Financial Advice
Independent Financial Advice
Always get independent financial advice
If you have savings, properties or investments you may want to speak to an independent financial adviser. When appointing a financial adviser you should consider:-
- Are they suitably qualified and experienced to provide advice on the topic you need? Sometimes it might make sense to speak to a specialist in a certain field, for example, a Later Life Adviser who would specialise in advice for older people.
- Is the payment for through a standard fees structure, is it commission-based or is it a mixture of both?
You should find out up front how they expect to be paid. You should also check:-
- the cost
- what is included in that cost;
- how will it be paid
If the financial adviser expects to be paid on commission, you should find out how this is calculated. Before you enter into an agreement, you should fully understand and be comfortable with, the payment process. You should also check if the cost paid includes a periodic review of your finances, or if you would have to pay a separate fee for this service.
As well as talking to a financial adviser, you could also speak to your bank, building society or insurance company. However, these organisations are not independent and may try to sell you their products or services. If they are only telling you about what they have on offer, they should explain this to you.
Where else can I get financial information from?
- Money Advice Service -the Money Advice Service, run by the Consumer Financial Education Body (CFEB), provides unbiased and independent advice and information regarding your finances. The website has plenty of interactive toolkits to help you make educated decisions about their finances.
- Citizens Advice Bureau provide free, confidential advice and is open to everyone in the community.
- Tameside Welfare Rights provide advice to Tameside residents on a range of benefit and tax credit entitlements.
- Age UK Tameside provides free assistance with welfare benefits and financial issues.
- Society of Later Life Advisers (SOLLA) is a not-for-profit organisation which provides information on financial advisers who specialise in the later life market.
Paying for Services
The Care Act 2014 enables the Council to charge a person when it is meeting a person's care and support needs.
The new framework is intended to make charging fairer and more clearly understood by everyone. The overarching principle is that people should only be required to pay what they can afford. People will be entitled to financial support based on a means-test and some will be entitled to free care. The framework is therefore based on the following principles the Council will take into account when making decisions on charging.
The principles are that the approach to charging for care and support needs should:
- Ensure that people are not charged more than it is reasonably practicable for them to pay;
- Be comprehensive, to reduce variation in the way people are assessed and charged;
- Be clear and transparent, so people know what they will be charged;
- Promote wellbeing, social inclusion and support the vision of personalisation, independence, choice and control.
- Support carers to look after their own health and wellbeing and to care effectively and safely;
- Be person-focused, reflecting the variety of care and caring journeys and the variety of options available to meet their needs.
- Apply the charging rules equally so those with similar needs or services are treated the same and minimise anomalies between different care settings;
- Encourage and enable those who wish to stay in or take up employment, education or training or plan for the future costs of meeting their needs to do so;
- Be sustainable for local authorities in the long-term.
Where the Council arranges care and support to meet a person's needs, it will charge the person, except where the Council is required to arrange care and support free of charge.
Deferred Payment Agreements
From April 2015, deferred payment agreement will be available from all councils across England.
A deferred payment agreement is an arrangement with the council that will enable people to use the value of their homes to help pay care home costs. If you are eligible, the council will help to pay your care home bills on your behalf. You can delay repaying the council until you choose to sell your home, or until after your death.
Deferred payment agreements will suit some people's circumstances better than others'. Councils may charge interest on the amount owed to them and there may be a fee for setting this arrangement up. This is to cover the costs the council incurs in setting up your deferred payment agreement and not to make a profit.
A deferred payment agreement means that people should not have to sell their home in their lifetime to pay care home bills.
How to find out if you're eligible for a deferred payment agreement
You should be eligible for a deferred payment agreement if:
- You are receiving care in a care home (or you are going to move into one soon).
- You own your home home (unless your partner or certain others live there).
- You have savings and investments of less than £23,250 (not including the value of your home or your pension pot).
NHS Continuing Healthcare Funding (CHC)
NHS Continuing Healthcare is a package of care which is arranged and funded solely by the NHS to meet physical and/or mental health needs that have arisen because of disability, accident or illness. You can receive CHC funding in any setting, including your own home or a care home.
NHS CHC is free, unlike social care help from Adult Services, for which a financial charge may be made depending upon your income, savings and other assets
Anyone assessed as having a specific level of health care needs may receive CHC funding. It is not dependent upon on a particular disease, diagnosis or condition, or on who provides the care of where that care is provided.
If your overall care needs show that your primary need is a health need, you should be eligible for NHS CHC funding. This will be discussed with you during the assessment process.
If at anytime you feel that your health has deteriorated then you can request an assessment for CHC funding and your eligibility will be looked at.
NHS Nursing Care Contribution
NHS funded nursing care is funding paid directly to a nursing home for care provided by registered nurses employed by the home. Services provided regularly by a registered nurse are likely to involve:-
Provision of nursing care supervision or monitoring of care provided by a
non-registered nurse;
- Planning and reviewing a care plan;
- Monitoring and reviewing medication needs; and
- Identifying and addressing potential health problems.
Eligibility for NHS funded nursing care in a care home should not be considered until it has been agreed that you are not eligible for CHC funding and that a place in a nursing home is the best option for meeting your needs.