Pensioners face red tape delay to qualify for new cap on care costs

Older people are forced to join 400,000-long waiting list in order to qualify for increased limit on fees

‘Millions of people are going without social care because struggling local authorities can’t balance the books’

PENSIONERS face being stuck on council waiting lists to qualify for the new cap on care costs, The Daily Telegraph can disclose.

Almost 300,000 pensioners who currently pay for their own care will be forced into the local authority system if they want to take advantage of the changes to funding coming next year.

With the waiting list for assessments already at 400,000, councils warn the system may not cope with the influx.

Older people qualifying to have their care paid for the first time because the upper capital limit is increasing from £23,250 to £100,000 will also have to join the waiting list. Under the current system no care can be given until someone is seen by officials.

Those paying for their own care will only be eligible for the £86,000 lifetime cap once they have had their needs assessed and may face “significant delays”. The Government has promised accrued costs toward the cap will be backdated to when an assessment was requested, but that will only apply to the costs the officials say are eligible.

So, pensioners could spend thousands of pounds that they incorrectly believe will count toward their cap.

The system, which begins in October 2023, has been branded “misleading” as it does not cover food and accommodation for care home residents.

Experts have calculated private payers will reach the £86,000 cap after about three years in residential care and six years in homecare.

Kari Gerstheimer, chief executive of charity Access Social Care, said the “the maths simply doesn’t add up” on the social care plan.

She told The Telegraph: “Millions of people across the country are going without the social care they have a right to because struggling local authorities can’t balance the books.

“The cap means that hundreds of thousands of self-funders who were previously independently seeking care, will now need an assessment from their local authority so that their contributions can count against the cap.”

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) sent draft guidelines to councils saying a “significant number of people” who previously had no contact with the local authority would need assessments. They added that officials should begin assessments for those most in need in April next year, six months before the changes take effect, to get ahead.

The DHSC suggested they should take steps to cope such as increasing the workforce, “using technology” or using partner agencies to do assessments.

The Government also asked councils to try to clear the current backlog, but the Local Government Association said the “additional demand is coming at a time when there’s already a backlog of 400,000 people waiting for an assessment of their social care needs”.

Those who had stayed off the local authority radar will also need ongoing reviews to see if their needs have changed.

At £616 per assessment, the Government estimates the additional appointments will cost councils £150million a year by 2024/25.

A DHSC spokesman said: “The charging reforms are necessary to provide certainty, protection and the opportunity for people to better plan for care costs and leave more to loved ones.”