Carehome fees

[Daisymay1]

Hi all. I hope you can give some advise as i am not sure who to trust anymore. We get conflicting information from whoever we ask.
Mam is about to go into a carehome, after 5 years being in her own home living with mixed dementia, and 4 carers and family. The care home have assessed her and will decide in the next day or so.
I am a joint name on her bank account and we have LPO for her finances. We have been asked for all her bank statements for 2 years. We have told them we are looking at CHC. I am not sure we will get it, but feel angry that i didnt even know about it until I came onto this forum! So they can wait 😄.
My question is what happens now? How do we pay for the care home? Do they usually invoice monthly? Will they wait while we get all the CHC (or not) sorted.
The LA just said we have 12 weeks to put the house on the market, but we wanted to do some urgent repairs before we did this, are we alllowed and use Mams money? We think we need to get the best price possible. So basically any information is more than we know right now.
Thank you

 

[Jessbow]

Not manyget CHC so wououldnt count on it.
Unless mum has pots and pots of cash in the bank, I'd pay the invoices as they come in, usually monthly

if mum has her own house, its almost certain she will be self funding, unless she gets CHC funding.
Does she fit the criteria for CHC and have you got that ball rolling?

 

[Daisymay1]

We have a teephone call with dedicated helpline for CHC (cost £300) to assess whether they think we have a case. I hope its worth it!
I am not hopeful but it seems wrong not to try.

 

[Jessbow]

Have a look here and see what you think, before you part with any money. You know her besst

Beacon CHC | What is the CHC Checklist?

What is the CHC Checklist? This is step 1 in applying for Continuing Healthcare funding. We explain what it is and how it's used.

beaconchc.co.uk

 

[Dave63]

We have a teephone call with dedicated helpline for CHC (cost £300) to assess whether they think we have a case. I hope its worth it!
I am not hopeful but it seems wrong not to try.

I'd be very wary about parting with any money for this.
How on earth do they assess a persons chance of getting CHC? Do they have access to medical records or history? Do they have expertise in this area? If they're charging £300 for a 'telephone assessment' it doesn't sound to me like a reputable company. I wouldn't be surprised if their assessment results in them suggesting your mum stands a really good chance and the next 'stage' will cost £xxxxx.

 

[canary]

Hi @Daisymay1 Even if you get CHC, it can take a long time. One of our members has been trying to get CHC for his mum for literally years and the care home wont wait that long for their fees.

Where it comes to selling the house it is best to weigh up how much the repairs will cost and how much extra the house will then sell for. Quite often it is more cost effective to sell "as is"

 

[I thank you for the years]

Hi @Daisymay1
Age UK have some useful guides and factsheets.
Factsheets 10 and 38 listed under social care in the index below would seem to be good starting points for you.
https://www.ageuk.org.uk/services/information-advice/guides-and-factsheets/#care
Best wishes x

 

[MarieD]

Hi I would advise you pay for the care home fees as you go along from your mothers money, I think we paid for two weeks initially then took it from there.
I feel one day probably won’t be long enough for the carehome to assess your mum personally.
My mum took a very quick downward decline after she went into care after two weeks it was concluded she needed more care than the care home could provide.
I spoke to the social worker and asked about CHC funding and said I’d liked her assessed. The social worker organised this.
You can look online yourself for the criteria and judge for yourself if your mothers condition would qualify I don’t think I’d pay a company who have never seen your mother for advice.
Every case is different plus if she doesn’t qualify her name will then be in the system and should her health deteriorate more you can always apply again at any time.

 

[Daisymay1]

Hi @Daisymay1 Even if you get CHC, it can take a long time. One of our members has been trying to get CHC for his mum for literally years and the care home wont wait that long for their fees.

Where it comes to selling the house it is best to weigh up how much the repairs will cost and how much extra the house will then sell for. Quite often it is more cost effective to sell "as is"

Thank you for the advice. I think we are worried that the house will leak in the winter and if it takes a while to sell it could create more damage