CARE HOME FEES   ARE THEY INEVITABLE?  DO I ALWAYS HAVE TO PAY THEM?

… and on how you being BEFUDDLED is to everyone else’s advantage.

The truth behind whether you have to hand over your home for care home fees

This is such a vast area that I could do a number of articles on this and perhaps may do.  I am splitting this article into two.  Each article is 2-3 mins read.

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From FB post "TWO LINKED ARTICLES that are my current Spotlight feature include the minefield of CHC assessments.

Approx 2-3 minute read each. The issue of our elder care concerns every one of us because that will be us one day.

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THE ONLY PERSON WHO IS ACTING IN YOUR BEST INTEREST IS YOU

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It may surprise you to know how easy it is to minimise the pain and heartache of a sudden or gradual need for care, whatever your age. Preparing for your future with the right support using our NETWORK OF EXPERTS who all work together for you, is not just for the wealthy or older, it is designed to find solutions for everyone. Are you planning on buying a home, getting married, starting a family or planning how to distribute your assets? Now is definitely the time to call us.

You can have useful discussions and advice with each of our very experienced experts in planning, free : Estate Planning, Financial Advisor, Mortgage and Protection, Accountancy and preparing for elder life changes. Often the bigger issue is your time and fullness of life. So, ask yourself where you would want your time to be directed if your life or your loved ones’ lives were turned upside down if something happens? Do you want to all to live your best life possible no matter what happens?

Planning can achieve that.

The plans you may need can be much more accessible than you think. To be effective you MUST do this whilst you have the foresight, health and means. A relatively small investment in planning now, whatever your age or circumstances, has an enormous payoff in the future. Is there another investment that can claim such a return?

Thousands are recovered in wrongly claimed care fees (resources within article), inheritances lost, elderly not well cared for, lack of funds and much of it is avoidable. You do not have to feel powerless. If the later years are arriving and you need advice and support for yourself or a loved one on life changes and planning, we can help with that too.

TIMELY PLANNING AND SUPPORT CAN MAKE SO MANY OF THESE ISSUES COMPLETELY AVOIDABLE, SUCH AS LOSING YOUR HOME AND THE INHERITANCE TO CARE FEES.

Don’t put it off, add it to your To Do list, then call me.

Contact me today to book a free no obligation discussion"

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ARTICLE ONE

This is an area fraught with misinformation.  (The polite way to say lies and sensationalism).  It is usually because a) misleading headlines designed to frighten you create clicks and reads and b) you being led to believe something that is not quite true, is to someone else’s advantage. 

IN SHORT :  NO, YOU OFTEN DON’T HAVE TO HAND OVER YOUR HOME AND THERE’S A FEW VARIATIONS ON WHY AND HOW BUT DON’T EXPECT ANYONE ELSE TO BE ACTING IN YOUR BEST INTEREST

MY DISCOVERY

On researching my planning services whilst forming my Life Care Planning, I was astounded at my own level of “blissful ignorance” over the whole subject, an area I thought I was reasonably “in the know” and of course, I believed all these systems are tried and tested, so can be trusted.  I mean, we all read something don’t we, perhaps the papers, articles, adverts, listen to the news, so I expect most of us think we know how this works, roughly.   Even those working within this system are operating as though you have no choices (Ive heard some horror stories), but it is simply not true.  I have concluded this befuddlement is precisely why it is possible for certain organisations to take advantage and, it seems, they are doing so.  Care home costs are being obtained they are not necessarily strictly entitled to. 

Where does Tipi Wills & Planning come into this?  I simply cannot justify offering fixes that I charge you for, which is adding to this befuddled set of misinformation.  Of course, I can offer planning services and trusts to protect your property as you wish, but some of it simply may not be needed (and as such can cause problems further down the line).  Professional and ethical business requires me, in my mind, to work with you to remove any befuddled state first.  Once you are confident you are clear and not at all befuddled, eg, where you may have consulted expert people and taken the right advice, then we can get together to do informed planning, which may avoid the need to consider using your home for Care Home Fees altogether.  Working in your best interests is always what a professional should do.  It should not put the selling of products and services before having consulted with you properly first.  That is the traditional nature of a professional service.  Whilst some may think it is an unnecessary expense, the crammed court system testifies differently when people find things did not work the way they wanted.  Tipi Wills & Planning can provide a connected service of experts and point you in the direction of experts regarding CHC and Care Home Fees.

Within our systems of care, it has almost become an acceptable norm, that age befuddles your entitlement to NHS care.   Once you reach a certain age where health conditions make your life difficult and further medical support is required, that can be now be transposed into you requiring “social care”  rather than “medical care”.  What does this mean?  It means the Local Authority is given the right to demand payment from you.  The distinctions between what that care is, social care or medical care has become befuddled, that word again.

The fact that you may have been diagnosed with a medical condition can sometimes not be given the weight it should.  The more tick boxes that can be marked for social care as opposed medical care, the more likely you are to find yourself being asked to cough up.  I discovered the hoops and hurdles we have to jump through to get a fair and reasonable Health Care Assessment (CHC) for our loved ones is not transparent and easy to manage.  I became passionate about the fact that AGE SHOULD NOT PREVENT ENTITLEMENT TO NHS SUPPORT.  Whilst we may be very good at our medical care for young and elderly alike, there certainly seems to be a great deal of CHERRY PICKING taking place in order to divert responsibility towards the elderly person and their assets.  This has been so successful that many £1000’s has been paid to Local Authorities which families (and Executors) have succeeded in later recovering.  Because of the success in identifying when these payments should not have been made to the LA, and the fees having to be paid back to families, the govt have put a time limit on the ability to make a claim.

As an example of one aspect, see this excerpt from “continuing-healthcare.co.uk” Compass :

“”  Once your continuing healthcare (CHC) assessment has taken place, the NHS health and social care professionals involved with your care will recommend whether you are eligible for funded care. This recommendation is forwarded to the Integrated Care Board (ICB) responsible for funding in your area. The ICB will decide whether to accept or decline your assessment results and, if upheld, the level of care and support package available to you.

The ‘National Framework for NHS Continuing Healthcare and NHS-funded Nursing Care’ gives clear guidelines to all ICBs and local authorities on the timescales that should be followed. It makes clear that the time between the checklist being received by the ICB and a continuing healthcare funding decision being made should not exceed 28 days.

If the timeframe is longer than this then funding should be met by the NHS whilst a decision on eligibility is met.  At Compass CHC we have experienced examples of significant delays where individuals have been expected to pay for their care in full.  This is not correct or acceptable.  If you are in a similar situation do not hesitate to contact us today.

https://continuing-healthcare.co.uk/continuing-healthcare-guidance/waiting-for-a-continuing-healthcare-decision/

Compass say they “”specialise in securing funding from day one and assisting families with the process from the outset.  Don’t wait until a negative decision has been made and it is then necessary to appeal the outcome, this can take many months and all the while the patient will have to pay the cost of their care””.  (I am not recommending them as I have not used their services.  I am illustrating that such an organisation exists due to demand because of the minefield and misinformation surrounding CHCs).

FOR FREE HELP, SUPPORT AND ADVICE ON CHCs and CARE HOME FEES

It is essential that you are aware how easy it is to be left befuddled and that no other person is acting in your best interest.  It is also essential in most people’s books, that you are not handing over your lifetime’s work and family inheritance based on misinformation.  Planning via your Will and trusts and expert financial advisors would likely avoid this issue altogether.

A charity that I think very highly of, that provides a mass of information, support and advice lines, as well as legal services is Care to be Different.  It was because I was reading their very thorough and detailed information, that my befuddled state lessened and woke me up to the world of this particular misinformation.  https://caretobedifferent.co.uk/retrospective-claims-for-chc-claiming-interest-and-tricks-of-the-trade/

MY VIEW IS, DO NOT AGREE TO FINALISE CHC ASSESSMENTS OR AGREE THAT CARE HOME FEES ARE PAYABLE UNTIL YOU HAVE CONSULTED WITH PEOPLE EXPERIENCED IN THIS.  JUST LIKE YOU WOULD IF YOU WERE DEALING WITH ANY OTHER PERSON/ORGANISATION AND CONTEMPLATING HANDING OVER £250,000, YOU SHOULD OBTAIN EXPERT INFORMATION FIRST.  MAKE IT STANDARD PRACTICE ONCE IN THIS SITUATION.  CONSIDER ANY COSTS OF DOING SO A SMALL INVESTMENT TOWARD PROTECTING WHAT CAN BE LARGE SUMS FOR INHERITANCE. 

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