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Carers

Caring for elderly relatives? Supercarers can help

Original poster

Bill for mums care

22 replies

Katyy · 28/01/2021 08:28

Hi. Mum is 89 and receives pension and pension credits, lower rate attendance allowance and has her rent paid. She has carers 3 times a day. This has been since June last year, she has just received a bill from ss for 1,100 for care from June to November last year. This has caused mum a great deal of anxiety as she was told she wouldn’t have to pay for care. She’s now threatening to cancel her carers, which scares me to death, she wouldn’t be able to manage her medication or personal care. Can anyone help please?

OP posts:
BunnyRuddington · 28/03/2021 13:43

Why did she think that she didn't have to pay for her care?

Have you got POA for your DM? Do you know if she has the money to pay and has she got a SW you could talk to?

Tagagzjskva · 28/03/2021 13:45

Unless she has savings below the threshold (23.5k I think) , I do not see how she wouldn’t have to fund/ partly fund the care

If her savings are below this then she shouldn’t have to fund it and should be able to challenge it, hopefully an adult SW could help

helpfulperson · 28/03/2021 13:53

Who arranged the care? Where is she? The rules are different in the different countries.

RosesAndHellebores · 28/03/2021 13:57

Can you phone the local authority and advocate for her? To be fair if she has more than £23,500 she should be paying when she already gets her rent paid.

Might an alternative be that the carers drop to twice per day and you or a sibling patch in the third visit?

grieving321 · 28/03/2021 13:58

Even if you have savings under the threshold you have to pay something towards your care out of your income. It was always a total mystery to me how social services worked out what your contribution was.

I suspect this is what your mum has to pay. Is she funded under direct payments?

IthinkIsawahairbrushbackthere · 28/03/2021 13:58

My mum has £ 2K savings (for her funeral!) and her income is her pension. She pays £ 100 per week which is the maximum they can charge her. Has she completed the finance assessment forms?

DogsSausages · 28/03/2021 14:04

What was agreed at the time, did she receive a letter or conteact to sign saying who was paying for her care. £1,100 for 4 months wouldnt cover the cost of the carers, is it some sort of top up or extra payment they agreed. I would contact ss and ask what was arranged and for a copy of her financial assessment and agreements. Hatgirl on here is very knowledgeable so I may not be accurate.

Seafog · 28/03/2021 14:07

Who did she think was paying for them?
Can she have them come twice a day, instead of three times, if it is a cost issue?

AnaofBroceliande · 28/03/2021 14:12

IIRC she might still have to pay a small amount towards her care.

hatgirl · 28/03/2021 14:22

@Tagagzjskva

Unless she has savings below the threshold (23.5k I think) , I do not see how she wouldn’t have to fund/ partly fund the care

If her savings are below this then she shouldn’t have to fund it and should be able to challenge it, hopefully an adult SW could help

That isn't true I'm afraid,

It's not just savings that are taken into account it's also income.

You could have nothing in savings but if you have a high enough income then you would still have to contribute to care.

It's also not as simple (for any form of care) as it being over £23k you pay and £23k you don't. Under £23k, as above you pay an assessed amount depending on what your income is.

OP was there any information that came with the bill about why she is being asked to pay it now? Why is it only June-Nov and not June - Feb/March.

She's being asked to pay around £45 a week which is a fairly standardish amount for someone on the type of benefits she is on. Who was it that told her she didn't have to pay initially (she should have received a letter advising what her assessed charge was when the care was first set up - does she still have this?).

hatgirl · 28/03/2021 14:25

@Seafog

Who did she think was paying for them? Can she have them come twice a day, instead of three times, if it is a cost issue?
The cost to her per week will remain the same whether she has 3 visits a day or one visit per day (or 4 visits a day with two carers at each at the other extreme).

The assessed charge from social services is how much you have been assessed as being able to pay towards your care each week. What you can afford to pay is kept entirely separate to how much care you get.

redcandlelight · 28/03/2021 14:27

just over 1k doesn't touch the sides of the real care costs for 6 months.
are you sure it's for care and not for additional materials? like pads beyond thd nhs provided ones,

Standrewsschool · 28/03/2021 14:32

You need to check what was agreed at the time.

My df came out of hospital and was given six weeks free carers. They then had to pay for carers. They were getting carers four times a day, but cut it down as the cost was per visit,

Why was the bill June to November? Will she get another one December to May later on this year?

To be honest £1100 for six months care is really cheap. You can pay that weekly.

BunnyRuddington · 28/03/2021 17:24

How is your DM now @Katyy?

Original poster
Katyy · 29/03/2021 18:16

Hi, Thank you for all your help. Mum seems to have come round a bit now to having carers and paying for them. I understand it more now too,she has been assessed and has to pay £110 per week, she has no savings.but gets her rent paid, to be honest that still leaves her plenty for her bills and food. She just complains because they don’t do anything as such, just make sure she has taken her medication. She was ill recently though, and they were very good stayed with her until the ambulance came, but because she has short term memory loss she’s already forgotten. It’s all very difficult, I’m always stressed out. But on the whole, she’s coping at home, and doesn’t want to go into a care home.

OP posts:
helpfulperson · 29/03/2021 19:45

Glad you've got it sorted.

BunnyRuddington · 29/03/2021 19:48

Have you found the Elderly Parents Section Katyy, it's a bit busier in there and there's an ongoing support thread called the Cockroach Cafe.

Has your DM been assessed for Dementia and do you have POA? If not, I'd really recommend getting them, if she'll agree that is.

Original poster
Katyy · 29/03/2021 20:11

Thank you. Mum hasn’t been assessed as she refusing to have anything else done, won’t go to dr or clinics now. She has very high bp but refusing more medication. I have POA but the dr says she still has capacity to make her own decisions. I’ll have a look at the other thread, thanks.

OP posts:
IthinkIsawahairbrushbackthere · 29/03/2021 21:26

You have my sympathy. My mum has two care visits a day and resents every penny she has to pay for them but I could not cope without them. Just like your mum my mum claims "they don't do anything" - other than get her into the wheelchair, get her into the arm chair, make her breakfast, give her meds etc - I'm sure you get the idea!

BunnyRuddington · 30/03/2021 07:58

Glad you've got POA all of that sounds incredibly frustrating though. Has she said why she's refusing more meds?

My DM is still quite mobile. Last year she kept on about how high her blood pressure was, it wasn't it was perfectly normal. When I suggested that if she was worried the best way to reduce it was to walk more and stop drinking gin and eating chocolate she stopped going on about it Grin

BunnyRuddington · 30/03/2021 08:00

That sounds frustrating too Ithink. On the one hand I can see that losing your mobility and having to be moved must bu incredibly frustrating and maybe embark for some, but she doesn't seem to be making things easier fir herself or you Thanks

Original poster
Katyy · 30/03/2021 17:56

Hi Bunny. She refuses more meds because of the side effects, she doesn’t believe any of her meds are helping her, in fact she believes they are making her weak and tired. Plodding on 🙄

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