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Click Me I'm not sure if this would be any help to anyone, as we nearly always find out too late or act upon it too late.Five top tips to avoid care home fees1. Be proactive – the sooner you place all your assets in a trust the more likely it is that this strategy can protect wealth further down the line. Remember, trusts are not 100 per cent guaranteed but offer an extra level of protection should you or a relative need to enter a care home.
2. Apply for continuing care funding – you can apply yourself for continuing care funding but it’s hugely complex and specialist advisers can guide you through the process to ensure that if you’re eligible you can receive it
3. Ensure you have full access to your parent’s medical records before and during a stay in a nursing home. To get this you will require the legal capacity to act. This will help you to monitor changes in the healthcare needs of your parents which may affect care funding criteria.
4. When called to a funding assessment ensure you have an understanding of all key paperwork including GP records, medical assessments and the assessment criteria used by nurses.
5.Be assertive – don’t take no for an answer from your local NHS. Many mistakes have been made and millions of pounds have been repaid to families as a result. Seek professional advice.
However, one of the least known about aspects about Care Funding is the availability of FREE funding via the NHS, through what’s known as NHS Continuing Healthcare Funding. You should always check whether your parents or relatives are entitled to this free NHS funding first.
The average cost of a nursing home is £738 per week
The average length of stay is 66 weeks
58,000 people currently receive continuing care funding from the NHS
It is estimated more than 150,000 are entitled to continuing care funding
More than one million homes have been sold in the last five years to pay for care home fees according to NFU Mutual
Successful Continuing Care Assessments save families an average of £60,000
Farley Dwek has a free guide providing details of how assess their entitlement to NHS Continuing Healthcare Funding but the process is complicated and often daunting, so the firm if the first in the country to provide a legal and clinical service to clients, helping them through the process on a No Win No Fee basis.
Last year, insurance services provider NFU Mutual revealed that more than a million people have had to sell their home to pay for the care of their loved ones.
With the average cost of a nursing home in the UK is £738 per week - £40,000 per year can be very difficult to find.
However, there are things you can do to avoid paying care home fees.
Andrew Farley of specialist care funding solicitors, Farley Dwek, said full funding is available on the NHS, but very few people know about it:
"Some people are eligible for some level of funding from the local authority but this is means tested and the thresholds are very low.
"This means that to qualify for long term care funding, you need to be in receipt of a low income and own little to no assets.
"Anyone who owns their own home is usually exempt, and families are often forced to sell the home to cover the cost of care.
"However, most people are unaware that they may qualify for free long-term care from the NHS. This is known as NHS Continuing Care and it is not means tested, so it doesn’t matter if you own your home or are in receipt of a high income.
"Continuing Care assessments are based on your parent’s healthcare needs and include things like how mobile or immobile they are, the severity of their condition and the complexity of their medication.
"Only 58,000 people currently receive continuing care funding but we believe more than 150,000 are actually entitled to it.
"This means families are spending billions on care home fees unnecessarily. Families often struggle to secure the funding because they are given short notice by their local NHS to attend a complex Funding Assessment meeting where crucial decisions are made that could spell the difference between paying nothing or paying £700 per week.
"If you've got a continuing care funding assessment coming up you should take an experienced professional along with you to ensure you get a fair hearing and the outcome is just. The NHS has made too many mistakes regarding care home funding and it is important you get the funding you are entitled to.
"We represent hundreds of families seeking to ensure their entitlement to NHS Continuing Healthcare Funding is being properly assessed, or recovering fees on behalf of families who have already unfairly paid for their care.
"The average amount recovered so far is almost £60,000.
"People are still unclear about how much they will be expected to contribute towards their care costs but the rules for managing your assets, including what may or may not be considered deliberate deprivation of assets, are complex,” added Farley.
