LA financial assessment for care at home

[Sueperzoom]

Hello.
I think we've made terrible mistake moving my parents in with us. Dad has dementia and mum is his carer. She was finding it hard ao we extended the house and mum and dad moved in with us. The idea was that I would be on hand more to take the pressure off mum. The reality is that Dad has really deteriorated and mum has to do everything for him. I'm out at work all day so the only break she gets is for a few hours on an evening and over the weekend.

We are at the point where we need additional support for dad to give mum a break.

My question is, mum and dad pay us £300 a month towards the cost of food and increase in heating bills. Will thus be taken into account as an outgoing? They don't have any other outgoings so I suspect they wont be awarded and financial help.

 

[canary]

Hi @Sueperzoom and welcome to Talking Point.

I cant see why them paying you for food and heating would stop your dad getting financial help. If your parents were in their on home they would have to pay for food and other bills and the assessment will give an allowance for such things. The assessment will only include your dads income, outgoings and savings (50% of anything joint with your mum) your unless your dad has a huge income, they will mostly be looking at his savings. If he has over £23,500 total, then yes he would be considered self-funding and would not get any assistance. Under this and the Local Authority will give some assistance. If he has less than £14,000 he may not have to contribute anything.

 

[nitram]

Did your Mum and Dad live in a house they owned?
If so who owned it, Mum, Dad, or jointly, and is it now rented or has it been sold?
If sold what happened to the proceeds?

 

[MartinWL]

£300 a month is very little so consider charging them a realistic, but not inflated, charge for board and lodging. You can set the cash aside for their future if you like but it is money that won't be counted in their assessment. It is perfectly reasonable for them to pay their way as long as it isn't more than the going rate. Of course if they have a lot of savings they will be self-funding anyway so it won't then make a difference.

 

[Frank24]

The 12 week disregard was actually pretty straightforward with my mums local authority as I too was worried about my mum running out of savings whilst waiting for her house to sell after 2 years of funding live in care. I think as long as you are engaging with the local authority about financial assessments and sale of property they tend to be fairly helpful and in my experience actually very sympathetic. It was a stressful time for me and I was very worried about the financial side - having a short fall in the interim period of funds being available.

 

[Paul A]

I took advice on something similar, I was told to say your mum needs a roof over her head, you gave it, it was cheaper than a care home. Therefore you don't have a problem. I would speak with age UK they are very good.

I did a very similar thing, I would prepare yourself that sadly your dad will end up in professional care. The LA in my case was very good. Do they own their own house?

 

[Sueperzoom]

Did your Mum and Dad live in a house they owned?
If so who owned it, Mum, Dad, or jointly, and is it now rented or has it been sold?
If sold what happened to the proceeds?

I owned the house they lived in. They had no where to live when my dad retired (he was a caretaker and the house came with the job). Instead of selling my home, I bought another one with my husband and my parents lived in my old house. Annoyingly, I had to pay extra tax on the sale because I hadn't lived there for a while, even though I had dependant relatives living in it. Anyway, I sold it to pay for the extension we had had to build to make room for mum and dad to live with us.

 

[Sueperzoom]

The 12 week disregard was actually pretty straightforward with my mums local authority as I too was worried about my mum running out of savings whilst waiting for her house to sell after 2 years of funding live in care. I think as long as you are engaging with the local authority about financial assessments and sale of property they tend to be fairly helpful and in my experience actually very sympathetic. It was a stressful time for me and I was very worried about the financial side - having a short fall in the interim period of funds being available.

Hi thanks for your reply. What is the 12 week disregard? I've just found out they are coming to do an assessment of dad's needs next week. It will then be another 6 weeks minimum for someone to ring and do a financial assessment. I've also asked for a carers assessment for my mum, but been told that will be approx 6 weeks for for someone to come and do that. I assume there'll also be a financial assessment for that which will be another delay. There are so many hoops to jump through and everything takes such a long time. It's infuriating.

 

[nitram]

What is the 12 week disregard?

It's irrelevant in your case.
It is disregarding the value of a house for 12 weeks when a person enters residential care, gives time to sell the property.

Financial assessments are based on sole assets and relevant share of any jointly owned assets.

I asked about house ownership as I was concerned that some of the proceeds of a property owned by your parents might have been used to help fund the extension which could have lead to the LA claiming deliberate depravation of assets.

Has dad applied for attendance allowance ?
If applying get help from one of the charities, CAB, AgeUK,...

 

[HelpInOut]

Hi thanks for your reply. What is the 12 week disregard? I've just found out they are coming to do an assessment of dad's needs next week. It will then be another 6 weeks minimum for someone to ring and do a financial assessment. I've also asked for a carers assessment for my mum, but been told that will be approx 6 weeks for for someone to come and do that. I assume there'll also be a financial assessment for that which will be another delay. There are so many hoops to jump through and everything takes such a long time. It's infuriating.

It must be frustrating. We didn't have to go through the wait for the FA because I knew they wouldnt qualify for any financial help . I just told the council they were over the threshold. I don't want people unnecessarily poking about in their finances.
In the meantime , have a look at the application form for AA if your Dad isn't already getting it.
The higher rate ( day and overnight care or supervision) is approx £89 per week. It's not means tested unlike carers allowance.
Get some advice re filling in the form. Essentially you need to focus on telling them about any activity of daily living ( Google it) that your dad needs help OR supervision with. Communication issues are vital,especially if he has hearing aids or wears spectacles. Give examples of issues and what your mum has to do for him. My dad has to swing his legs out of of the bed to use a urine bottle during the night because he can't manage to locate his bits and pieces whilst lying in bed . Sometimes he drops the bottle on the floor so mum is on alert listening in case she has to go and sort. Don't forget things like fingernails, toenails, shaving , medications ( including creams , drops, inhalers) , Skin integrity etc.
I'm not up on benefits as I looked at carers allowance for myself, but my NHS pension is £130 per week so I didn't qualify and neither does Mum. I don't think carers allowance affects someone's AA.
I think it's strange that working age people who qualify for PIP can get a mobility component of up to £120 a week on top of their living component of £89, but this isn't the case with AA as presumably they class OAP as a benefit.

 

[canary]

Hi @HelpInOut

I just thought I mention that to qualify for Carers Allowance, although you cant get CA and state pension, other pensions (occupational and/or private) dont count. Only earned income counts. I receive an occupational pension which is over the £128 pounds a week limit, but as it doesnt count as earned income and I am still of working age, I get CA

 

[nitram]

Only earned income counts.

State pension is an exception, not earned income but classed as an overlapping benefit.
Deferring state pension to receive a higher pension at a later date is not allowed.

 

[canary]

As I said - you cant get CA and state pension
But if you are still of working age then other pensions dont count as income - only earned income counts.
Perhaps I didnt express it very well

 

[Banjomansmate]

Applying for Attendance Allowance for your Dad is the immediate way to go. Describe his needs on the worst day, don’t underestimate any of his caring needs.