At Steene Law, we specialise in fighting care home fees.
We often hear this question and we really sympathise:
It IS unfair that, after a lifetime of working and saving, a loved one with an illness such as dementia or a stroke, is forced to use their savings or sell their family home to pay for their care needs.
If you are facing this dilemma, you may be wondering if there’s a way of avoiding paying care home fees.
The answer is often YES.
There are many ways we can lawfully protect your parent’s home and savings – effectively ring-fencing them from care home fees.
We have a whole toolkit of legal solutions that we can use to help you – including many you may not even have heard about …. until now.
We will also advise you how not to do it. Some schemes that claim to help you avoid care home fees are decidedly dodgy and we will tell you which ones you should avoid at all costs.
Call The Care Home Fees Specialists Now
Steene Law specialise in Care Home Fees, especially protecting you from having to sell a property to pay for care home fees.
Please do not delay, please call us now 0203 653 0623, email reception@steenelaw.co.uk or complete a Free Online Enquiry and we will be delighted to help you.
We are available from 8am to 7pm, Monday to Friday and will explain your options including how you can fight an unfair LPA challenge.
Is Continuing Health Care the answer?
Many relatives are shocked when social services tell them that mum or dad needs to sell their property to pay for care home fees.
This is not true – find out more here.
Faced with this prospect, they often call us to ask whether Continuing Health Care – sometimes referred to as Continuous Health Care (CHC) might be an option.
Who qualifies for CHC?
Anyone who has a ‘primary health need’ that is beyond the scope of social services care may qualify for CHC. Put simply, if it can be said that the majority of care is health related, then CHC should be considered.
What is free under CHC?
If your relative has been granted CHC, they will not have to pay ANY fees for their care. All costs will be paid for in full, including the ‘social’ elements of their care. This applies regardless of whether they receive care in their own home or in a nursing home.
CHC is not means tested so any savings or property your relative may have, will not be used to pay for care.
How do I apply for CHC?
Let’s be honest – it is not in the interests of either the NHS or your Local Authority for anyone to be awarded CHC. It’s costly and their budgets are constantly under pressure.
Depending on where you live, your Local Authority may try to make it extremely difficult for your relative to qualify for CHC.
How easy is it to get NHS funding?
The CHC postcode lottery means that each local NHS local authority – called a Clinical Commissioning Group – interprets the health assessment guidelines for awarding CHC differently. If that seems unfair – you’re right, it is!
They are not meant to and we can do something about it!
If you think your relative might qualify for CHC, it’s important to get help from an expert who will fight your corner and ensure that the application is dealt with fairly.
It’s best to seek our advice as soon as possible – ideally before the social worker conducts a health assessment. We can provide straightforward advice and expert support to give you the best chance of succeeding in your application for CHC.
What if my relative has been turned down for CHC or had CHC withdrawn?
We are not surprised.
If your relative has already been turned down for CHC or they’ve been told they no longer qualify, speak to us. We will look at the facts and tell you straight away whether we think the decision is wrong and should be appealed.
We recently fought a London Borough and we recovered a six figure sum.
Call our expert team now for a FREE conversation on 0203 653 0623.
Is Funded Nursing Care (FNC) an option?
If your relative is not eligible for Continuing Health Care (CHC), they may still qualify for Funded Nursing Care (FNC) – sometimes known as Registered Nursing Care Contribution.
We view FNC as a consolation prize for not getting CHC funding so if your relative has been awarded FNC and you disagree call us.
How is FNC different to CHC?
Unlike CHC, FNC cannot be paid to anyone still living in their own home because it is designed to cover the extra cost of the ‘nursing care’ element of residential care.
FNC is not means tested and a health assessment will be undertaken to see if your relative has nursing needs that meet the guidelines for FNC.
It is important to remember that FNC only pays for the nursing element. The remaining costs for social care are means tested and will still need to be met – so if your relative is a self-funder they will be expected to pay these costs.
You also need to know that FNC, like fast-track Continuing Health Care, is regularly reviewed. If it is decided that they no longer need nursing care, FNC payments could be stopped.
If your relative has been turned down for CHC or FNC or they’ve been told they no longer qualify for either package of care, speak to us. We’ll tell you whether we think the decision is wrong and should be appealed.
Call our expert team now for a FREE conversation on 0203 653 0623..
How can we help self-funders?
Have social services told you that your relative won’t get free care because they have more than £23,250 in savings – meaning they’re a ‘self-funder’?
Here’s the nub of the problem. NHS Continuing Health Care (CHC) is free but social care is means tested.
People often get in touch with us after social workers have visited. The decision will have been made – often wrongly – that the person is not eligible for free Continuing Health Care but they do, nevertheless, have social eligible care needs.
They cannot perform activities associated with daily living and so a package of care is offered which will be means tested. If your relative is a self-funder they will need to pay for their care.
If you think this is unfair, we agree.
If your family member has been told by social services that they will need to self-fund their care, speak to us now. There are many instances where social services get it wrong. You may not need to sell the family home or use a lifetime of savings to pay for care.
If you are concerned about CHC delays or issues relating to backdated CHC, call our expert team now for a FREE conversation on 0203 653 0623
I think my relative may have suffered from mental health problems in the past – will this help us get CHC?
Yes! A little known section of the Mental Health Act (1983) – known as Section 117 – say that if your relative has, at any point in their lives, ever suffered from mental health problems that meant they were detained (sectioned) under the Mental Health Act, they may be entitled to receive any future care free of charge.
Under a rule known as ‘Section 117 after-care’, your relative could qualify for free funded NHS care, either in their own home or if, in the future, they need to go into residential care.
If you are not sure whether your relative qualifies for Section 117 non means-tested care, speak to us. We can check and tell you whether your relative meets the criteria for free care. If they have been turned down for free care, we will let you know whether we think the decision is wrong and should be legally challenged.
Call our expert team now for a FREE conversation on 0203 653 0623.
Top-up fees
Many family members choose to pay top-up fees to help their relative afford a care home of their choice.
It is a sad fact that not all care homes are created equally so it’s not surprising that relatives feel pressured into helping out in this way.
If your local authority has been involved in helping to fund your relative’s care home place, then, after conducting a financial assessment, they will allocate an amount of money, known as a personal budget, to meet your relative’s needs.
If you choose a home that is more expensive than the amount the local authority is willing to pay, you can still move your relative there, providing that you pay the difference – this is known as the ‘top-up fee’.
If you are considering top-up fees, or are already helping to fund the cost of a relative’s residential care but are worried what will happen when the money runs out, you need to speak to us. Many of these top up fees can be avoided with our help.
We can check whether your relative’s needs may have changed which might mean they now qualify for non means tested, free CHC to cover the cost of their care.
It may be that even if CHC isn’t available, social services have not correctly assessed your relative’s eligible needs correctly, meaning top up fees should not be paid.
Here’s a real example of this:
She sought legal expert advice and then launched an appeal against the local authority which she won.Why? The only care home which had fees within the local authority’s budget was 45 minutes away from where the daughter lived.The care home costing £200 per week more was just five minutes away, meaning she could pop in and see mum every day. These regular visits cheered mum up no end and were considered to be important to her overall wellbeing.It was therefore deemed that the more expensive care home was the most appropriate place for her to receive residential care and the local authority was forced to pay the additional cost.
If you are concerned about top-up fees, call our expert team now for a FREE conversation on 0203 653 0623.
Can I obtain backdated CHC?
Yes! If there has been a delay in agreeing that your relative does in fact qualify for Continuing Health Cars (CHC), these payments should be backdated – this is sometimes referred to as ‘retrospective CHC’,
Why does a delay happen?
In an ideal world, a full health assessment for CHC should take no longer than 28 days. Of course, in the real world, this can often take much longer.
If your relative is already in a residential home and a CHC assessment is needed because their health needs have changed, they will often be treated as a ‘low priority.’
We have heard of CHC health assessments sometimes taking years to sort out.
If, in the meantime, your relative has been paying for their own care because they were deemed to be a self-funder, that’s potentially a lot of money that needs to be clawed back, once CHC is granted.
If your relative is currently in limbo because they are waiting for a CHC assessment, you need to speak to one of our experts. We can remind your local authority and Care Commissioning Group (CCG) of their duty to ensure that CHC health assessments are carried out within 28 days.
We can also make sure that your CHC payments are correctly backdated so that you and your relative do not lose out financially.
Call The Care Home Fees Specialists Now
Steene Law specialise in Care Home Fees and elderly care law.
Please do not delay, please call us now 0203 653 0623, email reception@steenelaw.co.uk or complete a Free Online Enquiry and we will be delighted to help you.
We are available from 8am to 7pm, Monday to Friday and will explain your options including how you can fight an unfair LPA challenge.
“I cannot thank David and Dianne enough for the effort and knowledge they displayed helping me deal with my Grandfather’s care”…
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Read our successes here.
“Mum and dad paid their taxes all their lives. Why should mum or dad have to sell their home to pay for care home fees? It’s so unfair.”