Final account for care home fees

[Worrywart 2]

Hi hoping for some help.

has anyine any experience of the final account received from the council please ?
my mother was in a care home for 5 years, died last august. We entered into deferred payment scheme, her house is currently empty not on market yet.

they seem reluctant to give me the final figure, I can’t find any guidance as to work it out myself and they said they are in backlog situation.

has anyone any knowledge in this area please, it’s really worrying me now.

 

[Louise7]

Hello @Worrywart 2 I think local authorities seem to do things differently but when mum's house was finally sold we informed the finance team and they then emailed details of the outstanding balance, sending over 20 separate invoices! They did make an error though, so when you get the final amount figure I'd suggest that you go through it carefully to make sure that they haven't overcharged you. Your deferred payment agreement should state what the monthly deferred amount is, so you could use this to give a rough idea of what the final balance will be eg £3,500 x 60 months (5 years). Are there funds available to repay the amount, or will the house have to be sold?

I would try not to worry too much, as the pandemic is causing delays across all local authorities and it's not unusual to have to wait some time for invoices. I made sure that when I contacted the finance team I always did so via email, not phone, so that I had an audit trail in case there were any problems later. Could you send them an email as a reminder that you would like to pay the balance due but can't do so until they inform you of the total amount outstanding? From experience I have found that if you want to pay the local authority money, rather than the other way round, they tended to be more keen to get in touch! Hopefully they will sort it out for you soon.

 

[Worrywart 2]

Thank you so much Louise that’s really helpful.
The reason why I can’t work it out is because there were some property related expenses incurred during the 5 years which they have said they ‘may’ consider. Since sending in copies of these invoices ( flat roof leak, insurances etc - not a massive amount ) they have said the calculation has become complicated ? Also I live in Wales and the welsh government allow the estate to retain an amount of £50k. The house isn’t a high value property and if the debt was fairly low, I’d consider paying the debt off and keeping the house. But until they get back to me I am stuck.
there seems to be no guidance on this and when I do finally get the bill I want to have a rough idea in my mind of what to expect.
I find it stressful as I’m in poor health and just want this finalised ??