No house but savings....

[Louise100]

My mother and Father both need a needs assessment by the social services as we are getting to the stage where we need some extra help with their care.
They live in rented accomodation having sold their house. They now have only savings which are divided between them.
They probably have more than 23000 each. Will they have to pay for all their care themselves? Initially, we will need carers coming in twice a day we think, and we will continue with washing, taking them out , being on call in the night etc
It seems such an injustice that people with dementia have to fund their own care. Will they lose everything?

 

[nitram]

Have a read through

Your guide to the Care Act (England) | Carers UK

www.carersuk.org

I've assumed England, rules differ in other parts of the UK.

 

[Jaded'n'faded]

Basically yes - they'll have to pay the full cost. Once they get down to around £14000 each (can't recall the exact figure but nitrams link will tell you) the council start to contribute.

But if they have lots of money in the bank from the sale of their house they will just pay and pay forever

(My mother's care cost more than £150,000. The council contributed zero. Am I bitter? Yes. Absolutely. Mum worked and paid tax and NI all her life.)

 

[lemonbalm]

This tool is quite useful:

How much does care cost in your area? | Age UK?

Find out the average cost of care where you live and whether you're entitled to help with paying for it.

www.ageuk.org.uk

We must well over £200,000 for mum's care costs by now. I don't even want to calculate just how much. Thank god she can't remember her lovely retirement flat I sold behind her back.

 

[nitram]

Prepaying for a funeral plan effectively adds to the lower limit, currently £14250, else the funeral has to be paid for out of the £14250.
This is not regarded a deliberate deprivation of capital.

 

[Louise100]

Thanks for that everyone. Useful information. Moving forward with more help soon.

 

[northumbrian_k]

Hi @Louise100 .

To be clear, it is once a person's assets have fallen below the upper threshold of £23,250 that councils start to make a contribution to care costs. For example, in my wife's case she was self-funding care at home for a while then, from May 2019, residential care at approximately £3,000 per month. At the end of December 2020 her capital fell below the upper threshold. Her monthly contribution has been reduced by about 80% since as the council now pays the rest. Her contribution was determined by taking account of her state and occupational pension income less disregarded elements.

In addition to needs assessments and any resulting care plan a separate financial assessment determines eligibility for council funding. If assets are well above the threshold the assessment will be 'light touch' (in our case just a single question over the phone). A more detailed assessment was done at my request as funds fell towards the threshold level.

 

[Louise100]

Thank you. I have a much clearer picture of the financial aspect of care now.