CLAIM BCK THE COST OF LONG TERM CARE
If you have a relative in long term care they could get all their fees paid by the NHS without a means-test. But if they are in England and want to get the payments backdated you need to act fast. Backdating will only be paid in most cases for applications received by 30 September.
The NHS will pay the full cost for people living in a care home if their primary need is a medical one. There is no means test, so their income and assets are not taken into account. That means they do not have to worry what will happen to their home.
The NHS defines a primary health need like this
"An individual has a primary health need if, having taken account of all their needs, it can be said that the main aspects or majority part of the care they require is focused on addressing and/or preventing health needs."
That can include long term conditions such as dementia.
But getting the NHS to accept its responsibilities can be difficult. The first step is to contact the care home where your relative lives. All homes can do an assessment using a simple decision checklist tool from the NHS website http://bit.ly/lZtFVR . That can then trigger an application to the Primary Care Trust which will use a more thorough assessment process to determine if it will pay or not. If the answer is 'no' there is an appeal process.
Of course all this takes time. But as long as the initial application is in by 30 September the NHS will consider claims as far back as 1 April 2004. So even if your relative has already died you can make a retrospective claim if you act quickly.
It is possible to do the whole thing yourself. You can read more about how to do that in a piece I wrote for Saga Magazine http://www.paullewis.co.uk/archive/saga/2012/20120601Works.htm. And there is a guide to doing it yourself on the MoneySavingExpert website http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/family/care-home-costs-reclaiming.
But because time is short you may prefer to contact a solicitor who specialises in such claims. Lisa Morgan at Hugh James has taken dozens of claims and recovered millions of pounds www.hughjames.com. The firm will charge about 22% of the amount recovered.
Whatever you
decide never be tempted by an unregulated and unqualified claims management
company which will charge double and may not achieve the result you want.
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