Charges for care and support
Deprivation of assets and/or income
Financial assistance is strictly means-tested so, if we believe you have given away your money or property for the avoidance of paying your care and support costs, we will decide that you have deprived yourself of your own assets to take advantage of state financial assistance and this may mean that you will not qualify for financial assistance.
We will use our powers to investigate thoroughly all applications for financial assistance in accordance with the Care & Support Statutory Guidance.
When you undertake a financial assessment means test, we will require evidence of your financial circumstances.
If, as a result of reviewing your financial information and evidence, we believe that you and/or your financial representative has deliberately deprived you of any asset and/or income with the intention of avoiding paying for care and support, we will assume that this capital or other asset is still available and will charge you accordingly.
The law states that you must not give away money or property or sell it at a below market value in order to secure more financial assistance from the state. If you have done this, you will be treated as if you still own it. The money or property will be treated as ‘notional capital’ and it will affect the amount of assistance you can get. The people you have given the asset to might also become liable to pay your care and support costs.
What happens if I have gifted or transferred capital to somebody else?
There is an expectation that your assets should be kept to pay for your care services. If you are considering gifting money as birthday or Christmas presents to family or close friends whilst you are receiving care services, you should seek advice from us first.
The circumstances in each case are looked at individually and there is no time limit beyond which the disposal of the asset can be considered as an act of deprivation to avoid charges. It is therefore important that you advise us of any subsequent change in your financial circumstances which may occur after the initial financial assessment was completed.
What about placing assets in Trusts?
Trusts are legal devices designed to hold assets on behalf of named beneficiaries. With a trust owning the assets, you might have been advised that those assets will no longer be counted in your application for financial assistance. However, the law states that you must not place your assets in trust in order to secure more financial assistance.
If you do this, you may not qualify for financial assistance, and you will have to pay all your care and support costs yourself.
If you have been advised to place your assets in trust to protect your investments from being used to pay your care and support costs, you have been given the wrong advice. The law states that you must not transfer the ownership of assets like a property or savings into a trust to avoid or reduce your care and support costs.
Further information
As part of the financial assessment, we will ask for your financial details, including details of any property / assets you currently own or have previously owned. We review each case separately looking at specific circumstances, level of assets involved and the history and timing of any transfers, disposals and/or gifting of assets to individuals or into Trusts.
We will review each case according to the following criteria as set out in the Care Act 2014:
- we will consider the timing of the transfer/disposal/gifting of an asset
- we will consider if the user of services must have known that they needed care and support.
- we will consider if the person must have had a ‘reasonable expectation’ that they may need to pay towards care and support at the time of deprivation
If one or more of these criteria are met, and after reviewing other relevant circumstances of case it is determined that deliberate deprivation has occurred, the case is sent to a panel of senior officers and relevant Directors. The cases are then independently reviewed. If a case has been deemed to be deliberate deprivation by panel, you will be informed of this in writing in an outcome letter.
You have the right to appeal this decision and ask for a reconsideration. To support your case you must provide new and/or additional information about your health or the motivation / intention for disposal, transfer or gifting of the assets, or for placing your property into a trust, this will include disclosing the full trust document.
This is required in order for your appeal to be heard as a reconsideration request by the panel.
Please submit your request for a reconsideration and your further information and/or evidence within two months from the date of the outcome letter. If, after two months, we have not received any further information and/or evidence, then it will deem the case is closed.
If you do submit your request for a reconsideration and further information and/or evidence within two months, your request will be reconsidered at the next panel meeting, and you will be informed of the outcome.
Should the outcome remain the same, you are advised that any reconsideration decision is final and no further right of appeal is available. We therefore urge you to seek independent advice prior to the submission of a reconsideration request.
Should you remain dissatisfied with the actions, you may wish to register a formal complaint by accessing our complaints procedure and/or contact the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO). The Ombudsman can investigate written complaints about whether we have followed a proper decision-making process (but not the decision itself). The Ombudsman investigates complaints in a fair and independent way - it does not take sides. It is a free service.
The LGSCO is the final stage for complaints about Councils and some other organisations providing local public services. It also investigates complaints about all adult social care providers (including care homes and home care agencies) for people who self-fund their care.
