Can anyone help please, my mom is in a care home, she'll have been there 3 years in April. The council pays a bit towards it and my dad pays a top up. He received a letter yesterday from the home to say from 1st April his top up is going up from £468 a month to £600 a month. There is no way my dad can afford this much extra. The thought of having to move her somewhere cheaper is awful, my mom is settled and sometimes has challenging behaviour, the staff have been amazing, have done more for her than most probably would. We dont know what to do, my dad is saying he'll bring her home, which is just not possible, he was making suicidal comments and couldnt cope before, my mom has gone downhill a lot since then, he wouldn't cope at all. Does anyone please have any advice? Thank you.
Care home top up fees
- Thread starter jellymac
- Start date
Hi @jellymac. When I was looking at carehomes for my dad at the end of last year I was told by dad's social worker that top up fees aren't always set in stone. Sometimes homes can be persuaded to reduce them if social services are involved.
Obviously a move would not be in your mum's best interests.
I would go back to SS and explain the problem. Good luck!
Obviously a move would not be in your mum's best interests.
I would go back to SS and explain the problem. Good luck!
I think you should be asked to be re-assessed. When they decide at the beginning how much contribution the patients' need to pay, you will also be told to let the funding people know if your circumstances have changed. That means that you should let them know if your income/outgoings have gone up or down. It might be possible to get an assessor to go to see him. And by the way, that home is about as cheap as you will get so please don't think of moving her. If your Dad owns his own house they can (I think) arrange to take the money that is owed at a later time, perhaps when the house is sold. By cheap I mean a good price especially if she is happy there. If he could see a social worker they will probably be able to help. Hope you can get it sorted.x
Get back to Social Services and see whether they would be willing to pay the extra so that your dad does not have to pay any increase. Use the argument that it would not be in your mums best interest to be moved.
If SS wont budge, though, you may have no other option than to move her. I truly wouldnt go down the route of taking out a loan on the house - paying a top-up is not the same as paying care home fees and does not qualify for deferred payment, so wouldnt be organised by the Local Authority. There should be at least one care home in the area that does not require top-up fees and they are not all bad. They may be scruffy and need decorating, but the care may be good
If SS wont budge, though, you may have no other option than to move her. I truly wouldnt go down the route of taking out a loan on the house - paying a top-up is not the same as paying care home fees and does not qualify for deferred payment, so wouldnt be organised by the Local Authority. There should be at least one care home in the area that does not require top-up fees and they are not all bad. They may be scruffy and need decorating, but the care may be good
Sorry, haven't read the whole of your thread but it is definitely worth asking for a reassessment if your mum's condition has got worse. If she has challenging behaviour it may be that she would qualify for Continuing Health Care. They assessed my husband for this even though none of us thought he would get it (and he didn't) but he doesn't have challenging behaviour.
Thank you for you replies. My dad has phoned the council and spoken to four different people, all of whom have said it's nothing to do with them it's between us and the home. The home have said tough it needs paying. We don't know what to do, my dad is now saying he'll bring my mom home, which is ridiculous as he couldn't cope before and was making suicidal comments. Just don't know what to do.
OK, so you cant negotiate on the top-up fees and SS wont budge on paying extra. This means that you will have to look for a care home that will accept the Local Authority rate. I know that you dont want to do this, but Im afraid that i cant see any other solution (I dont consider your dad saying that he will bring her home a solution).
Get back to Social Services and ask which care homes will accept LA rates - there has to be at least one in the area which will.
We have found out that from April 18 the council now pay £500 a week, instead of the £436 a week they pay for my mom. They pay this for all new and existing care home residents. The council have said they won't pay the extra as my mom's care home haven't signed a contract for carematch, the home owner has said he has never received anything. We are being lied to by the council (certainly not the first time!) And the care home owner is refusing to call us back. Can the council refuse to pay the extra due to the care home not signing up to carematch. It doesn't seem right my mom and dad are being forced to pay more due to an issue with council and home. Thank you
