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We advise thinking carefully about the situation before rushing into anything. Care home fees often increase each year and local authority funding might not, creating a bigger disparity between the two sums of money that you will then have to cover. Consider whether you can afford this in the long-term before signing anything with the care provider. The supposed “top up” fees of €5,000 to €12,000 a month are as much as three times what private nursing homes are paid under the Fair Deal scheme. In the West of Ireland, the fees are just over €900 per week per resident. The council will have carried out acare needs assessmentto make sure your personal budget is high enough for you to get the care you need.
Care homes may, however, charge for providing additional services outside of the resident's care plan. If they believe a top-up is required they must go first to the local authority. What will happen if the person paying the top-up fees can no longer afford it. You were previously self-funding, but subsequently become eligible for council funding. You want to stay in the same home, but the local authority believes your needs could be met in a less expensive care home. If your council is paying for some or all of your care but you’d like to move somewhere that costs more than they’ll pay, you might be able to make up the difference with a top-up fee.
Dealing with Increasing Fees
This might be because you would prefer a more luxurious care home, or because you would like to purchase upgraded services. You may see trust companies advertising property trusts that guarantee the protection of your property being taken to pay care home fees. However, be warned that such companies are often unregulated and end up costing significant amounts of money. Your local authority will likely view you giving away your house as a deliberate deprivation of assets and include the property in their financial assessment anyway. The best way to find out what you and your parents can afford is through a local council conducted means test.
Although, sometimes a relative or friend approaches the care home and makes up the difference . Learn more about selecting a nursing home, long-term care alternatives, and average costs by region. The Department of Health provides educational materials for you and your family. Download our consumer guide for selecting nursing homes, or get more information about assisted living or community-based care options. In some cases, such as when the elderly individual has a disability or complex medical condition, the NHS will cover the cost of nursing home care.
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If you don’t have enough to pay for your care home fees, you can ask for a means assessment from your local council, who will assess how much financial help you are eligible for. You, a friend, relative or charity can make a top-up payment to a care home. If you receive funding towards the cost of care, this allows you to select a care home that may cost more than the amount provided for by your local authority.
Although you may feel responsible for your parents care home fees, you are only legally obliged to pay for their care if you have signed a contract with a care provider. When it comes to parents, spouses, siblings or relative by law, unless you've signed this contract or have any joint assets with them, you have no financial obligation to help cover their care costs. If your council is contributing towards your care home fees, they must tell you how much they think your care should cost.
Care Home Costs
The council must be satisfied that you’re willing and able to pay the top-up fee for as long as it’s needed. We regularly negotiate top-up fees on our client’s behalf and achieve excellent results. Clients find it very difficult to negotiate directly with a care home – you want to focus on care quality issues and the well being of your relative. We can broker on your behalf and achieve very substantial savings in top-up fees.
By accepting the help and support of your local authority and loved ones, you can work together to create the best solution for your elderly parents and help to find them a care home you can all afford. Hopefully you now have all you need to know about next of kin and paying for care home fees. We understand that working out finances can be incredibly stressful, but the important thing is to try not to worry. If you have agreed to pay a top-up fee for someone else, you’ll be asked to sign a contract, preferably with the council who will then pay the care home.
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The circumstances that could merit a top up fee could if you want additional facilities, such as a bigger room or one with a sea view, for instance. In this article we have outlined what top up fees are, how to pay them and what help there is in the event that you can’t. For queries or advice about employment rights, contact the Labour Relations Agency. If you have a comment or query about benefits, you will need to contact the government department or agency which handles that benefit. Your assets and income aren’t considered in your parent’s means test, regardless of your financial situation. If there is going to be someone else living in the house - in most cases this is a spouse or partner, but in some situations a blood relative is allowed - you may be able to keep it too.
Care home top up fees should only be chargeable if an individual is receiving a genuine upgrade in care. Here you'll find everything you need to know about later life, from easy-to-understand care guides to expert advice on funding. All fees are non-refundable and must be made payable to the New York State Department of Health. For queries or advice about historical, social or cultural records relating to Northern Ireland, use the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland enquiry service. Don't include any personal or financial information, for example National Insurance, credit card numbers, or phone numbers. If the local Trust cannot suggest a place that meets your needs in your area, they must pay more than their usual amount towards your care.
You will not be able to pay this yourself as you will have been financially assessed to pay what you can afford. The value of your own home doesn't count as capital if certain close relatives still live there. If you own your home, it counts as capital 12 weeks after you move permanently into a care home. If you have over £23,250 in capital, the Trust assesses you as able to pay for all your care. If the council doesn't think an arrangement is suitable for the long term, it might refuse to help place the resident in the chosen care home.
The Medicaid reimbursement rate for nursing home care is approximately 70% of what a private payer pays. By their very nature, top up fees will not be paid by the elderly individual themselves. If the elderly individual could afford to pay top up fees, they would not have been eligible for a personal budget from the council. Similarly, if your money runs out you will do a means test to work out whether you are eligible for funding from your local authority or the NHS. A relative or friend can step in at this point to offer a top-up fee to help cover the costs.
This is important because your contribution to your home fees will be based on all income, including benefits. Read the Scottish Executive guidance on topping up care home fees, as set by the Community Care Regulations 2002. Top up fees are sometimes called ‘third party top up fees’ as it’s necessary for them to be paid for by a third party. If this is the case, someone will need to cover the cost of the ‘top up fee’, which is the difference in cost between what the council will cover and what your chosen care home charges. If this situation sounds familiar, you may be wondering whether next of kin are responsible for care home fees.
When you pay towards your home fees, you must have £27.19 remaining a week to spend as you want. If you get the mobility component of Disability Living Allowance, you will keep getting it. Residents are restricted to using certain types of disregarded capital and income to pay top-up fees. Join Care Space, Lottie's online Facebook community, for expert care support and guidance and to connect with others navigating later living. You'd prefer to live in a more expensive area to be closer to family or friends, but this wasn't identified in your needs assessment. She said she had several residents who required even greater and more complex care needs who received no extra funding from the Health Service Executive.
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