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Sometimes the amount of money the council are willing to contribute, together with your own payments, aren’t enough to pay for your care. In this event you will need what is referred to as, a ‘top up’ contribution. The council has refused to increase your personal budget to meet your assessed care needs. For more information on your rights around choice of care home accommodation, read our factsheetPaying care home top-up fees. If your council is paying for some or all of your care but you’d like to move somewhere that costs more than they’ll pay, you might be able to make up the difference with a top-up fee.
Since moving into the home the LA have contacted me to say that because he is in an expensive home that they may need to move him once he drops below the 23,000 limit. My Sister and I have found a lovely care home which is 325 pounds a week cheaper. Basically if he goes below the 14,000 bottom threshold can he insist on paying this care home until he has nothing at all left.
Is your personal budget high enough?
Be sure to read the Independent Age links in the article, too. Craig, it used to be the case that it was more expensive for council to move a patient to another Council Area. I wonder if threatening to do such a thing so that you could find a place without top up would be an option . “The Local Government Ombudsman has issued a report about the council’s top-up fee arrangements and has made a number of recommendations, which we accept.
They (Local SS/and the MH Trust) have agreed to move mum to a Nursing home down South as there is no-one up North since my dad sadly passed away, all family daughters, son, grandchildren etc live in London. A nursing home I contacted told me the Local Authority rate that they come under only pay a maximum of £700 a week and there fees are 1, 200 a week so the top up for my mum would be £500 a week. Yet has been told she can’t get Continuing Healthcare , just will get Funded Nursing Care. I am on income support, she has no money or home etc, council can only pay a certain amount, they will now push to have her move towns as we cannot afford the £40 top up fee per week.
Links between mental health and money
We paid for a physio to get her back on her feet and she was fit for discharge in April but it took 5 weeks to arrange a care package in which time her health deteriorated. She has had concurrent infections, is frail with dementia and is now no longer able to get out of a chair herself and we are waiting for a panel decision concerning funding. She does not own a property but had £26,000 in savings so we were expecting to pay for care. My mother is unable to pay this and there are no homes in the area who can provide at the standard rate. The social worker is saying because my mother accepted the placement and was told there would be a financial assessment , and top up fees are negotiated by the home she has to pay it.
I have been warned by Age UK that if we don’t agree to this the NHS may argue that Mum cannot go in to this home . The home have already agreed in principle to take her as my Dad spoke to them recently, and have room for her as and when required. I told the SW that I was looking to move her to this new home and they didn’t seem to keen, despite me saying that my nanna will be self funding anyway due to her owning her own home (worth about £130k).
Care home top-up fees: Do you really have to pay?
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I have been looking at this “Continuing Healthcare” package and wondered as mum is registered blind, and seems to suffer fairly frequently leg ulcers , whether she would fit into this care package. Antony – if your wife has not been assessed for NHS Continuing Healthcare funding, this should happen as a matter of priority, before anyone tells you she has to pay for her care. My uncle didn’t have any savings at all and his only income was a state pension .
If a top-up is agreed, it may be possible for the fees to be paid directly to the care home, but the council remains legally responsible for the full costs. As a part of this, the impact of moving your loved one to a new home - if this is necessary - will be taken into consideration. Until a decision is made, the local authority is responsible for paying the fees. Whoever agrees to pay the top-up fee will need to demonstrate they are able to pay the difference between the local authority budget and the care home's actual fees. A third-party top-up allows you to live in your preferred care home. This comes into play if that care home charges more than your local authority is prepared to pay.
It might be simpler to ring around the various offices in the region, seeking someone that might have dealt with these matters. Even though initially, it might cause you some hard expense bearing in mind your finances. A Griffiths, I expect that it is still all very raw and to have this going on too; you have my sympathies.
The local authority will review the agreement from time to time. This will make sure they know of any increases in charges and how they will divide this. By the way, do not let the council carry out any financial assessment of you and your family…. Hi, my Nanna went into hospital 8 weeks ago due to loosing weight an d become increasingly frail .
I know we can’t make demands but I would like to have some kind of say like is it local and of a reasonable standard. Everything seems to be moving so slowly and the care home have given her a limited time. She is very, very happy there and it is close to my home so she sees me regularly. She started there funded by CHC plus a ‘hotel’ top up which she funded herself. That continued until, after another CHC assessment, we were told that although bedridden, doubly incontinent and needing much nursing care, she would have to fund her own care ongoing. Has your mother been assessed for NHS Continuing Healthcare, Jane?
Local authorities are responsible for top-up arrangements. However, many such arrangements are made between a care home and a relative – with the local authority out of the picture. Care home top-up fees should only be paid by relatives who are able and willing to pay them. About your care needs or the funding available to meet those needs, read our article for guidance on your next steps.
If there is any justification for a topup, this must be agreed between the local funding council and a relative, paid by the council to the care home and claimed back by the council from the relative. The care contract is between the council and the care home only. So called ‘top up’ fees cannot be demanded by the care home. The resident’s own funds may not be used to pay towards any agreed topup.
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