Paying for care homes is an expensive business; the average cost of a nursing home in England and Wales is in excess of £1,600 a week, or £83,000 a year.
Paying care fees is an expense that many people are unaware they are liable for until it is too late. Clients tell us that they incorrectly assumed the cost of care in their old age would be met by the state, and were under the impression that because their only asset is the family home they wouldn’t be liable for any costs.
In fact, the reality is that the value of the family home is taken into consideration when calculating whether an individual has assets exceeding the means testing threshold of £23,250. Due to the fact the average home in the UK is worth in excess of £250,000 the typical scenario is that anyone that owns their home will be liable for the full cost of their care.
Additionally people do not realise how eye-wateringly expensive care for the elderly is until encountering it first hand when securing 24 hour care for a relative. The average cost of a nursing home in England and Wales is in excess of £1,600 a week, or £83,000 a year. This figure can be higher still and our experience at Compass CHC is the figure is more often in the region of £2,500 a week, especially where specialist dementia care and EMI homes are concerned.
Once the individual’s assets fall below £23,250 they have to continue to contribute towards the care costs from their assets until they fall to the lower level of £14,000. Sadly even once the capital assets are below £14,000 the individual will continue to have to pay towards their care from any income they receive, normally from any pension they may have.
The exception to this rule is where the individuals need for care is primarily a health one. If this is the case, the NHS are obligated to step in and meet all the costs of paying for care in full by providing funding known as continuing health care.
As such, if an individual has significant ongoing health needs, it is crucial to secure their entitlement to continuing health care to avoid the liability of paying for care homes. The issue is that the NHS is increasingly restricting access to the funding and individuals who ought to be eligible are denied continuing healthcare. When faced with this scenario it is crucial to contact a specialist such as the team at Compass Continuing health care to assist you. We are industry experts and have a high success rate in securing funding for our clients in the swiftest possible timeframe.
It is not necessary to wait for a negative decision, we can assist in influencing the assessment in your relative’s favour while they are still in hospital before any discharge to a nursing home. Contact us today to find out how we can assist. Our FREE, CONFIDENTIAL assessment is available for you to complete online or you can contact a member of our team directly on 0800 008 7777. Don’t delay, start the process in avoiding paying for care homes today.
Author: Tim Davies LLB
