Call our team of experts at Compass Continuing healthcare today to see if your relative is entitled to free residential care home costs. Our office number is 0121 227 8940. Alternatively please complete our FREE online assessment and we will contact you
Residential care costs in England and Wales can amount to several hundred pounds a week, often totalling in excess of £30,000 a year. If you have a relative in care paying privately the financial burden can be extremely concerning as any assets the individual has accumulated over their lifetime, including the family home, can be spent in a matter of months. These are often assets that the individual intended to pass as inheritance to the next generation.
The base position in relation to funding residential care home costs, and care costs as a whole, is that if the individual has assets exceeding £23,250 they are expected to meet the costs of their care in full until such a time as their assets go below this level. This includes the value of a family home.
Even once the individual’s assets have gone below £23,250 they are expected to partly contribute towards the cost of their care until the assets fall to the lower level of £14,000. Even then, when the assets are below £14,000 the individual will still have to pay the majority of any monthly income they receive towards their care costs and will be left with only a very small amount. This can be catastrophic financially where the an individual is in care and their spouse remains living in the family home if the spouse is reliant on the income from any private pension received. To suddenly find that the bulk of this income, which was jointly relied upon, has been diverted to meet the residential care home costs of one party can cause severe financial issues.
There is however help available to meet the cost of care, including residential care home costs, if the individual’s need for care is primarily a health need.
This funding is called continuing health care funding and is paid for by the NHS to meet the individual’s full care costs, regardless of what assets they have. It is not in any way means tested.
Our experience is that people are often incorrectly informed that continuing healthcare funding is only available to individuals living in a nursing home. This is not true. The location of the patient is irrelevant, they can be in a nursing home, receiving care in their own home, or in a residential home. This is unfortunately a case of incorrect information being provided, with the result being that people who might be eligible for the funding do not proceed with the application.
If you have a relative in care in any setting, including if they are paying privately for residential care costs, and you believe that their main need for care is a health need, for example they have health related issues such as dementia, Parkinson’s disease or Alzheimer’s disease, please contact an expert member of the Compass Continuing Healthcare team today for a FREE no obligation discussion about your options. Our number is 0121 227 8940. Alternatively you may wish to complete our free online assessment that allows us to consider your particular circumstances prior to contacting you.
Author: Tim Davies LLB
