our failure to comply with this Agreement or otherwise arising out of or in connection with your stay at the Home, except for those losses which we could reasonably foresee would result from a failure to comply with this Agreement or breach of duty to you.
Subject to the two preceding paragraphs, our total liability to you or any Guarantor under this Agreement or otherwise arising out of or in connection with your stay at the Home shall in no event exceed £1,000,000 however such claim arises including (without limitation) breach of contract or in tort (negligence or other tort), misrepresentation or breach of statutory duty.
EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES
We support the principle of equal opportunities and oppose all forms of unlawful or unfair discrimination on the grounds of colour, race, nationality, ethnic or national origin, sex, marital status, religion or similar belief, sexual orientation, age or disability.
ACTIVITIES
We shall encourage the establishment of links in the community and facilitate regular visits and joint activities with residents, within and outside of the Home.
CLINICAL GOVERNANCE
We shall maintain an internal quality assurance system. This includes monitoring and auditing the Home by our “Clinical Governance Team”, using an appropriate audit tool.
DATA PROTECTION
We shall comply with the Data Protection Act 1998 and Access to Health Records Act 1990, in which your right of access to personal data and health records is detailed.
We gather information relating to you to allow us to process any registration or any booking which is made and for the purpose of issuing invoices and generally for the purpose of your stay at the Home. It is also used to communicate with you, and any other person on any matter relating to the arrangements concerning your stay, including for medical purposes, and for the purpose of communication with general practitioners, other health professionals and with people who owe the necessary duty of confidentiality.
If our business is to be sold or integrated in whole or in part with another business, details about you, and any other relevant person may be disclosed to our advisers and any prospective purchasers and their advisers and will be passed on to the new owners of the business.
If any of the information that you or any other person provides to us changes, please let us know the correct details in writing.
The information which is provided may in the future be transferred to countries outside the European Economic Area that do not have similar protections in place regarding data and its use. By submitting information, you and any other persons referred to consent to these transfers.
GOVERNING LAW
The Terms and Conditions contained in this Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with English law and the parties submit to the jurisdiction of the English courts
 
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irishmanc

Registered User
Jan 14, 2015
64
0
Manchester
Try to remember to look after yourself during this stressful time. You will experience many different emotions as I did. Remind yourself that you are doing absolutely the right thing and that your Mum will be safe and well-looked after. You will gradually find yourself relaxing as this dawns on you all over time. You will then be able to concentrate more on her and enjoy your visits. Take care.
 

Bod

Registered User
Aug 30, 2013
1,958
0
Funding

Be aware that Local Authority funding, will not be in the region of £1000 per week, and healthcare funding is very difficult to secure.
You may be faced with a large top-up fee to find. Hence the "Guarantor" clause in the agreement.

Bod
 

cragmaid

Registered User
Oct 18, 2010
7,936
0
North East England
While your Mum is " Self funding" she is entitled to be claiming the higher level of Attendance Allowance. wich will help to offset a small abount of the cost.
Be aware that most LAs ( if they fund anything at all) will only fund about half of the cost and that will leave a shortfall of about £500 to be found every week.

I didn't see anything too outrageous in your contract when I skimmed through it, but I'm only a lay person, if you are unhappy about anything, highlight it and ask!!
Does Mum not qualify for the 12 week disregard,( where the LA pay for the room) or do they not do that these days, it's three years since my late Mum went in to residential care?
 

Saffie

Registered User
Mar 26, 2011
22,513
0
Near Southampton
Does Mum not qualify for the 12 week disregard,( where the LA pay for the room) or do they not do that these days, it's three years since my late Mum went in to residential care?
I think that's only when there is a house involved Maureen and presumably her husband is still living in that. I certainly didn't have any disregard.

I'm a bit puzzled as to why iworry's Dad is paying the home fees though as surely it should only be her Mother's finances involved - unless it's a topup of course.
I agree, it's a bit dangerous to bank on getting CHC funding though.
 

iworry

Registered User
Nov 4, 2013
23
0
Thanks for your feedback.

Dad - although visibly emotional handled yesterday quite well. He was pleased with the home. We have agreed as a family mum will go into the home next Thursday (8th).

Under the advice of the home we will all go there for a 'meal' then one-by-one drift off home.

I can't imagine what that is going to feel like :-(

Fortunately the home is local - ~15 min drive away.

Funding still concerning..