Financial Assessments and Social Care: What You Need to know.

This article covers financial assessments for recipients of social  care living at home with parent/carers i.e. young adults.

According to Care Act 2014, where a local authority arranges care and support to meet a person’s needs, it may charge the adult, except where the local authority is required to arrange care and support free of charge. According to the statutory guidance: “A local authority must regularly reassess a person’s ability to meet the cost of any charges to take account of any changes to their resources. This is likely to be on an annual basis but may vary according to individual circumstances” (Section 8.17 of the Care Act).

According to the principles, charging for care and support needs should:

• promote wellbeing, social inclusion, whilst supporting personalisation, independence, choice and control

• 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

• support carers to look after their own health and wellbeing and to care effectively and safely

• be person-focused, reflecting a variety of options available to meet 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
  

The financial assessment should disregard:

•   Minimum Income Guarantee (MIG)

• Disability Related Expenditure (DRE) - these are regular costs accrued  due to having a disability, evidenced by receipts or invoices.

• Housing costs - rent, mortgage, council tax, building insurance, energy and water costs.
  

How are financial assessments done?

When deciding how much income the person has, only some income should be considered. Certain types of income should be disregarded,  including earnings ( so as not to prevent disabled people from working),  the mobility component of Disability Living Allowance (DLA),  the mobility component of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) or money paid for night-time care. The local authority will also look at any assets, such as savings, or ownership of property. The income of family members ( parents and carers) is not included in the assessment.

How are contributions calculated?

The care component of DLA, the daily living component of PIP or Attendance Allowance can be taken into account as income, however if they do, they must deduct any ‘disability related expenditure’ (DRE)  the person incurs. They must ensure that the person has enough money to live on, as the LA must leave them with a protected amount known as the Minimum Income Guarantee (MIG). 

Examples of DRE could include:

• laundry and specialist washing powders

• special dietary requirements

• special clothing or footwear

• extra bedding (e.g. because of incontinence)

• extra heating or water costs

• garden maintenance, private cleaning or domestic help, if needed because of disability and not provided by social services

• privately arranged care services, including respite care

• the purchase, maintenance and repair of disability related equipment

However, the above is not an exhaustive list but appear to be the default position for assessors. Based on decisions made by the Ombudsman in recent years, people have successfully advocated for the following to be considered:  caring for Afro hair, going out with friends as examples of DRE vital for  wellbeing. This will have to be argued on a case-by-case basis. Other examples which can be considered are:  

Equipment  

• Certain medication and health-related purchases (including creams, pressure relief pads) 

• Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

• Chargeable aids and adaptations (not provided under a disabled facilities grant) 

• Equipment for monitoring and communication (including smartphone/tablets) 

• Accessible vehicle costs.

Much needed services could also be considered:

• Internet connectivity,  if a wellbeing case can be made e.g. monitoring or for disability aids to connect to the internet

• Streaming services

• Subscriptions such as personal alarm and apps

• Laundry collection and delivery/service washes

• Healthcare (massage/physio/osteopath/acupuncture/chiropractor treatments, etc.) 

• Gardening, cleaning, online shopping delivery fees – if you cannot go to the shops because of a disability

Substitutions for items which make life easier to manage:-

• Ready meals vs ingredients to cook with

• Washed and chopped vegetables

• Specially adapted clothing/shoes

What is the Minimum Income Guarantee (MIG)

Under the Care Act 2014, people in receipt of local authority care and support other than in a care home need to retain a level of income to cover living costs. Under the Act, charges must not reduce the persons’ income below a certain amount, but local authorities can allow people to keep more of their income. For support which is home based (i.e., not residential care) this protected amount is called the Minimum Income Guarantee (MIG) plus a buffer of 25%, as follows:

For single people

• Between 25 and pension credit age =£110.60

• Between the ages of 18 to 24 =£87.65

• Those in receipt of or eligible for disability premium=£48.80

• Those in receipt of or eligible for enhanced disability premium= £23.85

What can Minimum Income Guarantee (MIG)  be spent on? 

The MIG covers  daily living costs such as  phone and internet. However, there are no strict rules on what you can or cannot spend it on, so it is essentially their money to spend, on what they see fit.

Assessing Living Costs

Most young adults with disabilities still live at home with parents and as such their benefits tend to form part of the household income. When a local authority has calculated what a person’s income is, they must then assess their contributions towards living costs , such as rent and bills. Whilst some local authorities will take this into account, as they would if the young person was living on their own, some would  refuse to.

However, this can be challenged. As a parent of an adult according to the law, you are not legally required to support your adult ‘child’. The onus is on the parent-carer to mention this, as it may never come up during the assessment. It can easily be assumed that you are happy to meet the living costs of your young adult.

Challenging unfair charging decisions

If you cannot afford the charges or they have not factored in the above, the first thing you should do is ask the local authority for a breakdown of their calculations and then check that calculation against their rules. Their rules should be published on their website. They should also provide you with a copy of their charging policy.

Local Authorities (LA) have discretion

Even  though Section 14 of the Care Act 2014 states that local authorities have discretion whether or not to charge someone receiving care and support ( with certain exceptions) or request a contribution towards the cost of their care, all LAs now request a contribution probably due historical underfunding in Social Care. However, if it charges, the LA must take account of the relevant Regulations and the Care and Support Statutory Guidance which can be found online.

In summary,

If your young adult who is in receipt of care and support, is sent information  requesting a contribution to their care:- request a copy of local authority’s charging policy, if it is not on their website. Make sure you are provided with a breakdown of their calculations. Compare this with a list of all disability related expenditure and living costs, taking into consideration the minimum income guarantee allowed. Where  this is at odds with the calculations provided, then challenge the decision by sending in proof and a description of your calculations. In a majority of cases, the amount requested can be significantly reduced or disregarded until the next review.

If you have not yet been sent a request for financial contributions, then get into the habit of saving all receipts and evidence relating to disability related expenditure, all living expenses including contributions towards the rent, mortgage and bills.

Shirley Barber

Appletree Advocates CIC

May 2024