Councils betraying elderly on care loans
PENSIONERS are still having to sell homes in their lifetimes to pay crippling care bills despite the Tory pledge to end the scandal.
David Cameron brought in rules three years ago designed to solve the problem by allowing families to apply for loans from their council.
These loans could be used to pay social care bills, meaning that relatives could defer any house sale until after the death of their loved one.
But now a survey has found that, despite these promises, a postcode lottery operates under which many town halls are not offering families these deferred payment schemes.
The charity Independent Age found that while some town halls accept all applications for deferred payment, some accept none.
Labour said this suggests thousands of families are having to put their houses on the market to pay bills – even though their loved one is still alive.
Eight local authorities accepted a quarter or fewer of applications for deferred payment agreements in 2016/17. Five councils do not have any such agreements in place at all. They are Tory-controlled Wandsworth and Trafford, and Labour-controlled Camden, Lambeth and Tower Hamlets.
Local authorities which have accepted less than a quarter of applications received include north Yorkshire, Suffolk and South Devon.
only 29 local authorities who responded to a Freedom of Information request said they had accepted 100 per cent of the applications.
Barbara Keeley, Labour’s social care spokesman, said: ‘These figures show that the Tories’ pledge is utterly hollow.
‘The reality is that many hard-pressed local authorities are struggling to provide deferred payment agreements following swingeing Tory cuts to their budgets, meaning people having less access to these agreements. As they still have to pay for care, it means selling homes to pay for that care.’
In England, older people have to pay the full cost of their care down to their last £23,500 – often denying their children an inheritance. ministers have pledged to impose a cap on the amount people pay –- but this will not be introduced for several years.
The Department of Health originally estimated the deferred payment scheme would see 12,300 loans by 2015/16. But as of march 2017, only 6,400 had been agreed. The government describes the scheme as a ‘universal’ system, with all older people having the same opportunities and access criteria.
However, Labour said the evidence suggests individuals in certain parts of England may have little or no chance of securing a deferred payment agreement, simply depending on where they live.