When to get financial assessment done?

betsie

Registered User
Jun 11, 2012
252
0
Mum lives alone but is definitely declining she is ok at home at the moment but I want to be ready this time if and when we need to place her in a home in the future.

We have a super one locally but it is £1,300 a week. She has around £60k ( no property - we sold that before dad went into care and most of it went on his carehome). Is it worth getting a financial assessment done now to see how much the LA will contribute once her funds fall to £14,950. Will they even do one at this point?

The home is in a different LA to the one she currently lives in ( it changes half way up her road) will this be a problem?

Just want to see if this home is feasible for us to consider, with me and my 2 siblings paying the top up once she gets to this point. Hoping we can afford it for a couple of years at least then may have to move her to a home which LA will fully pay but thinking by then she will be less impacted by her surroundings. My dad had no memory really by the time he went into a carehome but in his one they all just sat round the edge of a room with a TV in the corner this was fine for him but it would kill my mum she is so busy ( at 85) and doesn't sit still for 5 minutes. The home we are looking at also said they might let her take her dog which would be great as the dog is her whole life.
 

Lindy50

Registered User
Dec 11, 2013
5,242
0
Cotswolds
Hi betsie :)

I don't think that the home being in another county is likely to be a problem :)

The local authority would currently start contributing to your mother's care home fees when her assets fall to £23,250....however, that amount is set to go up next year. Most local authorities won't pay anything remotely like £1,300 - my own only pays just short of £500! So a top-up could be very substantial.

Also, do bear in mind that they will also only contribute if they have assessed your mother as needing 24 hour care. As you say she is okay at home at the moment, there is no way of knowing when she might need 24 hour care...they won't contribute if she doesn't.

So, I guess, frustrating as it is, there are too many variables to make it worthwhile asking for a financial assessment at the moment.

Maybe a financial advisor could help you make the most of your mother's savings in the meantime?

All the best

Lindy xx
 

betsie

Registered User
Jun 11, 2012
252
0
She is only ok at the moment because of the amount of time I spend there.
I think crunch time will be if and when she starts wandering. She is always out walking her dog but just goes up and down her road. It will be if she starts going out at night and getting lost.

She can still get up and get washed and dressed and take the dog out ( I make sure she has her key on). She can also still put herself to bed and take her tablets (most of the time) which I have left out.

She can no longer make a dinner or even a cup of tea, I do her breakfast and One meal a day she has fruit/ toast/ biscuits the rest of the time. I sort all her finances, bills and medication. Her short term memory is very poor now as well. She has hallucinations most evenings about animals and phones me up in a confused state most evenings. She has also started having episodes where she does not recognise her home and is waiting for someone to collect her to take her home ( but she doesn't know where that is).
 

Beate

Registered User
May 21, 2014
12,179
0
London
£60,000 at a rate of £1,300 a week won't even last you 11 months. But Lindy50 is right - the financial assessment is only one part SS will have to do - she'll need to be in the system with a proper needs assessment before they'll consider taking over paying an expensive home they didn't choose. They could also ask for her to be moved to another care home that is cheaper. Only if you could prove that the care home she is in is the only one around that can cater for her needs would they have to shoulder the whole cost. So the best course of action would be to get them involved now - they could maybe arrange other care in the meantime or point you in the direction of day centres or care agencies.
 

Pete R

Registered User
Jul 26, 2014
2,036
0
Staffs
She is only ok at the moment because of the amount of time I spend there.
Betsie, my advice to you is to get SS involved as soon as possible as they will not care one jot about all the tremendous work you are doing in helping keep your Mom at home as long as possible. Get them to start helping you and your Mom now.
 

betsie

Registered User
Jun 11, 2012
252
0
It's so depressing. There seems to be such a huge difference between homes covered by SS funding and those requiring top ups. The £500-£600 a week ones in my experience are awful. My dad was in one and it's just one lounge, they all sat round the edge staring at each other or a TV. Activities were half hearted and few and far between. I am not worried about fancy furniture etc but caring and quality of life. Dad frequently had other people's clothes on that we're far too small, poo on his hands, dirty glasses, looked like he had crawled out of a cardboard box on the side of the road - I could go on. It seemed to come down to lack of staff and/or staff who didn't really want to do the job in the first place. I went to see another today which was the same and I just wanted to cry.

The next level up seem to all be £1000+ a week. There doesnt seem to be anything inbetween. The one I spoke to today which was £1,050 a week said SS were not keen to let people go to homes if they could only afford it for 2 yrs max as they wouldn't like the upheaval of having to move them again. He accepted my argument that in most cases a further 2 yrs down the dementia time line and a move to a fully funded SS home would be less traumatic ( for me anyway) as mum would be less aware of her surroundings and have less of an interest in activities and outings.

Has anyone experienced this?
 

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