Disabled persons contribution to home care services.

[J500ANT]

My partners friend is severely disabled and is in receipt of the appropriate level of benefits for his circumstances. This is Income support and high rates of both the mobility and care components of disability living allowance. Home is LA rented and no savings.

He has recently started to receive some home care, to assist him with getting up, showering, taking pills and his own personal care needs. He also has someone to come in and assist with cleaning and cooking once a week.

This has all been set up via social services, and he gets (iro - cant remember exactly) 8 hours a week, which iirc its 2x.5hrs/day for his own needs and 1hr a week for cleaning etc.

He has been financially assessed by someone who does these things, and they have decided he has to contribute £65.75 a week for the care he receives.

I was under the impression that personal care was meant to be free? Today is the first time he's been told exactly what he has to contribute and he's thrown his toys out of the pram (unfortunate phrase in this case) and has cancelled all his care, which then puts it back onto my partner

I'm not sure how much his total income is, but £65.75 a week for what little care he does get seems a lot. Anyone got any thoughts, or any pointers or sites to visit that might throw some light?

TIA

Tony

[randlemarcus]

No experience personally, but as long as that 65 doesnt exceed the care component of the DLA that you've said he gets, then I cant see an issue with it, personally.

I do realise this is not what I'm meant to say, but hey.

[Shaw Tarse]

J500ANT said:

My partners friend is severely disabled and is in receipt of the appropriate level of benefits for his circumstances. This is Income support and high rates of both the mobility and care components of disability living allowance. Home is LA rented and no savings.

He has recently started to receive some home care, to assist him with getting up, showering, taking pills and his own personal care needs. He also has someone to come in and assist with cleaning and cooking once a week.

This has all been set up via social services, and he gets (iro - cant remember exactly) 8 hours a week, which iirc its 2x.5hrs/day for his own needs and 1hr a week for cleaning etc.

He has been financially assessed by someone who does these things, and they have decided he has to contribute £65.75 a week for the care he receives.

I was under the impression that personal care was meant to be free? Today is the first time he's been told exactly what he has to contribute and he's thrown his toys out of the pram (unfortunate phrase in this case) and has cancelled all his care, which then puts it back onto my partner

I'm not sure how much his total income is, but £65.75 a week for what little care he does get seems a lot. Anyone got any thoughts, or any pointers or sites to visit that might throw some light?

TIA

Tony

Hi Tony, his contribution sounds "reasonable" for the care package he's getting.
Sadly personal care isn't free in England.
He should be able to hire his own carers, there is some clause in his allowance.

I'll try to give more help when sober

[voyds9]

How much would you think is reasonable for 8 hours care to intimately look after someone.

I wouldn't want to travel to someone, to get them out of bed, wash them, travel home, eight times a week for £65

[Malh001]

God forbid your friend doesn't come into any money like my mother did a few year's ago when her Aunt and then Mother died. Her small inheritance took her over the savings threshold and since then she has been paying £1200 a month. Now it's nearly all gone.

You only get freebies in this country if your bone idle and don't want to work or have just arrived from another country.

[Four Cofffee]

Numbers are vague but I went through this a few months ago but it all fell flat as no care was eventually needed.

Our LA have an upper contribution limit of £200 a week. As the DLA is about £70 PW ( about 3280 a month for the over 65's) anything else is means tested. If you have under £14K you pay nothing yp to the max if you have £40K in the bank.

I recall the maximum hourly rate, depending if it was skilled or semi skilled help you needed was about £12, so £65 a week is just paying for about 2 or 3 of the 7 days and the DLA is about £71?

[cymtriks]

Malh001 said:

God forbid your friend doesn't come into any money like my mother did a few year's ago when her Aunt and then Mother died. Her small inheritance took her over the savings threshold and since then she has been paying £1200 a month. Now it's nearly all gone.

You only get freebies in this country if your bone idle and don't want to work or have just arrived from another country.

A much fairer system would be to scrap basing benefits on means testing and need. Then start a new system based on contribution as well as need with a basic allowance that everyone gets. This removes the poverty trap and stops those that contribute nothing from claiming any more than the basic allowance.

As long as the current system exists there is a poverty trap and an active disincentive to save for ones old age, or for redundancy or any other misfortune.

I cannot see why anyone would want to end their lives with any (unhidden) assets at all under the current system.

[Simpo Two]

J500ANT said:

He has been financially assessed by someone who does these things, and they have decided he has to contribute £65.75 a week for the care he receives.

The assessment takes his income and savings into account. My mother had to pay £162pw for 2 hours care a day (which was more like 90 minutes as no travelling time was allowed).

Call me a facist if you want to be trendy, but I think we should put British people first. They've paid in for 60+ years, now let them have it back.

NB: Only 'nursing care' is free, as part of the NHS.

[Malh001]

cymtriks said:

Malh001 said:

God forbid your friend doesn't come into any money like my mother did a few year's ago when her Aunt and then Mother died. Her small inheritance took her over the savings threshold and since then she has been paying £1200 a month. Now it's nearly all gone.

You only get freebies in this country if your bone idle and don't want to work or have just arrived from another country.

A much fairer system would be to scrap basing benefits on means testing and need. Then start a new system based on contribution as well as need with a basic allowance that everyone gets. This removes the poverty trap and stops those that contribute nothing from claiming any more than the basic allowance.

As long as the current system exists there is a poverty trap and an active disincentive to save for ones old age, or for redundancy or any other misfortune.

I cannot see why anyone would want to end their lives with any (unhidden) assets at all under the current system.

That is exactly my thinking, as you get older either spend the money so you have nothing, or slowly "re-distribute" it into other less transparent assets.