Dementia.... re-claiming care home fees.

[PriorityOne]

Re: Dementia.... re-claiming care home fees.

Any progress with this P1?
My sister wants to try reclaiming our late Mum's fees, but it sounds a bit of a carry on, and painful, to be honest.

Shep x

Not much progress at the moment Shep. I got the Grant of Probate form from my late mum's solicitor and sent it to the company handling this for me. I've not heard anything since but am well aware that it's a long drawn-out process and can take anything from 12 months to 2 years to complete.

Your sister (and you) have nothing to lose by trying to re-claim these fees Shep.... but there is a deadline; end of September 2012. Claims have to be lodged with the relevant Primary Care Trust by this time, so you both need to act now really.

I have gone with a company because there wasn't enough time for me to do the research needed and I am too knackered to take on a fight like this on my own at this point in time, to be honest. My job is stressful enough as it is.... lol! If it was a debt issue (someone trying to get something from me), I'd be in my element .... but it's a re-claim issue (me trying to get something from someone who's already had it).... so the dynamics of the fight are different.

[Undercover Elsa]

Re: Dementia.... re-claiming care home fees.

Any progress with this P1?
My sister wants to try reclaiming our late Mum's fees, but it sounds a bit of a carry on, and painful, to be honest.

Shep x

[Pixie]

Re: Dementia.... re-claiming care home fees.

I'm not surprised P!. Never mind, it'll soon be the holidays

[PriorityOne]

Re: Dementia.... re-claiming care home fees.

**Update**

I received a phone call from my late Mum's care home last week and they had photocopied all care records or me, which were now ready to collect. How quick was that??!! I drove down there and had a nice chat with the Manager there; the same one as when Mum was alive. I found it quite emotional actually.... walking back in there ....

Anyway, the file was quite huge but I had a quick flick through, noted a few interesting things and then photocopied the entire file before forwarding it on to the solicitor dealing with it all for me.

I have also now been contacted by my late Mum's solicitor and she now has that file from archive as well, so I am meeting with her on Monday afternoon to collect the paperwork that I need.

With everything else going in/around my life at the moment, I am knackered!!

[PriorityOne]

Re: Dementia.... re-claiming care home fees.

Thanks for the update hon.

Taking some time then?

Good luck and hope this moves on soon, as usual please keep us posted, cheers hon xx

Thanks Di... I will

[di30]

Re: Dementia.... re-claiming care home fees.

**Update**

Still waiting for the Grant of Probate paperwork ..... but have sent the claim pack off now anyway because things need to get rolling. Need to chase the G of P up yet again though, it seems!

Found out my late mum's GP has since retired and the practice closed, so had to find out where everything went to .... then found out that deceased patient records are not kept there anyway..... so rang somewhere else, who were able to confirm that they had Mum's records in archivebut would need a formal letter.... blah, blah.... to release them. They also confirmed which Primary Care Trust had responsibility for her care.

Claim company have now written to the care home requesting records and giving them 21 days to furnish that information. In their experience, care homes are normally slow to do this and sometimes reluctant , so they have suggested that I should approach them as well in order to hurry the process along.

I have drafted up a letter (in the first instance) which I can either drop off by hand to the care home or alternatively, post off over the weekend.

Thanks for the update hon.

Taking some time then?

Good luck and hope this moves on soon, as usual please keep us posted, cheers hon xx

[PriorityOne]

Re: Dementia.... re-claiming care home fees.

**Update**

Still waiting for the Grant of Probate paperwork ..... but have sent the claim pack off now anyway because things need to get rolling. Need to chase the G of P up yet again though, it seems!

Found out my late mum's GP has since retired and the practice closed, so had to find out where everything went to .... then found out that deceased patient records are not kept there anyway..... so rang somewhere else, who were able to confirm that they had Mum's records in archivebut would need a formal letter.... blah, blah.... to release them. They also confirmed which Primary Care Trust had responsibility for her care.

Claim company have now written to the care home requesting records and giving them 21 days to furnish that information. In their experience, care homes are normally slow to do this and sometimes reluctant , so they have suggested that I should approach them as well in order to hurry the process along.

I have drafted up a letter (in the first instance) which I can either drop off by hand to the care home or alternatively, post off over the weekend.

[SXGuy]

Re: Dementia.... re-claiming care home fees.

cheers for the advice, perhaps ill look in to it abit more then!

[PriorityOne]

Re: Dementia.... re-claiming care home fees.

well, i was looking in to this for my nan. I spoke to her social worker yesterday, and funny enough she said, she was part of the team that got the ball rolling in regards to claiming back fees.

She says that my nan is classed as mild, and as she can clothe, wash, feed and walk all unaided, she wouldnt be able to have full funding.

She said if she gets worse in the future then by all means apply for full funding but as it stands now, it wouldnt be granted.

Personally, I think you should get a second opinion from someone who does this for a living.... because a social worker won't necessarily know the ins and outs of the legalities re. claiming.

[SXGuy]

Re: Dementia.... re-claiming care home fees.

well, i was looking in to this for my nan. I spoke to her social worker yesterday, and funny enough she said, she was part of the team that got the ball rolling in regards to claiming back fees.

She says that my nan is classed as mild, and as she can clothe, wash, feed and walk all unaided, she wouldnt be able to have full funding.

She said if she gets worse in the future then by all means apply for full funding but as it stands now, it wouldnt be granted.

[di30]

Re: Dementia.... re-claiming care home fees.

The best of luck honey xx

[PriorityOne]

Re: Dementia.... re-claiming care home fees.

I have just submitted a query to another firm of solicitors through one of the links that Di kindly provided .... and will update again in due course.

[PriorityOne]

Re: Dementia.... re-claiming care home fees.

**Update**

I have now received the claim pack from the no-win no-fee solicitor but decided to put it on ice until I could get hold of the Grant of Probate form (and other stuff) from Mum's solicitor. This is currently in progress and they need to get it from the archives apparently.... they will then ring me to go down and pick it up.

The no-win, no-fee solicitor will take a huge chunk of anything I get back which from time to time doesn't sit well with me but I really don't have the strength/time to juggle all this with work and battle something I know little about. I have also found out that refund claims need to be lodged before September (2012) and I can't afford to cock it up either. The bottom line with me is that it was never on my agenda in the first place, so anything that does come back will be a bonus.

I contacted Mum's solicitor about her paperwork at the end of May and it does seem to be dragging on a bit but they are on it 'coz I've checked. If I don't hear back by the end of the week though, then the refund paperwork will go off without the Grant of Probate form and I'll jut let them know that it will follow in due course.

[di30]

Re: Dementia.... re-claiming care home fees.

Thank you so much for posting Di.... yes, it was torture....

Mum deteriorated over a number of years and finally, had to be placed into a home because my step-dad was too ill himself to care for her (emphysema) and Mum couldn't live alone anyway.

I've been in touch with a no-win no-fee firm already and the paperwork should be coming through shortly. The solicitor I spoke to asked about a "grant of probate" on the 'phone or something like that, so I need to contact Mum's solicitor to find out about that at some point. I still have all the paperwork, so it shouldn't be a problem.

This is not something that was on my agenda, to be honest; I was just grateful that Mum was somewhere that could provide the care she needed. When she first went into the home, she was able to walk but this gradually went... along with everything else. For the last 2 years (at aleast), she was unable to do anything for herself at all and was on a turning chart every 4 hours.

There were times when it nearly killed me to see her this way.... and in a lot of ways it was a release when she died. It was no life.... just an existence. I'm sure you must know exactly where I'm coming from....

Mum was assessed in approx. 2003.... so I'm not sure what rules were in force at that time... If it turns out that nothing can be claimed, at least I'll know I've tried though.

Big hugs to you....

Hi honey
Aww I feel for you and your step dad too.

Yes I can relate to how you felt, torture all round, as well as watching your family going through this awful thing, we suffer almost just as much, it is very agonising.

It was the same for my mother, she is also disabled and could not cope, like yourself as a family pulled together to help all we could but with our own little families it was difficult to keep up with everthing.

Dad also had a number of other med conditions, including emphysema, prostate cancer, the list went on, but it was the pheumonia that finished him at 69 years old, he did also suffer encepahilitis early in his 60's, so went through a lot of trauma before the diagnosis I think mid 2000's.
It's like as you know losing them twice over isn't it? damn cruel disease!!

Blimey, your poor mum must have been young too honey, so so sorry.

I do hope something comes of this for you, I really do, the fees for care in nursing homes are overly costly indeed.

Not sure if there was something in one of the above posts I posted about before 2004, will have to re-read on it again.

Lots of love and hugs to you too sweetheart. Xx

[PriorityOne]

Re: Dementia.... re-claiming care home fees.

Thank you so much for posting Di.... yes, it was torture....

Mum deteriorated over a number of years and finally, had to be placed into a home because my step-dad was too ill himself to care for her (emphysema) and Mum couldn't live alone anyway.

I've been in touch with a no-win no-fee firm already and the paperwork should be coming through shortly. The solicitor I spoke to asked about a "grant of probate" on the 'phone or something like that, so I need to contact Mum's solicitor to find out about that at some point. I still have all the paperwork, so it shouldn't be a problem.

This is not something that was on my agenda, to be honest; I was just grateful that Mum was somewhere that could provide the care she needed. When she first went into the home, she was able to walk but this gradually went... along with everything else. For the last 2 years (at aleast), she was unable to do anything for herself at all and was on a turning chart every 4 hours.

There were times when it nearly killed me to see her this way.... and in a lot of ways it was a release when she died. It was no life.... just an existence. I'm sure you must know exactly where I'm coming from....

Mum was assessed in approx. 2003.... so I'm not sure what rules were in force at that time... If it turns out that nothing can be claimed, at least I'll know I've tried though.

Big hugs to you....