Cost of care at home - utter confusion

[abovetheweather]

Hope someone can advise on our questions (below), we are finding this such a minefield. A quick recap, facts only for brevity:

MIL has been bedbound for five years. She has private carers going in four times daily to change her, wash and feed her. All other care to maintain her standard of living is provided by DP and his sibling, eg prescription ordering, gardening, food shopping, flowers, finances, as she not capable of any of that.

This set-up costs around £5.5k per month, including food, council tax, electrics etc.

She has razed through savings, and has around £35k left.

She owns her own home, value around £310k.

Despite GP recommendation (long story, lots of reasons), she refuses to go to a care home. We have therefore been working with social services, who say they are able to provide all that MIL needs to stay at home, including the areas currently fulfilled by DP and sibling.

Before we go down this council-funded route, our questions:

1. Given MIL's home ownership and remaining finances (we are aware of the £23k threshold), is there any chance that the council will cover her care costs, either in part of full?
2. If not, she will need to sell her home. How does that work if she is living in it? Equity release...?

If anyone has faced this situation, I would love to read about it, it is so hard to find a straight answer.

Thank you so much.

In our experience the council applied a lean to the house which meant that when the property was sold they would get their funds back.

You don’t sell it.

council put some kind of legal hold on it so they get paid first when she dies and it’s sold.

Thank you.

Would you know if the council would fund her care with the house as an asset, or would she need to continue privately tho?

The council care should, we believe, be cheaper.

Age uk can give you definitive answers- the council “ broker” contracts with agencies so get better rates. Could they continue with paying existing carers?

With care in the home it’s only savings not property that count. Once savings drop below £23,500 the council will start paying towards the care

You need Age UK, but my understanding always is that the house that a person or their partner lives in is not considered to be ‘an asset’ when considering care costs - what matters is their savings/income. So as her savings are rapidly dropping towards the £23500 level, the local authority will fund care visits. The care provided may not look like the private care but it will be aiming to meet the same needs.

If she were to agree to move into a care home because the LA doesn’t think her needs can be met any other way, then her partner would still be living there and the house would still not be included in the financial assessment. Only if the house were to be sold might the proceeds be part of the picture.

She was widowed about 18 months ago, I'm afraid. She lives alone. Thank you for the tip on Age UK - others have mentioned that too, so it sounds really promising.

If she continues to receive care in her own home then the house is disregarded for the financial assessment of her capital and assets.

If she moves into residential care then the house will be included in the financial assessment so she may then be required to pay her way. If the property is suitable she may be able to have a deferred payment agreement with the local authority so the debts are rolled up against the value of the property and are recovered when it is sold.

I just got some financial advice for my aunt that may be helpful to you. I've copied it below..
Many thanks for your email. I assume you have found me from the SOLLA website?

The care system in the UK is difficult to navigate and there is little State provision to care for a person when they require around the clock care and wish to stay in their own home. Whilst your Aunt has savings over £23,250 she will have to pay for her own care. Once the funds are exhausted then you can apply to Adult Social Care in the London Borough where she lives (Local Authority). It is likely that after a care assessment the Local Authority will provide a level of care within their own budget, which is not likely to be around the clock care. If this is to be provided at their costs then the attorney may be able to arrange a Deferred Payment programme with the Local Authority. This is where the Local Authority cover all costs and will put a charge of the property, so that when the person requiring care passes away, the house is sold and the Local Authorities debt is repaid from the proceeds.

If the level of care provided by the Local Authority is not sufficient then you will have to fund the care required and this is done by a 3rd party top up i.e. someone else paying for the care which is usually a relative. You can also look at Equity Release i.e. releasing equity from the property to pay for the care and in this case, your Aunt would then again become a self-funder, so this is not ideal.

If your Aunt did go into residential care then there is a 12 week disregard relating to her property. During this time the Local Authority will pay for your Aunt’s care but after that they will require your Aunt to fund her own care which usually means selling the family home.

As you can see there is no silver bullet and the options are very limited.

Thank you so much, that sounds like a near identical situation. I know how hard this stuff is, and I wish you well with it all.

The local council told us that the deferred payment scheme includes a £950 charge to value the house and that they also charge 4% (subject to change) interest on the deferred payments.

Yes the council will just take a charge on the house to be paid from her estate.

Bit late but here's some help if anyone is in the same situation.

The confusing part is that the council doesn’t assess your current £5.5k setup, they assess the minimum they think keeps her safe, and fund to that level. That’s why people feel like they’re being offered something completely different to what they already have.
In practice, that usually means shorter visits and fewer “nice to have” elements, so families end up covering the gap themselves if they want to maintain the same standard. Also worth knowing: if she stays at home, her house isn’t counted in the means test, but her income will still go toward the package.
The real decision is whether you’re comfortable with the level of care they’ll actually fund versus topping up to keep things as they are.
This explains a bit more about funding:
https://matchwithcare.co.uk/blog/how-to-pay-for-home-care-in-the-uk-self-funding-council-care-and-top-ups-explained