Top Up Fees

Tomcat

Registered User
Mar 20, 2016
26
0
My mums moving from a residential care home to nursing care home as her needs have changed. We have been assesssed by the local authority and pay the top up in the residential home but moving mum to nursing care home means we are going to pay an additional £200.00 a week on top of fees we already pay. Anyone have an idea how this will be funded as we are already finding it hard to pay the fees?
 

Baker17

Registered User
Mar 9, 2016
3,382
0
My mums moving from a residential care home to nursing care home as her needs have changed. We have been assesssed by the local authority and pay the top up in the residential home but moving mum to nursing care home means we are going to pay an additional £200.00 a week on top of fees we already pay. Anyone have an idea how this will be funded as we are already finding it hard to pay the fees?
Top up fees are a voluntary payment and no one can be forced to pay them towards the cost of their PWD’s Care.
 

Louise7

Volunteer Host
Mar 25, 2016
4,683
0
Top up fees are a voluntary payment and no one can be forced to pay them towards the cost of their PWD’s Care.

Yes, but I thought that once you had agreed to pay top ups you are expected to continue to pay them, even when an increase is required?

Has your Mum had a CHC assessment? If her needs have increased she may now qualify for Funded Nursing Care (FNC) which is around £158 weekly.
 

Baker17

Registered User
Mar 9, 2016
3,382
0
Yes, but I thought that once you had agreed to pay top ups you are expected to continue to pay them, even when an increase is required?

Has your Mum had a CHC assessment? If her needs have increased she may now qualify for Funded Nursing Care (FNC) which is around £158 weekly.
As far as I know and I’m not an expert if you can’t afford any increases for any reason you would have to go to SS and explain you were unable to pay, this would mean that the PWD would or could be moved if they were funded by SS I think
 

nitram

Registered User
Apr 6, 2011
30,072
0
Bury
Yes, but I thought that once you had agreed to pay top ups you are expected to continue to pay them, even when an increase is required?

Expected maybe, you can't be forced although discontinuing may mean an attempt by the LA to move the PWD to a different home - if they can find one that does not charge more than their tariff.

This case is different. The OP's mum now requires nursing not residential care so a new contract will have to be drawn up giving an opportunity to refuse to pay any top up.

The increase of £200/wk looks as if the LA are requesting most of the additional fee as a top up. As the move is due to a need for an increase in care this does not seem correct.

If FNC is to be paid this makes the £200 sound even more excessive.
 

Tomcat

Registered User
Mar 20, 2016
26
0
Top up fees are a voluntary payment and no one can be forced to pay them towards the cost of their PWD’s Care.
Thank so much for taking the time to reply. Could you tell me who I speak to about this and arrange the funding. Do I go through the council or a solicitor because I think it hasn’t seemed right from day dot the amount our family have been paying and now the family are worried where we will find the money to pay these extra fees? If we refuse to pay the top will the council to just find a home, as we are worried because we have found a home that’s ideal and nearby but is also charging £1245.00 weekly.
 

Izzy

Volunteer Moderator
Aug 31, 2003
73,994
0
72
Dundee
I wondered if it might be useful to give the Society's Helpline a ring and talk to one of the advisers there. The phone number is 0300 222 11 22.and they are open from 10am to 4pm today. Their opening hours are as follows -

Monday to Wednesday
9am – 8pm
Thursday and Friday 9am – 5pm
Saturday and Sunday 10am – 4pm
 

Louise7

Volunteer Host
Mar 25, 2016
4,683
0
You need to speak to the council.

We have been assesssed by the local authority and pay the top up in the residential home but moving mum to nursing care home means we are going to pay an additional £200.00 a week on top of fees we already pay.

Where did you get the figure of £200 extra per week from - have the council carried out a new financial assessment in relation to your Mum's need for a nursing home? If so, you need to contact the financial assessment team and let them know that you can't afford the extra top up. If they haven't done a new financial assessment yet you need to contact them and let them know that your Mum now needs nursing care. If your Mum has a social worker let them know the position too.

Has there been any discussion already with the council/social services with regards to your Mum needing to move to a nursing home? The council will look to place your Mum in a nursing home which will meet her needs and is within the budget/rate they will pay for nursing care. If there is nothing suitable available they may increase their contribution but choice of home might be limited. If the home that the family want to move Mum to costs more than the amount the council will pay then you may need to pay a top up, but the first thing to do is to make sure that a new financial assessment has been carried out in relation to nursing needs. And as already mentioned, you need to get a CHC assessment to see if your Mum qualifies for FNC. Speak to the home she is in at the moment as they should be able to tell you how you can get this arranged.
 

nitram

Registered User
Apr 6, 2011
30,072
0
Bury
You could refer the LA to:

8.37 The local authority must ensure that the person has a genuine choice of accommodation. It must ensure that at least one accommodation option is available and affordable within the person’s personal budget and it should ensure that there is more than one of those options. However, a person must also be able to choose alternative options, including a more expensive setting, where a third party or in certain circumstances the resident is willing and able to pay the additional cost (‘top-up’). However, an additional payment must always be optional and never as a result of commissioning failures leading to a lack of choice. Detailed guidance is set out in Annex A which a local authority must have regard to.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publi...ce/care-and-support-statutory-guidance#AnnexA

The LA should check that anybody paying a top-up is able to pay.

Also note that if you do pay a top-up the LA should contract with the home for the full amount and you pay the LA the top-up. This means the home have to negotiate any increase with the LA and not simply tell you the top-up has increased.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Still-my-mom

New member
Feb 22, 2018
2
0
If the person is, or was married to someone who served in the forces, contact your local SSAFA office, they will arrange a caseworker to talk to you and if eligible, will contact service charities to assist with popups, not much, maybe a few £thousand a year, but as they say 'every little helps' checkout also hashtag #gotyourback SSAFA.org.uk
 

mpap

Registered User
Feb 27, 2011
1
0
London
When a person enters a nursing home they should be assessed by the local NHS continuous care funding section. The assessment should qualify for a 'registered nurse contribution' which I now believe is £158.16p per week.
I hope this gives you some hope of financial help that you may be entitled to.
mpap
 

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