Debt when gone in residential care

rachlou_85

New member
May 28, 2020
4
0
Hi, my Gran is going into residential care soon and she has no saving just her pensions and when she goes in to the home they will be having these for her care. My worry is she has two debts and when she goes into the home how can these be paid when there will be no money for them to be paid, there is the house but that will not be sold to pay for care as my sister has lived there since a baby so they are not forcing Sale of the house because it’s also her home so the house will only be sold as my nans wishes in her will when she dies so all the grandchildren get something but until then there is no money, and it’s stressing me out as to how I will deal with this debt and there will be no money it’s a catalog and then a overdraft on her bank. Any advice will be helpful thank you
 

canary

Registered User
Feb 25, 2014
25,018
0
South coast
Hello @rachlou_85 and welcome to DTP

Paying for a care home is always worrying, but there are very strict rules.
The first thing is whether your nans house has been "disregarded" or not by the Local Authority. When you said
my sister has lived there since a baby so they are not forcing Sale of the house because it’s also her home
who are the "they" who are not forcing the sale? Is it the Local Authority, or someone else? If the house has been disregarded, then the Local Authority will pay towards the care home fees (up to a certain level)

If the house has not been disregarded then Im afraid that the will is irrelevant - it only comes into play once someone has died and if the money is required for fees, then there are only 2 choices - sell the house to pay for the fees now, or take out a deferred payment scheme so that after your nan dies the house will be sold and the fees (plus interest) will be paid then. Any money left after your nan dies would then be distributed according to the will.
 

Louise7

Volunteer Host
Mar 25, 2016
4,693
0
Welcome to the forum @rachlou_85 Do you know roughly how much the debt is and what the weekly repayments are? I would suggest contacting the catalogue company and the bank to let them know that your Gran is going into a care home and will not be in a position to make her usual repayments and see what they suggest. If it's just a small amount they may consider writing off the debt, or they may reduce the repayments to a smaller amount. If you don't feel confident about contacting the catalogue and bank yourself then you can get help and advice via the Citizens Advice Bureau. Your Gran will be allowed to keep £25 a week from her pension as a personal allowance when she goes into a home. It's for covering things like toiletries, haircuts, clothes etc but if the repayments are reduced to just a small amount then maybe she could manage to pay some of it back?
 

rachlou_85

New member
May 28, 2020
4
0
Welcome to the forum @rachlou_85 Do you know roughly how much the debt is and what the weekly repayments are? I would suggest contacting the catalogue company and the bank to let them know that your Gran is going into a care home and will not be in a position to make her usual repayments and see what they suggest. If it's just a small amount they may consider writing off the debt, or they may reduce the repayments to a smaller amount. If you don't feel confident about contacting the catalogue and bank yourself then you can get help and advice via the Citizens Advice Bureau. Your Gran will be allowed to keep £25 a week from her pension as a personal allowance when she goes into a home. It's for covering things like toiletries, haircuts, clothes etc but if the repayments are reduced to just a small amount then maybe she could manage to pay some of it back?
Thank you for the reply. It’s around £2,500 catalog and £1000 bank, its me that has to deal with all the debt because my Nan no longer has capacity to do this, I did ring step change but they kept saying we need to do a budget but like I said there will only be her allowance nothing else I just wanted some idea of what would happen with the debts. The personal allowance that she will have I could pay with that but then I know I will be the one who will end up having to pay for toiletries and her magazines and treats and clothes when she needs them as it always ends up me doing everything and at the minute I am a student nurse and I can’t afford to do that. It’s just stressful keep thinking of it and what will happen
 

rachlou_85

New member
May 28, 2020
4
0
Hello @rachlou_85 and welcome to DTP

Paying for a care home is always worrying, but there are very strict rules.
The first thing is whether your nans house has been "disregarded" or not by the Local Authority. When you said

who are the "they" who are not forcing the sale? Is it the Local Authority, or someone else? If the house has been disregarded, then the Local Authority will pay towards the care home fees (up to a certain level)

If the house has not been disregarded then Im afraid that the will is irrelevant - it only comes into play once someone has died and if the money is required for fees, then there are only 2 choices - sell the house to pay for the fees now, or take out a deferred payment scheme so that after your nan dies the house will be sold and the fees (plus interest) will be paid then. Any money left after your nan dies would then be distributed according to the will.
Yes it was the local authority who have disregard the house in a financial assessment as long as my sister lives there as she has since a baby and not just to care for my Nan. if she was to move out then it would need to be sold. But all that’s ok it’s just two debts my Nan has and what happens when she goes into the care home as there is no savings to pay these off .
 

canary

Registered User
Feb 25, 2014
25,018
0
South coast
As the house is disregarded you dont need to worry about the care home fees.
@Louise7 has given good advice about what to do with the other debt. Get in contact with citizens advice and get the debt reduced - maybe £5 a week would not eat too much into her personal allowance. I found that when mum was in her care home I didnt actually need to get her very much.
 

rachlou_85

New member
May 28, 2020
4
0
As the house is disregarded you dont need to worry about the care home fees.
@Louise7 has given good advice about what to do with the other debt. Get in contact with citizens advice and get the debt reduced - maybe £5 a week would not eat too much into her personal allowance. I found that when mum was in her care home I didnt actually need to get her very much.
Thank you for reply, I Suppose under the situation they will have to accept what I offer I think because there is nothing else they can have so suppose it’s better than nothing. I will get in touch with the citizens advice anyway.
 

Chaplin

Registered User
May 24, 2015
354
0
Bristol
Hi, my Gran is going into residential care soon and she has no saving just her pensions and when she goes in to the home they will be having these for her care. My worry is she has two debts and when she goes into the home how can these be paid when there will be no money for them to be paid, there is the house but that will not be sold to pay for care as my sister has lived there since a baby so they are not forcing Sale of the house because it’s also her home so the house will only be sold as my nans wishes in her will when she dies so all the grandchildren get something but until then there is no money, and it’s stressing me out as to how I will deal with this debt and there will be no money it’s a catalog and then a overdraft on her bank. Any advice will be helpful thank you
Sorry to hear of your Nan’s predicament. Take a look at this,
Might help alleviate your worries but I don’t see how they can make you liable for her debts, particularly as it sounds like that would create hardship for you.
 

Banjomansmate

Registered User
Jan 13, 2019
5,395
0
Dorset
You say you are dealing with Nan’s finances, do you have Lasting Power of Attorney for finance and property or have you just been helping her? Having LPA gives you the legal right to deal with the Bank and catalogue company.
 

MaNaAk

Registered User
Jun 19, 2016
11,754
0
Essex
Hi, my Gran is going into residential care soon and she has no saving just her pensions and when she goes in to the home they will be having these for her care. My worry is she has two debts and when she goes into the home how can these be paid when there will be no money for them to be paid, there is the house but that will not be sold to pay for care as my sister has lived there since a baby so they are not forcing Sale of the house because it’s also her home so the house will only be sold as my nans wishes in her will when she dies so all the grandchildren get something but until then there is no money, and it’s stressing me out as to how I will deal with this debt and there will be no money it’s a catalog and then a overdraft on her bank. Any advice will be helpful thank you

Dear @Rachlou-85,

I think you and your sister need to find out about benefits for example I was amazed to find that dad was still entitled to the higher rate of Attendance Allowance although he went into a care home. Also could your nan be entitled to pension credit and what about sister there could be some benefits for her. Try contacting the DWP regarding your nan and try to get your sister to see if she can get any benefits to help with child care.

MaNaAk
 

Baker17

Registered User
Mar 9, 2016
3,382
0
Dear @Rachlou-85,

I think you and your sister need to find out about benefits for example I was amazed to find that dad was still entitled to the higher rate of Attendance Allowance although he went into a care home. Also could your nan be entitled to pension credit and what about sister there could be some benefits for her. Try contacting the DWP regarding your nan and try to get your sister to see if she can get any benefits to help with child care.

MaNaAk
When my husband was self funding he was paid the higher rate of AA. The AA stopped when he was funded by the local authority.