Facing care home fees? Take control of the situation
By Jayne Warren - 06/11/2007
A highly useful book about care home fees has been published by John Harrison, a specialist private client lawyer with 23 years experience in private practice. And for the last eighteen years he has practised exclusively in the field of the law for the elderly and asset protection, handling just about every financial concern known to older people - from estate administration and will drafting to wrongfully charged care fee refund claims and Powers of Attorney.
Called "The Layman's Guide to the avoidance of care charges", it is already into a second edition, and lists more than 50 legal, ethical and practical arguments and strategies that can be used to challenge a claim by a local council that they are entitled to take an individual’s assets (both capital and or income) to fund care home fees.
John told the Mature Times why he wrote the book: "Clients started coming to se me because of the total lack of advice out there for them when the subject of care homes came up. They were totally confused by the numerous options - or by the lack of options - and were often is a state of emotional distress because of pressing situations with either themselves or relatives, and really needed help.
"So I'd talk to them for hours on end, usually writing out long lists for what they could do, and how to challenge what they may have been told they "had" to do and so on - and then I thought, 'hang on, this is a grass-roots book!' That's how it started."
The first copy came out last year and, like all legal books, needs to updated each year to keep up with the vagaries of the law. John talked about how, in his years of practice, he has seen the law change - and not for the better: "In my view, the changes in the law have really meant lots of new little ways that the government manages to extract more money from people. And they can now collect a huge amount of valuable personal information about people, which can easily lead to identity fraud and be exploited.
"Take the new laws in the Mental Capacity Act surrounding enduring powers of attorney - allegedly to save money. But why, if it's really saving money, are individuals not given the choice to follow the old system if they choose? Because the government can't squeeze as much money out of people with it, thats why!
"I have very strong views about nursing home fees. Frankly, I've seen so many people ripped off after a lifetime of hard graft when people who've done nothing at all get funded. Not only is it blatantly unfair, it also dangerous, because it sets the wrong example to younger people. They aren't daft - if they see their parents, aunties and uncles lose everything, they seriously question the whole point of working in the first place."
John especially points out that on the Department for Work and Pensions website, individuals who are placed in care and who have assets in excess of the upper threshold figure will be expected to pay for the full cost of care. He says: "The operative word is, of course, “expect”. "Expect" is different from “must”. Of course, there is no such thing as "free" care because caring involves costs. But the government (both national and local) fail to recognise that such costs have ALREADY been paid for in advance over many years by individuals who have provided a lifetime of work, paid countless direct and indirect taxes and national insurance contributions. So it is not unreasonable for them to expect to be provided with a required level of care without further financial cost or means testing."
John would also like to see local authorities punished when they make mistakes, or get "caught out" over care home funding. "If people are wronged they should be compensated, but currently there is nothing written down in law to punish the authorities. We need zero tolerance when mistakes happen, and I'd like to see that in terms of civil law, with people getting legal advice and assistance to establish the principle that they cannot be ripped off."
Other subjects covered in the book also include:
- Explanations of how to plan ahead by arranging financial and legal affairs in a way that protects assets and avoids them being used (or sold) to fund a care home or residential home placement.
- Information relating to financial entitlements that should be provided under the National Health Service (via local Primary Care Trusts) to fund care costs in full or in part.
Precedents of standard relevant legal documentation are also included at the end of the book.
"The Layman's Guide to the avoidance of care charges" is primarily intended as a valuable source of information and guidance for those who wish to challenge the current system of charging individuals for care by refusing to accept, comply or co-operate with the financial assessment procedure demanded by the local council.
For more information go to the link below. Alternatively contact John Harrison directly on 0191 262 5955, or email jharrison@tynesidelegalservices.co.uk