Four-step plan to fund care
HOW WILL you fund home care for a loved one? Reasearching the options can be c o nf usi ng b u t y o u wi l l find there is a wealth of advice available.
STEP 1 CONTACT YOUR COUNCIL FOR A CARE ASSESSMENT
If you are at the beginning of your care journey, one of your earliest actions will be to contact your local authority or council for an assessment of your care and support needs.
If your council believes you need support that it can provide, it will also complete an assessment of your finances — a means test against national eligibility criteria.
The test will determine how much you can afford to pay towards the cost of services, as well as how much your local authority might provide. Your financial assessment will consider your income, tax credits, disabilityrelated expenses, personal expenses and your capital, such as savings and property.
Currently, local authorities will not contribute to the cost of your home care if you have more than £23,250 in savings and property. From April 2016 this threshold will change to £27,000.
If you are not eligible for financial help from the council, or from the NHS, you will have to fund your own care.
STEP 2 GET ADVICE ON YOUR CARE FUNDING OPTIONS
According to independent care fees specialist Eldercare Solutions, 85 per cent of people in the UK facing homecare costs receive no advice, or fragmented advice, about their possible sources of funding.
Meeting the cost of care at home can be challenging. It is critical that you understand all your options and that your final funding plan is based on what is most suitable for you and your situation. You may be entitled to free financial advice from your local council, even if you are not eligible for financial assistance itself.
In some circumstances it is possible to pay the council to arrange care services for you. Independent, charitable and private advisers are also readily available.
If it is elderly care that you are in need of, be sure to look for specialists who have been “later life” accredited through the Society of Later Life Advisers.
STEP 3 EXPLORE FUNDING MODELS
If you are a self-funder of care, paying for all or part of your care services, there are many structures, products, and models available to you for leveraging the best outcome from your assets and income. For some people, paying for care directly from the sale of assets or investment of capital may be the route to take, as might be downsizing into a smaller home and using the profits to support care costs.
STEP 4 CONSIDER WHO WILL HELP IN YOUR DECISION-MAKING
In addition to seeking the advice of your local authority and financial advisers, consultation with family members and loved-ones is a critical element of making care-related decisions. For some people it is also a sensible precaution to set up a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) if it is possible that at some time in the future you may not be able to look after your own affairs. In care funding, as with all care conversations, better outcomes are reached when the discussion is started early, when everyone is on the same page and when the needs and wants of the individual are put at the centre of the plan.
It’s your care. And it’s your money. Get the best for yourself out of both. Barry Sweetbaum is the founder of homecare provider SweetTree. For more information or to discuss home-care options, call 020 7624 9944 or email info@sweettree.co.uk, sweettree.co.uk