As this series of articles on the care system, care planning, and paying for care reaches its conclusion I hear you breathe a sigh of relief. Perhaps it hasn’t been the gripping drama that you were anticipating but I am hopeful that it has been thought provoking, and provided you with some guidance and a few useful insights along the way.

Before I call it a wrap, the final credits roll, and I wait on tenterhooks to see whether a second series will be approved, I would like to cover at a high-level State and NHS support.

 

Social Security Benefits

Cast your mind back to Episode 1 and you might recall me mentioning that for the financial assessment the Local Authority (LA) will assume that you are claiming any benefits that you are entitled to.

Social Security benefits are:

• State Pension
• Attendance Allowance (AA)
• Carer’s Allowance
• Disabled Living Allowance (DLA)
• Personal Independence Payments (PIPs)
• Pension Credit

I cannot possibly cover all these here, but the AA, DLA and PIPs might be payable if you have care or mobility needs.

Some benefits will be means tested but not all. Some will be impacted by Equity Release arrangements but not all. Regardless, the start point is to establish what you might be entitled to and to this end Age UK has a helpful ‘Benefit calculator’ available via a link on the following webpage:

https://www.ageuk.org.uk/information-advice/money-legal/benefits-entitlements/benefits-calculator/

 

NHS Continuing Healthcare (NHS CHC)

There are circumstances where the NHS is responsible for meeting the full cost of your care in your own home or a care home. This can be a game changer, but it will only apply where the individual requiring care has been assessed and found to have a ‘primary health need’. This term derives from a 1999 court case that recognised that there was a limit on nursing care assistance that a LA could legally provide.

Health professionals involved with the individuals care should determine whether your needs merit an assessment.

The process for applying and the assessment itself might appear a little daunting, but there are organisations that can assist.

 

NHS-Funded Nursing Care (NHS FNC)

If it is decided that your care needs are best met in a nursing home, you should first be assessed for NHS CHC eligibility. If you are eligible, there’s the game changer, but if you aren’t, you should then be assessed for NHS FNC. Eligibility here focuses on your daily nursing care and support needs.

NHS FNC is a fixed payment paid directly to the nursing home.

Residential homes won’t be paid NHS FNC because residents with nursing care needs receive nursing care from NHS nurses based in the community and not from care home staff.

The fixed rate for those moved into a nursing home on or after 1 October 2007, is currently £219.71 per week.

If you are self-funding your nursing home place, you should check your contract to see how NHS FNC is accounted for. Strictly speaking, it should be deducted from the overall cost of your care such that you pay the balance.

 

Well, there we are. I think I have reached something of a finale with this. I have attempted to lighten the tone somewhat to hold the audience, but I recognise that the area of care fees planning and funding is a very serious matter and one that many will find daunting.

Do talk to us. We can often help, whether that’s pointing you in the right direction for information or helping with the nitty gritty of the finances and sourcing a solution that works appropriately.

Wishing all readers the very best of health.

For an initial discussion around either your own or someone else’s long-term care plans or requirements with a Society of Later Life accredited Chartered Financial Planner, please contact us on 0330 320 9280 email  info@cravenstreeetwealth.com or complete our online enquiry form.

The content of this article is for information only and does not constitute formal financial advice. This material is for general information only and does not constitute investment, tax, legal or other forms of advice.

You should not rely on this information to make, or refrain from making any decisions. Always obtain independent, professional advice for your own particular situation.

Craven Street Financial Planning Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.