Home Care and other Non Residential Support Services
Introduction
All councils who have decided to charge for services must follow regulations issued by the Government but they can also make some decisions about their charging policy themselves. This information explains what will happen in County Durham.If you have been assessed as needing a service from us and want to apply for help towards the cost, then a financial assessment will have to be carried out.
What is a financial assessment?
A financial assessment is the way that we work out how much you can afford to pay. If you do not want to give us the information you will be asked to sign a declaration agreeing to pay the full cost.
One of our Visiting Officer will arrange to visit you to collect information about your income and savings. You may have a member of your family or friend present if you would like or we will arrange for an independent Advocate to support you if you wish. Any information given will be treated in the strictest confidence.
We are very experienced and well trained and are there to help and guide you through the process. Please don’t be afraid to ask any questions on anything that you are not sure about.
What We Will Need to See
It would be helpful if you could have the following information available for the Visiting Officer.
It would be helpful if you could have the following information available for the Visiting Officer:
Income
- Written proof of any state benefits due to you.
- Notification of private (occupational) pension.
We will also need to know whether you have any claim for benefits being dealt with at the moment.
Savings/Capital
- Building society books
- Bank statements
- Details of stocks and shares; TESSA; PEP; ISA etc
- Bonds such as pensioners, savings or income bonds
Home Expenses
- Rent / mortgage
- Council tax
- Water rates
- Buildings insurance
Calculating your Charge
The formula we use is:
income less allowances / disregards = chargeable income
The government has set a minimum income. If your income is below this you will not have to pay for these services.
The minimum income figure is based on basic Income Support including age and disability premium for those under 60. For those over 60 it is based on Pension Credit plus an extra allowance of 25%. For example:
Single person over 60 - £148.81
Single person over 25 but under 60 - £105.50
The following are not taken into account when we work out how much you will have to pay:
- Basic Income Support including age and disability premium plus 25%
- Pension Credit plus 25%
- War Disability Pension – the first £10 per week is disregarded
- War Widows Pension – the first £10 per week is disregarded
- War Widows Supplementary Pension
- Mobility Allowance / Mobility Component of DLA
- Wages / salaries
- Mortgage payments / rent
- Council tax
- Costs of disability
Savings
If you have savings under £13,000 these will not be taken into account when we work out how much you can afford to pay. If you have savings over this amount we will add £1 to your income for every £250 over £13,000.
The minimum income set by the Government is expected to cover your basic weekly costs such as food, clothing, heating and other essentials.
In addition, when we work out how much you will have to pay we cannot take any of the following into consideration:
- Water rates
- Insurances
- Loans including hire purchase and catalogues
- Pets
- Fuel bills (but see special circumstances)
- Television licence etc.
Is there a limit to the amount I have to pay?
Yes there is. You will be required to pay the hourly rate for your service of £10.70 or the chargeable income identified in your financial assessment whichever is less, up to the maximum charge of £295 per week (for 2007/2008). To be assessed as having to pay this amount you will need to have an income of more than £440 per week or a very high level of savings and receive at least 27 hours service each week.Special Circumstances
The council will make special allowances/disregards if you have increased expenditure that is caused by your disability.
The Visiting Officer will ask a number of questions to see if you qualify for any extra allowances. We do not want to intrude into your personal circumstance more than we have to but we can only make allowances when we are sure that you qualify.
We will need to see evidence that you do have increased expenditure. An example of this is fuel costs where we will need to see your last 4 electricity or gas bills. If evidence is not available we may not be able to make an allowance until the evidence has been collected.
The types of expenditure that could qualify for extra allowances are:
- Community alarm systems.
- Privately paid for care, cleaning, domestic help or gardening.
- Laundry costs or bedding through incontinence.
- Heating costs.
- Specialist disability equipment.
- Exceptional transport costs.
Notifying you of the charge and your right of appeal
In most cases we will be able to tell you what your charge will be straight away.If you feel that the charge is more than you can afford to pay you can ask to have the charge reviewed. This will be carried out by one of our managers 3 weeks of your request and you will be given the decision in writing.
If you are still not satisfied you can use the official Complaints Procedure.
Welfare Benefits
Many people do not claim all of the benefits that they are entitled to. The council is committed to helping people to get their full rights and will offer you a welfare benefits check and help you with any claims that need to be made.It is likely that your charges will increase if you get certain extra benefits but most people keep more than half of the extra.
For more information contact Welfare Rights.
Treatment of Couples
If only one member of a household receives these services only that person’s financial details should be collected. However some state benefits are paid as a couple and we will ask whether we can to carry out the financial assessment on this basis. We will not be able to help with means tested benefits unless we have all of the financial information.The government has also said that if a council believes that a service user shares money that is held by their partner then it may be reasonable to seek information on this. An example of this could be savings that are held in a partner’s name but which can be seen as jointly owned. If a partner’s details are collected we will make sure that allowances are made on the basis of a couple.
Re-assessment
To take account of increases in benefits, private pensions and the cost of living we will review your charge every year. This is known as a financial re-assessment and you will be contacted when this is due.If you have savings that have been included in the financial assessment you may feel that they are reducing because of the charges. We will review charges where savings are included every 6 months to see if the charges should be reduced.
People Who Refuse to Pay
The government has said that once someone has been assessed as needing a service, that service should not be withdrawn even if he or she refused to pay the charges. You are advised to use the review system before you take any decisions to refuse the service because of the charges.The government also advises that if anyone refuses to pay charges the debt can be pursued, if necessary through the Magistrates Court. Please talk to the Finance Team dealing with your case before this occurs.
Methods of Payment
The preferred method of payment is by Direct Debit.Alternatively, you will receive an account every 4 weeks, which can be paid in any of the following ways:
- At the Post Office / Payzone using a swipe card that we will provide.
- By returning the payment slip with a cheque to the address supplied.
- By Debit or Credit card (details will be provided on the account).
Feedback
The council is always interested in hearing the views of Service Users on our charging policy, the service provided by the Visiting Officer and the methods of collecting charges. Please complete the online form and contact Social Care Direct.Further Details
If you would like a copy of our formal charging policy approved, please contact us at:Durham County Council
The Financial Assessment Team
Adult and Community Services
Green Lane
Spennymoor
DL16 6UG
Tel: 01388 424204
Figures correct at April 2007.
