Housing & benifits - MIL discharged into care

Hi, this will be a bureaucratic nightmare. Try and find a solicitor, maybe yours. Get proper legal advice. Her home will probably be taken back.
Good luck

Megslotts

welbeck

you need to contact DWP asap.
there are penalties for not reporting a change of circumstances.

They just ask for the money to be paid back.

carers have been fined over £300 for not reporting soon enough that someone was in hospital.
the DWP's armory is replete with fines/sanctions.

Sago

You can apply to the Office of the Public Guardian for deputyship.
This will allow you to get control of her affairs.
It’s a lengthy process, and costs £400 ish.
Th paper work took me four days to complete but it saved me £800 in solicitors fees.
Just type in Uk Gov OPG deputyship and it’s all outlined.

This is correct, but I there may not be much point in spending the OPG fees in the OP’s case as her mother lived in social housing and is in receipt of pension credit.

CrazyladyC

Hi I'm new to the forum and desperate for advise.
My mother in law had a severe stroke and is unable to return to her home.
She is being discharged to a care home tomorrow.
She has a local authority bungalow and is on housing benifit and pension credit.
She didn't give anyone power of attorney and now can't talk.
We have heard nothing about next steps.
Can anyone tell me who I need to contact to sort these things out?
Thanks

That should all be sorted via social care workers etc.
Just tell the DWP of the change in circumstances just to cover yourself. Generally someone gets in touch with you. Maybe ask the care home of the financial situation. They helped me a lot when similar happened with my Mom. I didn't have power of attorney but managed to sort her finances out as I was next of kin at the time. I opened a seperate bank account to keep her money away and safe, then just paid back what was owed to the DWP.

Well done all grans for the good advice. And good luck, Crazylady
One thing to learn for everyone: get that PoA in place in good time.

welbeck

you need to contact DWP asap.
there are penalties for not reporting a change of circumstances.

They just ask for the money to be paid back.

Telephone DWP and her local authority asap, if you explain her circumstances they will listen to you and take. Do this asap and speak with social care afterwards.

You can apply to the Office of the Public Guardian for deputyship.
This will allow you to get control of her affairs.
It’s a lengthy process, and costs £400 ish.
Th paper work took me four days to complete but it saved me £800 in solicitors fees.
Just type in Uk Gov OPG deputyship and it’s all outlined.

CrazyladyC

Hi I'm new to the forum and desperate for advise.
My mother in law had a severe stroke and is unable to return to her home.
She is being discharged to a care home tomorrow.
She has a local authority bungalow and is on housing benifit and pension credit.
She didn't give anyone power of attorney and now can't talk.
We have heard nothing about next steps.
Can anyone tell me who I need to contact to sort these things out?
Thanks

You really need to speak to a discharge Co ordinator, or ring DWP for advise regarding pension etc. . There are legalities here that need sorting for your mums and your piece of mind. Also talk to the housing officer who will be able to tell you how long you can keep your mums bungalow. Hope you get the help you need.

CrazyladyC That’s good news, you must feel relieved, it’s awful when your left high and dry and it’s not an easy system to navigate. Glad there’s no top ups, I’m hoping for the same.
My SW sent me details of a care home yesterday with a vacancy but it’s miles away all the local ones seems to be full. Fingers crossed one turns up soon.

Thank you all so much.
I phoned social services today who put me in touch with a social worker.
They have sent me some fact sheets.
I've also had a quick webchat with the housing association.
Now we need to actually start notifying people officially.
A financial assessment has been done and there has been no mention of top ups.

There is sometimes an arrangement between the NHS and the LA about moving people into care homes on discharge from hospital in a sort of temporary rehab placement. IN that case, the NHS pays.

You do need to talk to the ward, the social worker and the home in order to get a grip on what the plan is for your MIL. I am surprised that these conversations have not happened already as they should be keeping you all in the loop.

Can I refer people to the very useful Age UK factsheet site www.ageuk.org.uk/services/information-advice/guides-and-factsheets/#wellbeing

I have referred to one specific fact sheet further up this thread, but this is the link to the list of Factsheets and itnis clear that several people who have posted on this site would be helped by reading a number of these and also contacting Age UK directly for help and advice.

Each time my DH was discharged to a care home no one discussed this with me and only told me when he arrived or was in the ambulance on his way.

The first care home was meant to be temporary as it was 30 miles away and he was there 5.5 months.

It took months to be allocated a social worker for my DH. We are now on our third and each time the process has to be repeated. Then we were presented with a backdated bill even though we only part-pay for his care.

The communication with the hospital, discharge, care home, social worker and GP is disgusting, in fact non existent.

Does anyone know how I get in touch with DWP and for what reason please? He is not on any benefits and only gets his state pension.

My mother never made it to a nursing home. She was moved to a geriatric facility and died there due to the length of time it took to organise one. I had to do all the searching to find a suitable one with a place for her. It was one of the most stressful times of my life.

It could be an emergency temporary care home, or even a rehabilitation hub. The SW rang me last week to say they maybe placing my mum in temporary accommodation, just to free up the hospital bed.
You can then request a different care home if your mil or you are unhappy with the placement. It’s a minefield.

All good advice above. If she is going to a care home tomorrow then presumably there is no question of a top-up as signatures and agreements would have been needed before a move.

Has the family not been involved in the choice of care home? It is very unusual for a move like this to happen without a designated social worker making contact with the family and discussing all the options.

Talk to Age UK - they have so much info to give - and make sure to find out who the SW is and ask why you have not been involved.

Do NOT pay top-ups. In her circumstances the LA is responsible for paying for her care, and they will put emotional pressure on a family to persuade them to pay any fees that exceed the amount they say they will pay.

YOU DO NOT HAVE TO PAY THESE and I cannot emphasise this too much. Speak to Age UK.

Here is a link to an Age UK Factsheet on paying for care. www.ageuk.org.uk/globalassets/age-uk/documents/factsheets/fs10_paying_for_permanent_residential_care_fcs.pdf

Hi again. Attendance allowance is still payable for the first four weeks then stops. I’ve had to inform them. Her pension and pension credits will be used to pay for her care home.
Their May be top ups to pay at the care home too they can be anything from £20 to £400 per week, the family pay this. I’ve asked for a care home without top ups theres not many.

The advice to contact AgeUk is good. They will give you lots of good advice.

I think your Mum should already have a Social Worker.

If your mum has to pay any contribution to her fees then I think that AA will still be payable at the higher level.

But AgeUk are your best bet.

Katyj,
Thank you for your advise.
I will try and contact social services today.

CrazyladyC Hi. I’m in the same boat my mum is currently in hospital awaiting a care home, she has a housing association flat, doesn’t pay rent and claims her pension, pension credits and attendance allowance.
You should have a social worker assigned to your mum, she’ll then be able to point you in the right direction. I don’t have POA so have had to ring DWP and apply to be an appointee to manage her pensions going forward. Also I’ve been assigned a lady from my local authority carers association she’s been great and helped navigate the system, it’s very confusing and overwhelming sometimes, the to do list is endless !
I would get in touch with the ward she was on and ask who her social worker is she will have one but they are really busy unfortunately.Hope you mil improves good luck.

welbeck

you need to contact DWP asap.
there are penalties for not reporting a change of circumstances.

When my mother went into hospital and was unable to return home, I discovered her housing benefit had been stopped, her other benefits stopped. and a huge amount of arrears had accumulated. She had no way of paying the arrears.
It was an almighty mess and I had to contact both the DWP and LA to sort it out. Don't waste any more time.

you need to contact DWP asap.
there are penalties for not reporting a change of circumstances.

Thanks for the suggestion about AgeUK. I'll give them a call