Challenging a Local Authority Financial Assessment

When all the talk is currently about Brexit, the plight of the so-called ‘self-funder’ – anyone who has saved more than £23,250 in their lifetime – doesn’t tend to grab news headlines and it’s not high on the political agenda – and yet it should do, because it affects so many of us.

Social care is not free. If you have more than £23,250 and you go into residential care you have to pay the “inflated” cost yourself and if you have between £14,250 and £23,250 you still have to contribute.

Even if a person has less than £14,250, social care is still not free. If a person goes into residential accommodation, the Local Authority will take away all pensions and benefits, leaving the person in care with what is known as a personal expense allowance of £24.90 per week – something which we consider grandma’s pocket money. It really is a disgrace.

Most people believe that a lifetime of taxes will pay for care in their old age and, upon doing some digging, will come across something called Continuing (or continuous) Health Care (CHC). This is where the NHS pays for care.

You will soon discover that it is extraordinarily difficult to get CHC and thus the majority of interactions are with the Local Authority who are obliged to carry out a means test via a financial assessment questionnaire.

We receive many calls from people whose parents have been well and have slipped and are then in hospital and suddenly are no longer capable of looking after themselves or who have had strokes and are now reliant upon others or whose dementia has progressed so that they cannot manage their own affairs.

A financial assessment form carries a criminal penalty for failure to answer the questions truthfully. How can an adult child be expected to know what bank or savings accounts their parents have when this is a generation that does not like speaking about money?

If you are being pressed to complete and sign a financial assessment, we suggest that you complete it to the best of your ability, but ensure that when you complete the form, rather than saying “no” you say, “I don’t know”.

If you have a Lasting Power of Attorney for Property and Finance or an Enduring Power of Attorney (EPA) that has been registered (assuming in the case of an EPA that the Donor has lost mental capacity) you can then write to your parent’s banks, National Savings or anyone else you may find correspondence from in the house, however old the correspondence might be.

Check out our practical tips for dealing with local authority financial assessments here:

Practical Tip 1 – Local Authorities are not obliged to deliver certain services if an individual has above £23, 250 and is thus a self-funder.Social Workers are often overwhelmed with work. If you do not know how much money your parents have, but they need Social Services’ support e.g. help with getting in and out of bed, personal care, getting dressed, help with eating etc., then you should tell Social Services “that you do not know how much money your parents have but they should assume less than £23,250.”This answer can obviously only be given if you do not know this to be incorrect.

Practical Tip 2 – If there is a joint bank account, you can, as a matter of rule, divide it by two and if the share of the person who needs care is less than £23,250 then you can say so.

Practical Tip 3. One question you will be asked is what is the value of your parent’s home.

Our clients often answer, £100,000, £200,000 etc, however when we see the legal title to the property we may be able to demonstrate that there is law to show that the value is zero!

This is called the nil valuation argument and if you are asked to fill in a Financial Assessment and the value of a property is required to be put on the form – stop and call us free for advice!

Practical Tip 4. It is a common mistake to think that the all joint savings have to be used to care for the person who requires social care.

When faced for the first time with any social service forms that require signing, there is a criminal sanction for getting it wrong and the government agency has the right to make enquiries of other government agencies without your knowledge or consent.

Call Steene Law for a free conversation. Our solicitors may be able to offer you some ideas and help to ease your mind in this confusing, world of means tested social care.

Mike Crawford

16 January 2024

I cannot speak highly enough of the helpfulness, professionalism and most of all the empathy shown by David Steene in my recent correspondence with him. My sincere thanks and I would honestly recommend this Firm to others without hesitation.

Jane James

6 January 2024

I cannot thank Mr. David Steene enough, a wonderful, kind and genuine gentleman who always had time to listen and had great compassion. I had never heard of deliberate deprivation of assets until I was accused of it, by my Local Authority. Brought about when my mother had to go into a care home, she'd had a mild stroke and early onset dementia, aged 92. I knew that this accusation was untrue, it was unkind, extremely stressful and had a huge impact on my family, including my mother. I sought help from Mr. Steene, to prove my innocence and hep my family. I chose his company, as they were experts in this field and already had brilliant reviews. Mr. Steene listened to what I had to say, was interested and asked me appropriate questions. He had so much information and knowledge with regards to Local Authorities and DOA, which he kindly explained to me in understandable words. Mr. Steene advised me what to do and to get back to him if I required further help. The phone call was followed up with a comprehensive E mail. My battle with the Local Authority commenced. After 13 months the accusation of DOA was dropped. I could not have fought this battle without knowing that Me. Steene was always available when I required further help and advice. He always answered me with professionalism. He would have taken on the case if I had failed. Mr. Steene pointed me in the right direction and gave me the encouragement and confidence that I needed. I cannot thank him enough. The receptionists who answered the phone, were always professional and helpful and always took a detailed message to pass on to Mr.Steene. A wonderful team, an efficient, professional company. I highly recommend them. A photo of my mum and my son. We are human beings.

Marcus Mackay

14 December 2023

David and Dianne provided myself and the rest of the family with sound advice in a thoughtful and genuinely caring way. While clearly expert in what he does, talking to David was like dealing with an old friend. In our case, my father had Alzheimer's and we needed to organise care, David and Dianne provided invaluable advice on how to navigate through the UK's dysfunctional NHS and adult "care" system in order to get the best possible support. As a word to the wise, be prepared for a battle and I am sad to say it, do not trust anything the council or NHS workers say, they are under immense pressure to get you to sign documents which will give them control of the situation and their only metric of success is to get hold of your money and have you pay for your care! Clearly looking after my father was our number one priority, but money does matter especially as care costs can easily exceed a thousand pounds a week. This means that the money my father had saved through his long working life was being burned through at a ferocious rate, so slowing down the council was key to ensuring that they couldn't eat into the value of my mother and father's house. It is disgusting that successive governments haven't put a cap on the amount you are expected to pay for care. I have no interest in inheritance, but I don't want my mother to be worried about owing the council money in her final years. So back to David and Dianne, they will both help you in their fields of expertise, but also point you to other aspects of the situation such as legal matters that you may want to consider. In the end, it is all about looking after people when they are at their time of greatest need and against that measure I can't think of a more capable, dedicated and compassionate couple than David and Dianne. This is a picture of my father and mother just as Alzheimers took hold of my father 5 years ago, he died on the 5th of December 2023.

warren appleby

11 December 2023

It was David's advice and knowledge that guided me through the OPG forms. He gave me confidence that I could deal with this on my own! I went on to prove my case with no further action taken! Highly recommend!!

Avis Caddy

3 November 2023

The law around paying care home fees is complicated. We were faced with a Local Authority who refused to give us a property disregard. We called David, and he told us on that first call that we would win, and he would succeed in a care home fees property disregard application. Our Local Authority dug their heels in, and each time they said no, David and Dianne, who are expert solicitors in paying for care fee law, explained why we were right, and why the care fees property disregard applied, and why the Local Authority were wrong. We won! The property was disregarded for care fees. David succeeded in getting the relatives’ property disregard which meant that our family member is secure in their care home, and we will not lose the roof over our heads. David, we can't thank you enough!

Lesley Mckenzie

14 September 2023

Had a particular problem with social services trying to claim a contribution towards my ex-husbands care after separating some 10 years ago but without divorcing. David reassured me that I was not liable so very grateful to him and explained the process going forward. Invaluable help cannot thank him enough

Mike Bravery

17 August 2023

I emailed David Steene late one evening and he kindly called me am the next ...excellent response. David was very professional and my question in his opinion would be better answered by another company. David sent me the appropriate link. He also reassured me that if I needed his expertise he would be very pleased to hear from me. Excellent service thank you David

andrew fry

14 August 2023

David and his wife gave us unprecedented realistic advice and clearly out too help people not take advantage of them. Many Thanks We hope to be in contact again shortly

Jean M Sheaf

7 August 2023

David acted on our behalf to petition our local authority to reconsider their incorrect decision of deprivation of assets, where monies were gifted before care was needed. He was honest, thorough and professional throughout. We would heartily recommend him to fight your case if you have also fallen foul of the system like we did.

Barton Bank

3 August 2023

I have spent over forty years working in law but a care issue arose that was well outside my area of expertise. I emailed Steene Law as they specialise in the area of care law and David Steene responded immediately. He provided excellent and timely advice on a number of occasions and, when a dispute with the local authority over care costs came to a head, one email to the LA from David caused them to immediately back down. I have no doubt that, without his assistance, the LA would have stood their ground. I shudder to think how unrepresented family members are treated by local authorities. If you are ever in a situation concerning care for a loved one do not try and do it yourself. Get a solicitor and, if possible, get this firm.

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