top ups

Pon

Registered User
Dec 11, 2011
61
0
wales
Hi It's a long time since I posted something but can anyone help me with advice
My husband's savings have now reached the recommended limit and having had a meeting with the sociai worker today he informed me that although my husband qualifies for emi nursing care he doesn't yet qualify for CHC and that we will have to pay a top up and from what he has said I don't think we will able to pay what they will ask for. Can anyone advise why I do next

Thanks
Pon
 

jenniferpa

Registered User
Jun 27, 2006
39,442
0
Hi Pon.

The truth is they cannot force you to pay a top-up. If the fee the LA are prepared to pay is not sufficient to pay for the emi nursing care your husband has being assessed as needing the LA have two options: up their payment or move him to a home that will accept their standard payment. Now if they try the latter approach, you would have a strong case, if he has been in his existing home some time and is settled there, to ask them to show that such a move would not be detrimental to his health and emotional well being. If the proposed home is further away making it more difficult for you to visit, you should also point out that fact, as your husband has a right to have as much interaction with his family as possible.

Perhaps you could explain the situation to us further?
 

WILLIAMR

Account Closed
Apr 12, 2014
1,078
0
Hi Pon.

The truth is they cannot force you to pay a top-up. If the fee the LA are prepared to pay is not sufficient to pay for the emi nursing care your husband has being assessed as needing the LA have two options: up their payment or move him to a home that will accept their standard payment. Now if they try the latter approach, you would have a strong case, if he has been in his existing home some time and is settled there, to ask them to show that such a move would not be detrimental to his health and emotional well being. If the proposed home is further away making it more difficult for you to visit, you should also point out that fact, as your husband has a right to have as much interaction with his family as possible.

Perhaps you could explain the situation to us further?

Jennifer is correct.
I would insist on having a CHC assessment.
The LA wanted the bungalow my step mother was living in sold to pay the fees but I pointed out I was the owner.
I am only the step son and I was told I would have to pay £1,000 per month top up for my step mother.
I just refused and said I would involve a solicitor.
Two hours later we were called back to the hospital to be told that CHC funding had been granted.


William
 

Kevinl

Registered User
Aug 24, 2013
6,063
0
Salford
Hi Pon
"he doesn't yet qualify for CHC" why the "yet"? There must be a reason for it like too much savings or something do you not know the reason what they said yet, surely they must have said why?
As Jen says they can't force you to pay and if his funds are (I think) £23k he pays some and below £13k he pays nothing then they have no grounds for refusing if he meets the criteria.
I hope this isn't a social worker just trying it on see if he can guilt you into paying if it is please come back and tell us.
Personal rant: if I do some tax evasion (does not mention all the big companies doing it) then everyone up to the prime minister says how bad it is, when the SS try and evade payments they are required by law to make that's somehow OK because it's saving the public money. Rant over.
K
 

jenniferpa

Registered User
Jun 27, 2006
39,442
0
Kevinl: that's not quite right - your eligibility of CHC has nothing to do with savings and everything to do with if you are assessed as needing it. As to the payment when your savings have dropped to the upper level, you pay your state pension, 50% of your occupational pension if you have a spouse or 100% of same if you don't plus a tariff income of £1 per week per £250 of savings. When you drop to the lower £14,250 level the only thing you no longer pay is this tariff income: you still pay your pensions (less, in all situations, the £23 personal expenses allowance).

But I do think a lot of front line social services staff really do not understand when a top-up is or is not payable. And since in most cases when a person is placed in a care home social workers get moved to new cases, they never really have the chance (because they don't see the financial paperwork subsequently) to understand how wrong they are.
 
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Not so Rosy

Registered User
Nov 30, 2013
578
0
Kevinl: that's not quite right - your eligibility of CHC has nothing to do with savings and everything to do with if you are assessed as needing it. As to the payment when your savings have dropped to the upper level, you pay your state pension, 50% of your occupational pension if you have a spouse or 100% of same if you don't plus a tariff income of £1 per week per £250 of savings. When you drop to the lower £14,250 level the only thing you no longer pay is this tariff income: you still pay your pensions (less, in all situations, the £23 personal expenses allowance)

Gosh I have never seen it spelt out so clearly, so in essence you don't stop paying even when you drop below the £14,250.

You might not be even left to be able to pay for your funeral. I am not the sort of person to usually throw a wobbly but will be composing a letter to my MP tomorrow.
 
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Kevinl

Registered User
Aug 24, 2013
6,063
0
Salford
Gosh I have never seen it spelt out so clearly, so in essence you don't stop paying even when you drop below the £14,250.

That's Jen for you straight in with the facts :) But I still don't understand the "not yet" bit and why they're asking you for top ups.
K
 

jenniferpa

Registered User
Jun 27, 2006
39,442
0
Gosh I have never seen it spelt out so clearly, so in essence you don't stop paying even when you drop below the £14,250.

You might not be even left to be able to pay for your funeral. I am not the sort of person to usually throw a wobbly but will be composing a letter to my MP tomorrow.

Well that's why it's totally reasonable, even when you drop below the upper limit, to buy a prepaid funeral package. This isn't considered to be deprivation of assets, and it has the advantage of lower your tariff payments.

I'm not sure why you wouldn't have enough to pay for your funeral, though, unless you continued to spend more than your PEA. Which you might well of course. But theoretically that £14250 would just sit there hopefully accumulation some amount of interest (although I realise interest payments are basically non-existent at the moment).
 

Not so Rosy

Registered User
Nov 30, 2013
578
0
Well that's why it's totally reasonable, even when you drop below the upper limit, to buy a prepaid funeral package. This isn't considered to be deprivation of assets, and it has the advantage of lower your tariff payments.

I'm not sure why you wouldn't have enough to pay for your funeral, though, unless you continued to spend more than your PEA. Which you might well of course. But theoretically that £14250 would just sit there hopefully accumulation some amount of interest (although I realise interest payments are basically non-existent at the moment).

Sorry it's late and maybe I have misread things. So you do get to keep the £14250.

In addition, I am endlessly muddled. After being told by AZ Society, Age UK, CAB and SS that I wouldn't qualify for Carers Allowance, it seems I do qualify. So I have missed out on it for years. I so wish there was a Central point for accurate info. It was only when someone on here posted a benefits calculator recently I sort of realised I qualified. Didn't believe it but tonight I tried a few other calculators and all say I qualified.

Very much doubt I could do a back dated claim :eek:
 

jenniferpa

Registered User
Jun 27, 2006
39,442
0
Yes, you keep the £14250. But you still have to contribute your pensions (less the PEA).

Re the carers allowance: are you receiving a state pension yourself? Or do you earn more than £102 a week (after taxes, care costs while you’re at work and 50% of what you pay into your pension). Those are the normal reason people don't get it, but it's always worth applying because even if you don't actually get any money, it becomes an underlying benefit, and that can be helpful for other things.
 

Not so Rosy

Registered User
Nov 30, 2013
578
0
Yes, you keep the £14250. But you still have to contribute your pensions (less the PEA).

Re the carers allowance: are you receiving a state pension yourself? Or do you earn more than £102 a week (after taxes, care costs while you’re at work and 50% of what you pay into your pension). Those are the normal reason people don't get it, but it's always worth applying because even if you don't actually get any money, it becomes an underlying benefit, and that can be helpful for other things.

Nope none of the above. I was widowed at 50 and therefore sadly receive a Widows Pension :eek:, not a State Pension. Seems a pension isn't included in the calculator.
 

jenniferpa

Registered User
Jun 27, 2006
39,442
0
If you get a widow's pension you probably aren't entitled to carers allowance (that is receive actual cash). But you should apply anyway because of the underlying entitlement issue.


You cannot usually be paid CA if you receive one or more of the following benefits:

Contribution-based ESA
Incapacity Benefit
Maternity Allowance
Bereavement or widow’s benefits
Severe Disablement Allowance
Contribution-based JSA
State Retirement Pension (see below)

However, if any of these are paid at less than the amount of CA, you could be paid a small amount of CA on top of the other benefit you get.


http://www.carersuk.org/help-and-advice/financial-support/help-with-benefits/carers-allowance
 
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Not so Rosy

Registered User
Nov 30, 2013
578
0
Seems you can only backdate 3 months.

I have been playing with all the benefits calculators, so far, a private pension of £100,000 per year is still showing as being able to claim full carers allowance. Either these calculators are wrong or the whole system is bonkers :mad:
 

jenniferpa

Registered User
Jun 27, 2006
39,442
0
My understanding is that when it comes to carer's allowance only state paid benefits count (unless we are talking about earnings). So if you get one state paid benefit (in your case, widows allowance) and it's more than the carer's allowance, you can't actually get both. But you can have the underlying entitlement, which would at the very least allow you to get NI contributions.
 

Not so Rosy

Registered User
Nov 30, 2013
578
0
No state benefits here Jennifer, I got about £60 a week for a year after my husband died, end of, after he had paid into the system for over 30 years. A pretty rubbish return on your cash really.

I was left with mortgage payments of £1200 - £1300 a month with no help at all. Sorry I am straying from the thread.

Really hope someone with experience with a private pension can comment about Carers Allowance.
 

Pete R

Registered User
Jul 26, 2014
2,036
0
Staffs
Well that's why it's totally reasonable, even when you drop below the upper limit, to buy a prepaid funeral package. This isn't considered to be deprivation of assets, and it has the advantage of lower your tariff payments.
I have said this before and I realise others have been told differently but.....the very helpful finance officer told me in August that if I used Mom's money to pay for a prepaid funeral package this would have to come out of her £14250.


However I still went ahead and will wait see what happens at the next assessment.:)
 

jenniferpa

Registered User
Jun 27, 2006
39,442
0
No state benefits here Jennifer, I got about £60 a week for a year after my husband died, end of, after he had paid into the system for over 30 years. A pretty rubbish return on your cash really.

I was left with mortgage payments of £1200 - £1300 a month with no help at all. Sorry I am straying from the thread.

Really hope someone with experience with a private pension can comment about Carers Allowance.

This was some private pension scheme?
 

jenniferpa

Registered User
Jun 27, 2006
39,442
0
I have said this before and I realise others have been told differently but.....the very helpful finance officer told me in August that if I used Mom's money to pay for a prepaid funeral package this would have to come out of her £14250.


However I still went ahead and will wait see what happens at the next assessment.:)

Not so helpful I feel. :) There will always be differing views about this, and it's quite possible that your LA has "got wise" to this idea. All I can say is that this (paying for a funeral) has been an accepted practice for many years. It might be safest to do this before you reach the upper limit I suppose.
 

WILLIAMR

Account Closed
Apr 12, 2014
1,078
0
No state benefits here Jennifer, I got about £60 a week for a year after my husband died, end of, after he had paid into the system for over 30 years. A pretty rubbish return on your cash really.

I was left with mortgage payments of £1200 - £1300 a month with no help at all. Sorry I am straying from the thread.

Really hope someone with experience with a private pension can comment about Carers Allowance.

Only state pension will stop you getting carers allowance.
I know somebody who got it even though his occupational pension was in excess of £30k a year.
He was not of state pension age at that point.
He did however have to pay tax on the carers allowance.

William