gym_rat Posted February 16, 2013 Share Posted February 16, 2013 Find a care home that accepts the council's fixed fee... thanks goodness for that, I thought I was the only one missing something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna B Posted February 16, 2013 Author Share Posted February 16, 2013 once again - sell the house, or move them to a cheaper home. If I had a huge cash pile in the bank you`de be up in arms if I wasn`t working and claiming JSA or housing benefit. You seem to be missing the point. This is a hyperthetical question, not a personal one. I'm assuming an old person who has no house or assetts is unable to be cared for at home and has to move to a residential or care home. The very most the council will pay is £424 per week, but the cheapest council or private care home to be found is £524. (This is a much more realistic figure.) Where are her friends or relatives going to find an extra £400 a month, if they are also low paid and living on the breadline, but have had to sign an agreement to pay the extra amount before the care home will take her? Don't you see how this will affect thousands of people out there. It's a highly realistic scenario. So anyone know What is going to happen? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinfoilhat Posted February 16, 2013 Share Posted February 16, 2013 You seem to be missing the point. This is a hyperthetical question, not a personal one. I'm assuming an old person who has no house or assetts is unable to be cared for at home and has to move to a residential or care home. The very most the council will pay is £424 per week, but the cheapest council or private care home to be found is £524. (This is a much more realistic figure.) Where are her friends or relatives going to find an extra £400 a month, if they are also low paid and living on the breadline, but have had to sign an agreement to pay the extra amount before the care home will take her? Don't you see how this will affect thousands of people out there. It's a highly realistic scenario. So anyone know What is going to happen? Well for starters, from the links I've shown its a localised problem and secondly it must already be happening - this appears to be policy. Does anyone know a single case in scc where the family are being chased for money for care home fees, not selling the elderly relatives home, but chasing realitives for standard care home fees. Frankly I doubt it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna B Posted February 16, 2013 Author Share Posted February 16, 2013 Well for starters, from the links I've shown its a localised problem and secondly it must already be happening - this appears to be policy. Does anyone know a single case in scc where the family are being chased for money for care home fees, not selling the elderly relatives home, but chasing realitives for standard care home fees. Frankly I doubt it. At last! Exactly the point. I'm wanting to hear if anybody in that position has experienced it and what did they do? Now I realise that the elderly person needing care might be at least in their eighties, sothe relatives (children?) will probably be in their late 60s or 70s and not necessarily online, but there must be someone who knows. I'd be interested to hear from them. (And I still think care home fees are too much...) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nightrider Posted February 16, 2013 Share Posted February 16, 2013 No, they could care for relatives themselves instead of paying someone to do it for them. yes if they were so rich they did not have to go out to work 8+ hours a day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gym_rat Posted February 16, 2013 Share Posted February 16, 2013 You seem to be missing the point. This is a hyperthetical question, not a personal one. I'm assuming an old person who has no house or assetts is unable to be cared for at home and has to move to a residential or care home. The very most the council will pay is £424 per week, but the cheapest council or private care home to be found is £524. (This is a much more realistic figure.) Where are her friends or relatives going to find an extra £400 a month, if they are also low paid and living on the breadline, but have had to sign an agreement to pay the extra amount before the care home will take her? Don't you see how this will affect thousands of people out there. It's a highly realistic scenario. So anyone know What is going to happen? where do you get your two figures? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna B Posted February 17, 2013 Author Share Posted February 17, 2013 where do you get your two figures? The £424 figure for a Council home place is from the book I quoted in my OP. Available from Social Services. Incidently, according to the same book (page7) they only pay £353 towards private care home places, which are actually more expensive. They have to be used because there simply aren't enough council places. Can you explain that? Private places are at least £550 and can go up to £800+ per week. The ones I checked were £590 and £679 per week. So I rounded it down to a probable average and easy to work with. If anyone knows of one going for £424 I'd love hear from them. There may some around the £500 mark, but I can't check them all and they don't exactly advertise their prices - everything else, but not that. You have to ask and even then it's not clear because there are so many different permutations and add-ons. Then of course there's the guilt trip - Some of these places are lovely, but some are not. Does that answer your question? If not I suggest you try and find out some prices for yourself. It's an eye opener. ---------- Post added 17-02-2013 at 16:19 ---------- There's an interesting article about just this problem in this week's Financial Mail (called 'Why you'll STILL have to sell your house to go into care.') It's very complicated so I won't bore you, but basically it explains that nursing homes and councils are exploiting the loophole that only the care component will be covered, (help with dressing, meals, using the toilet and so on,) and not the proportion spent on living expenses, (food, accommodation, heating etc) so they can rig the percentages in their own favour. It also says "Clients are assessed to see whether their needs are 'low', 'moderate', 'substantial', or 'critical'. Increasingly, local authorities will help only those in the last two catagories." And in answer to Gym rat's question I quote; "Care Home costs vary, although £800 per week is a realistic average for much of England." This isn't just a financial problem for old folk, but their families as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickyob Posted February 17, 2013 Share Posted February 17, 2013 The situation is awful. What happens if your family are not in a position to pay? Many families are struggling to feed themselves these days. Where are they going to find an extra £100 a week? let's bring back the gas chambers for over 65s Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Hardie Posted February 17, 2013 Share Posted February 17, 2013 I'm assuming an old person who has no house or assetts is unable to be cared for at home and has to move to a residential or care home. The very most the council will pay is £424 per week, but the cheapest council or private care home to be found is £524. (This is a much more realistic figure.) Wouldn't the individual's state pension take up the shortfall? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrSmith Posted February 17, 2013 Share Posted February 17, 2013 yes if they were so rich they did not have to go out to work 8+ hours a day. My parents weren’t rich neither are the family of my neighbour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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