Care Home Fees Funding Checklist
Need help with paying for care? Complete our enquiry form for a free, no obligation, initial consultation.
This page aims to help you to order your thoughts and do things in the right order.
1. Agree on the current level of care required.
There is no point looking at residential care homes if a nursing home is needed. Even this can be difficult as often you may be being pressured to leave hospital before a final care assessment has been completed. If you are moving into long term care from your home make sure you get a section 47 assessment from Social Services.
Once the correct type of care has been agreed...
2. Find which state benefits that you may be entitled to
Although the state imay not fund the full cost of care, the benefits you may be entitled to will help you to afford your care home fees. The state benefits are listed here.
If you have less than the local authority upper funding limit (£23,250 in 2011/12) then details of how funding is arranged are here.
3. Value your assets
Do you know what your assets are worth? If you have a property that you might sell or rent you should get it valued. You should also value any investments you have as well as looking up any long forgotten accounts or savings certificates.
We may be able to help through our care planning service.
4. Work out what you can afford.
5. Get an immediate care plan quotation
A care plan is a way of funding your care that will pay an agreed level of benefit for your lifetime. It is an option that should always be reviewed and can only be considered once you have a quotation. We would be pleased to arrange this for you without charge.
A full quotation often takes several weeks to obtain as it requires medical reports from your doctor and carers. Getting started early means that the quotation is available when you need it.
Click here for more information about immediate care plans or here for a quotation.
6. Get some specialist advice
Buying long term care is one of the most important and largest financial purchases you will ever make. The monthly cost is often significantly higher than a mortgage.
Your Care Fees Advice Agency care fees adviser will aim to do the following:
- 1. Ensure that you are claiming all of the state benefits to which you are entitled
- 2. Guide you as to the care you can afford
- 3. Show you ways that can guarantee an income for life to pay towards the cost of your care
- 4. Explain all of the options for paying for care
- 5. Help you to preserve as much capital as possible for an inheritance
- 6. Give you the security that you can stay in your chosen care home for life
7. Arrange a funeral plan
A funeral plan is usually a good idea. It allows you to make decisions in advance about your funeral, it takes away decisions from your family or friends at a time that may be emotionally difficult and it fixes the cost of the funeral at today’s price.
Also, if there is a possibility of your funds running down to local authority funding levels, it may preserve additional money for your family.
Please call us or complete our enquiry form if you would like more details of funeral plans.
6. Decide and implement your financial plan
Whatever you decide to do, whether it is to put your money on deposit, invest it or buy an immediate or deferred care plan, you will need to put your financial arrangements in place. With access to the entire financial market and with special care funding products available, we are ideally placed to assist you with this. Call us on 0800 078 7430 or enquire to see what we can do for you.
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