Here’s why they could end up with a very large bill after the Covid-19 crisis ends
And we explain what you need to do NOW to protect them
During the Covid-19 crisis, the rules that normally govern care home funding have changed.
If your relative is a self-funder – meaning they have more than £23,250 in savings or tied up in the value of their home – they may not immediately get a bill for their social care.
This is because the Coronavirus Act emergency powers have resulted in financial assessments, otherwise known as means testing – being put on hold. This means that many elderly people who are self-funders are currently receiving social care free of charge.
However, it is important to know that this not a ‘free lunch’. Fees are NOT being waived. This is a postponement not a cancellation of the bill for your relative’s care.
As at the start of May 2020, six local authorities have “switched on” the right to comply with their Care Act 2014 duties. The Coronavirus Act 2020 uses the word “easement” which means they are suspending social care duties to disabled adults.
Does your relative live in an area covered by:
- Sunderland City Council
- Middlesbrough Council
- Warwickshire County Council
- Staffordshire County Council
- Birmingham City Council
- Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council
If so, you may wish to call us now on 0203 653 0623.
Here’s an example of what might happen
Let’s take, as an example, an elderly person who has fallen and ends up in hospital. As a result, they are unable to return home and go into residential care.
In the ‘good old days’, before the Coronavirus crisis, a local authority social worker or the NHS would have carried out the first stage of Continuing Health Care eligibility called the Checklist. This would have been done while the elderly person was still in hospital or shortly after moving to the care home.
The current Covid-19 rules mean that not only is the CHC Checklist procedure, suspended but also the National Framework – the document which Clinical Commissioning Groups follow – can currently be ignored.
Hospitals can place people in care homes and care homes are unable to bill them until such time as a Financial Assessment is carried out.
So how will care home fees be clawed back?
The law specifically allows retrospective billing.
That is to say, when a relative finally has a Financial Assessment, if it is judged that at the time they entered the residential home they were a self-funder and liable to pay for their own care, the local authority and/or care home will send them a bill.
Do not think that anyone who is receiving care and who has not been means tested, will not ultimately receive a bill.
Whilst a Local Authority cannot bill until a Financial Assessment has been completed, when this extraordinary period is over, one of the first departments to re-start will be their billing department.
We envisage that people will have some eye-wateringly high bills landing on their doormats.
Many will be shocked and upset because they will not know why they are liable or how they will be able to meet these costs.
Do I have any right to appeal?
There are a number of reasons why you might consider appealing.
You might feel that the care your relative has been receiving in their own home or in a care home has been inadequate.
You might believe that they did not need to go into a care home in the first place.
Or, you may suspect the financial assessment is wrong or unfair.
At Steene Law we urge anyone who finds themselves in this position to take legal advice
If your relative is a self-funder because they have more than £23,250, contact us NOW, so that we can tell you what action you need to take to protect your relative’s assets.
We would also urge you to get in touch if your relative normally receives Continuing Health Care funding which was due to be reviewed but has been delayed due to the ongoing Coronavirus crisis.
One final word of advice: taking care fee advice is not unlawful but care fee evasion is! Sadly, we are seeing many companies on the internet offering Trusts and exotic sounding schemes that seek to avoid paying care fees. Our view on these schemes is simple: they don’t work.
What does work is a call to us. Get in touch and we may be able to save some, or all of the value of your relative’s assets.
Call us on 0203 653 0623 for a free*, initial telephone conversation. We are available from 8am to 7pm, Monday to Friday.
*The only cost to you is the phone call at standard call rates but the initial conversation with us is free and you will not be billed for our time.