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

[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

[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!!

[Pixie]

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

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

[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

[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.

As far as I remember we didn't need a grant of probate...there was a will with just me and my sister as beneficiaries and excecutors so it was quite straight forward.
Her house had been sold a few years before, part of the money being used to build a granny flat at my sisters. She was only in it 18 months before she started having hallucinations and wandering in the street. One day she invited a gypsy woman in for tea! Bless her.

[PriorityOne]

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

As far as I remember we didn't need a grant of probate...there was a will with just me and my sister as beneficiaries and excecutors so it was quite straight forward.
Her house had been sold a few years before, part of the money being used to build a granny flat at my sisters. She was only in it 18 months before she started having hallucinations and wandering in the street. One day she invited a gypsy woman in for tea! Bless her.

The solicitor was Executor of the Will in my case.... long story..... so your case might be easier from that viewpoint.

I can relate to the wanderings.... my Mum used to wander and it was a huge worry as there are con artists out there who prey on the vulnerable. My mum would have invited all and sundry in for tea.... I hate to imagine what could have happened!!

[PriorityOne]

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

**Update**

The company dealing with the claim have said that because Mum's care home records are supportive.... and because they are so extensive (a good thing), it's going to take some time to formulate the claim before lodging it with the PCT.

Plenty of time to do that before the September deadline though.... and it's looking good at the moment.

[Undercover Elsa]

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

Excellent! Hope it all goes smoothly for you hun. Is interest payable on the refund?

I need to do some more digging about this today as time is running out, as is my memory of events! Part of the paperwork is here and part with my sister 70 miles away so going to be a bit of a faff, but hopefully worth it in the end. She was also in 2 different nursing homes and changed counties when she moved so different authorities. Her GP was changed to the ones attached to the nursing homes too, so that might prove tricky.

[PriorityOne]

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

Excellent! Hope it all goes smoothly for you hun. Is interest payable on the refund?

I need to do some more digging about this today as time is running out, as is my memory of events! Part of the paperwork is here and part with my sister 70 miles away so going to be a bit of a faff, but hopefully worth it in the end. She was also in 2 different nursing homes and changed counties when she moved so different authorities. Her GP was changed to the ones attached to the nursing homes too, so that might prove tricky.

Bloody hell Shep... interest never even crossed my mind!! I'll remember to bring that up with the company/solicitor handling it as things progress. Thank you!

You do need to act fast yourself though Shep.... I know the cut-off is the end of September but as the chap handling things for me explained yesterday, it takes time to trawl through the paperwork and find the evidence to support the claim and make it strong. Those care home records are the key and as they are spread all over the place in your case, it will take a while to bring together all the information you need and plough through it all.

First thing would be to contact both homes and ask for copies of all care records. This could take a while or it might not. The chap dealing with this for me said that homes are often reluctant/slow to do this but in my case, they were very quick and very helpful. I came out of there with a huge bundle but Mum had been in there for 5 years, so I suppose that explains things. It must have taken them ages to copy it all for me!

[Undercover Elsa]

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

Did the care home charge you for the records, P1? (I suppose it's classed as a SAR)

I've just been searching my backup drive for info..very painful. The reason she went downhill so quickly was the stress of dealing with my stepfathers death 2 years before. They were devoted and he never saw his extended family for years. My sister and I were his carers. As soon as he became seriously ill and went in a care home himself while Mum was still at home, random grandsons suddenly appeared and velcroed themselves to his bedside. They thought they smelled money. They managed to turn this confused, dying old chap away from his wife of 25 years for a time, were rude and nasty to her when she visited, she could never see him alone, and tried to take over his financial affairs. They accused her of spending his money, even tried to take away a solid gold id bracelet my mum had bought him. They didn't realise the house was in my mum's name, willed to us, and he'd signed an affadavit years ago stating he'd no financial interest in the house as it was bought with our family money. Eventually the nursing home staff offered to ban them after we physically had to guard the door so Mum and him could have privacy to cuddle and hold hands and sob and she put him straight on what his so called family had been up to. Horrendous.

Ironic thing is...I now have all his records, if they ever wanted to claim his care home fees they'd have to come through me.
There is justice.

[Undercover Elsa]

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

Just been checking..the solicitors on the TV with Dom Littlewood were Hugh James. I might enquire with them first, see if the think we've a claim.

[PriorityOne]

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

Did the care home charge you for the records, P1? (I suppose it's classed as a SAR)

I've just been searching my backup drive for info..very painful. The reason she went downhill so quickly was the stress of dealing with my stepfathers death 2 years before. They were devoted and he never saw his extended family for years. My sister and I were his carers. As soon as he became seriously ill and went in a care home himself while Mum was still at home, random grandsons suddenly appeared and velcroed themselves to his bedside. They thought they smelled money. They managed to turn this confused, dying old chap away from his wife of 25 years for a time, were rude and nasty to her when she visited, she could never see him alone, and tried to take over his financial affairs. They accused her of spending his money, even tried to take away a solid gold id bracelet my mum had bought him. They didn't realise the house was in my mum's name, willed to us, and he'd signed an affadavit years ago stating he'd no financial interest in the house as it was bought with our family money. Eventually the nursing home staff offered to ban them after we physically had to guard the door so Mum and him could have privacy to cuddle and hold hands and sob and she put him straight on what his so called family had been up to. Horrendous.

Ironic thing is...I now have all his records, if they ever wanted to claim his care home fees they'd have to come through me.
There is justice.

There was no charge for the records Shep, no.... although the request was made by the company/solicitor, which may have made a difference. I think I offered to pay for photocopying though.... I know it crossed my mind at the time anyway.... but they didn't asked for anything.

It is very painful when thinking about the past... I do feel for you there and can relate to it as well. My mum had far too much bereavement in her life and I don't think she ever fully recovered from losing my dad. Although he'd been ill for a number of years, his death was sudden and her behaviour deteriorated from that point on, to be honest.

Relatives often come out of the woodwork when they smell money.... your experience sounds horrendous! These people have to live with themselves though and usually, karma works her magic very nicely in the end.

[Undercover Elsa]

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

Too true!

As I don't want to hijack your thread P1, am I Ok to keep posting on here to share experiences/info or should I start my own. I don't mind which.

For your reference, I found these..a really good guide by the Alzheimers Society, and a copy of the NHS Continuing care check list...

[PriorityOne]

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

Too true!

As I don't want to hijack your thread P1, am I Ok to keep posting on here to share experiences/info or should I start my own. I don't mind which.

For your reference, I found these..a really good guide by the Alzheimers Society, and a copy of the NHS Continuing care check list...

Of course it is hun.... I think it helps to share experiences like this.

Thank you for those links as well.... I'll take a look.