Care Homes - what happens when your money runs out?

Hi Ilovelindt

My Mum has Alzeimer's (quite badly now) and went into a home after she had a very bad UTI about three years ago.

AgeUk have a series of downloads which we found very helpful.

Mum's Alzheimer's is now so bad that she was admitted to a specialist unit to be assessed and, following this, she has a contribution towards her care. She is now in a specialist home for Alzheimer's patients. Because her assets have now gone below the upper level ( can't rember how much now - someone will know) her fees are paid by the local authority and we pay a contribution which about equals both her pensions plus a 'top up' of £35 per week. The total fees of mum's home if we were paying privately would be £1,000.

From our experience, I would say that it is important to find the right home. The first home we chose had myriad problems but mum could not have stayed there as her condition worsened and moving her became very problematic as she got worse.

My mum was in a care home for a short while last year until she died. She was paying her fees herself but I think the local authority pay it when the capital runs out. The resident's pension is taken into account I think and then they make up the balance.

My dad didn't have any money to start with, so the council paid the fees and took his pension, just leaving him a tiny amount of 'spends'.

My mother's funds have all been used up now. The local authority pays her nursing home fee and she contributes her state pension and RAF pension. This leaves her with about £40 a week for spending money to cover personal things, treats, hairdo etc.

As kittylester says, It's vital to find the right home. It took me two years to get mum out of a really bad one.

On the subject of homes, don't be taken in by either the look of a place or the CQC report. Ask around lots!

My Mum is a real snob and she would only go into the most impressive looking home! It was blinking awful!

My DH visits Care/Nursing homes almost on a daily basis and is unimpressed by smart good looks but feels he can tell a lot by the atmosphere of the place. Mum is in a BUPA home and it is quite tatty looking but the staff are absolutely wonderful both with the residents/patients and their families.

I think your Mum would have to pay full fees until her savings drop to £23k. The LA would pay part of the fees until her savings drop to the lower limit of £14k when they would pay full fees for her.

While she's paying full fees your Mum would be eligible to claim Attendance Allowance which would help her savings last longer.

Mum was taken into a care home as an emergency by Social Services so we had no choice where she was put and our initial impression of the home wasn't good. However we soon found out that the staff were absolutely brilliant. The home was inconvenient for us but Mum settled there and was well looked after which was the important thing. Initially we had wanted to move her to somewhere easier for us to visit so looked at several homes. The smartest one with lovely hotel style bedrooms & en-suites was also the one that put visitors before residents.

Do go into the AGE UK website - all will be explained!

In a nutshell, SSD will step in and pay part of the fees when savings reduce to a specified level (which changes now and again). They will expect your Mum to contribute her pensions, and she will be left with a weekly amount of "pocket money."

The only problem that you might encounter is that the homes you are looking at are very expensive and sometimes SSD say that they will only pay up to a certain level.

So it might be worth speaking to SSD at this stage to find out where you will stand when the money reduces to the specified amount. If you can find a home that you are happy with that charges that amount it will save the scenario of needing to uproot your Mum from somewhere she is settled. Having said that a good SSD will try and keep someone where they are happy if they possibly can.

The other route that you might need to consider much further down the line is funding by the health authority - called continuing care funding - but the rules for this are very stringent and it does not sound as though your Mum is remotely at the stage where she might qualify. Please be clear that, if she does deteriorate and falls within those rules, she IS entitled to this funding in a care home - she does not have to be in her own home. In my experience, people's training in this area is sadly lacking and misinformation is rife.

I wish you lots of good luck in finding the right place. We "kissed a lot of frogs" whilst on this same search, but eventually found somewhere caring and kind, where both my parents (at separate times) live their last years and died in a warm loving environment.

Totally agree with kitty pristine paint work and chairs that are looking slightly sad do not make a good care home. This describes the one mum was in but her care was superb.
Mum had less than £15000 savings so the LA paid they took her state pension and AA. The client has to be left with £23 per wk approx. for spends.
Yes, they will take over the fees when the client reaches this level. You are not obliged to pay top ups unless you wish to. Top ups must be paid by family, not the client.

I came back to mention AA Cressida and it's a good idea to get someone who knows the 'buzzwords' to help you do that. AgeUk used to offer that service.

The important thing to find out is what the top up would be if it got to the stage of the LA paying. We found a surprising difference . Because the local authority can bulk buy places they get preferential rate and therefore the top up is lower. Alternatively, you could see it as privately paying residents subsidising the LA.

Third party top-ups are iniquitous. Try this link for details: www.housingcare.org/downloads/kbase/2820.pdf

Best to talk to SSD now and get a clear picture about what their max. fee payment would be, so you can focus your search initially on those homes that fall within this. If they are grim, you will need to extend your search; but do not forget that by the time her money runs out she may qualify for continuing care funding. Please google that when/if the time comes - there is a very good book on the subject that you can buy to download that takes you through it step by step.

As others have said, it is not the decor but the atmosphere of warmth, tolerance and kindness that matters most. My parents were in a home that was cheap and scruffy, but it was a "family" and operated as such with brilliant care. As my brother said at Dad's funeral "It did what it says on the tin" - it was a CARE home.

We found a small booklet (from AgeUK I think but picked up in a care home) entitled Questions to ask when Choosing a Care Home (or similar) very useful. It has lots of questions in which if you are new to this job you may not think to ask.
Sorry to be a bit vague about the booklet !
We also went by the GENUINE smiles on the faces of the staff as well as the atmosphere. At the one we eventually chose we were shown around everywhere including the kitchen (complete with fresh home made cakes) and laundry. It is super.

Our experience with my Mum was the same as Cressida's, except that in those days (1997-2002) the fees were £250 per week! Once Social Services take over pensions and allowances are used as contributions, but you get some "spending money." (unless things have changed.)
She had had a stroke, partially paralysed, but was still "all there" and continent TG.
Your bank accounts will have to be available for Social Services to check.
We were lucky, it was a very good Home and she felt safe there, well looked after, and the food was excellent.

Would just like to add our LA at no point had access to mum's accounts. They took mine and my brothers word as to her financial situation. But if your found to be telling porkies afterwards, you will end up in court.

The same for us nina. I've just sent copies of P60, and latest bank accounts - that's all they ask for.

Just popped back to pass on a bit of advice we had from the manager of Mum's care home when we were thinking of moving Mum closer to us. She told us not to make an appointment but just turn up. A good care home will have nothing to hide & should have enough staff to be able to cope with unexpected visitors. If they haven't how could they cope with a crisis!