So, mum went into care six months ago. It has taken the financial assessment team this long to assess her contribution. Mum is under the £23kish threshold but I have just been informed that there is a sliding scale of charges from £14,000 which means she is left with £1.01 per week. The £24 a week won't kick in until her savings reach £14,000. This seems so wrong.
Mum's contribution
- Thread starter jknight
- Start date
Not, as I understand it, UK varies but 20 to 30 pounds per week is what the you.gov site quotes varies by nation.
But a quid a week to live on ,maybe a top up is involved but even then one pound and a penny per week to pay everything else, backin seem to say so, I don't agree, read the rules vary by UK nations but by nothing like the rules as stated. Sorry to disagree with backiin, but I think not. K
But a quid a week to live on ,maybe a top up is involved but even then one pound and a penny per week to pay everything else, backin seem to say so, I don't agree, read the rules vary by UK nations but by nothing like the rules as stated. Sorry to disagree with backiin, but I think not. K
I think something, somewhere has gone wrong with the maths/
Ask for a recalculation/explanation
Is she claiming verything she is entitled to?
Kevin- self funders dont pay 'top ups'
Are you assuming that she would not have to pay anything from her savings once she got down to the £23,500?
The idea of the sliding scale is that you will still have to pay from your savings for the fees and to give you funds for personal expenses, its just that you will be paying less and less as savings go down. It isnt until you get down to £14,000 that you are not expected to pay from your savings.
Im sorry if you didnt realise this
The thinking is, if your mum has between £23,500 and £14,000 she will have to contribute towards her care on a sliding scale. If she has between these amounts then she does not need a personal allowance as such because she has savings. The personal allowance kicks in when a person is fully funded but this funding includes all of their state pension and half a private pension if they have one. They need a personal allowance to buy personal care products or clothes etc. A person with savings does not need this as the expectation is that they use their savings for these expenses.
My Mum was not allowed to pay Top Up from her £23,500. Council refused point blank. Top ups had to come from a third party. My sister had just received her state pension so she used that. I went half with her when eventually I got mine, Mum had just enough money left with her savings and some insurances to pay us both back when she died. Seemed a bit stupid to me, it was her money if she wanted to use it to pay a Top Up why couldn’t she? They did allow her £25.00 per week for expenses straight away in the calculations but then she had to contribute £10 for every £100 she had in savings over the £14,000 . Supposed to be for interest - if anyone knows any bank paying that amount of interest please let me know (LOL). Seems very unfair that every Council seems to interpret the rules differently.
Yes, thats true, but I wasnt talking about top-ups
Between the upper limit of £23,500 (above this you are self-funded) and the lower limit of £14,000 (below this you are fully LA funded) its sort of part self funded and part LA funded where you are still expected to pay some of the fees, but the LA starts to contribute on a sliding scale depending on your savings
Top ups kick in when the LA is paying its maximum, but the care home wants an additional payment
My understanding is that (in England) between the upper threshold (£23,250) and the lower threshold (£14,250) the person makes a contribution from their income and a tariff against any savings (capital) that are above the lower limit. Below the lower threshold the person still makes a contribution from their income but there is no tariff applicable.
A person with assets above the upper capital limit is responsible for the full cost of their care in a care home (self-funding). A person with assets between the capital limits will pay what they can afford from their income, plus a means-tested contribution from their assets. A person with assets below the lower capital limit will pay only what they can afford from their income.
This is from my Local Authority's guidance on charging and financial assessment:
- Where the adult has capital valued at between £14,250 and £23,250, the financial assessment will include an amount of tariff income. This tariff income will be calculated at a rate of £1 of additional income for every £250 (or part thereof) of capital between £14,250 and the actual value of the adult’s capital
- Where the adult has capital valued at less than £14,250, the entire value of that capital will be wholly disregarded for the purpose of financial assessment
Certain things are disregarded from the calculation, notably a house that a spouse or partner still lives in, half of occupational pension that has been gifted (or deemed to have been gifted) to the partner or spouse, a statutory amount for the Personal Expenses Allowance and a small amount in lieu of Savings Credit.
Personal Expenses Allowance (PEA) is set aside from income. Income could include state pension, any private pension and any benefits. While the lion’s share of these will go towards paying for care, PEA is taken from it for the person to spend as they please. PEA is disregarded from income when calculating how much a person should pay towards care home fees.
When the calculation was done for my wife I wasn't aware of the disregard of 50% of occupational pension but the finance officer deemed that it had been gifted to me. Hence her contribution is her entire state pension plus half of her occupational pension plus a tariff on that portion of her savings that are above the £14,250 threshold less the disregards mentioned above.
The tariff payable if capital is at the upper threshold can be no more than £36 per week (ie 23,250-14,250 = 9,000; 9,000 / 250 = 36) and will reduce as the total capital reduces.
This circular linked below, applies to England for 2024/25. In summary:
- capital limits remain at their current level (lower capital limit £14,250 and upper capital limit £23,250)
- personal expenses allowance (PEA) for local authority-supported care home residents increases in line with inflation
- minimum income guarantee (MIG) for people receiving local authority-arranged care and support other than in a care home increases in line with inflation
- Savings Credit disregards increase in line with inflation. These rates apply to individuals receiving care in a care home, their own home or another setting
www.gov.uk
A person with assets above the upper capital limit is responsible for the full cost of their care in a care home (self-funding). A person with assets between the capital limits will pay what they can afford from their income, plus a means-tested contribution from their assets. A person with assets below the lower capital limit will pay only what they can afford from their income.
This is from my Local Authority's guidance on charging and financial assessment:
- Where the adult has capital valued at between £14,250 and £23,250, the financial assessment will include an amount of tariff income. This tariff income will be calculated at a rate of £1 of additional income for every £250 (or part thereof) of capital between £14,250 and the actual value of the adult’s capital
- Where the adult has capital valued at less than £14,250, the entire value of that capital will be wholly disregarded for the purpose of financial assessment
Certain things are disregarded from the calculation, notably a house that a spouse or partner still lives in, half of occupational pension that has been gifted (or deemed to have been gifted) to the partner or spouse, a statutory amount for the Personal Expenses Allowance and a small amount in lieu of Savings Credit.
Personal Expenses Allowance (PEA) is set aside from income. Income could include state pension, any private pension and any benefits. While the lion’s share of these will go towards paying for care, PEA is taken from it for the person to spend as they please. PEA is disregarded from income when calculating how much a person should pay towards care home fees.
When the calculation was done for my wife I wasn't aware of the disregard of 50% of occupational pension but the finance officer deemed that it had been gifted to me. Hence her contribution is her entire state pension plus half of her occupational pension plus a tariff on that portion of her savings that are above the £14,250 threshold less the disregards mentioned above.
The tariff payable if capital is at the upper threshold can be no more than £36 per week (ie 23,250-14,250 = 9,000; 9,000 / 250 = 36) and will reduce as the total capital reduces.
This circular linked below, applies to England for 2024/25. In summary:
- capital limits remain at their current level (lower capital limit £14,250 and upper capital limit £23,250)
- personal expenses allowance (PEA) for local authority-supported care home residents increases in line with inflation
- minimum income guarantee (MIG) for people receiving local authority-arranged care and support other than in a care home increases in line with inflation
- Savings Credit disregards increase in line with inflation. These rates apply to individuals receiving care in a care home, their own home or another setting
Social care charging for local authorities: 2024 to 2025
Information for local authorities on charging for care and support.
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