Government Help For The Elderly Is Not Fit For Purpose!

Lasting Power of Attorney Solicitors Newcastle and Sunderland

Recently, a relative of mine in Northern Ireland took ill. They are elderly and it is clear that they will need a care package when they return home. I immediately swung into lawyer mode and started to investigate who was going to help and who would pay for my relative’s care: social services or the NHS. But good news, over there there is an organised team of people to help. The hospital social workers work with the doctors and the home help service and the occupational health therapists. Everything is set up for a person coming out of hospital, and it is all properly funded. Imagine that. If you are my age or older, you will recall when funding for elderly care was not an issue, it was a right.

Compare that case with the type of issues that occur in England every day. An elderly person lives alone; they own their own home; they have some savings. They take ill, they are assessed in hospital, you need to go into a care home they are told. You are a Self Funder. So, they are placed into a care home; sometimes, with the help of a friend, sometimes social services arrange this for them.

They sign a contract to pay care home fees, and everyone thinks they have done a good job. You are a Self Funder, the words that accompany a future lack of assistance. You are a Self Funder, it’s not our job to help you further. Sometimes it's not too long before a care home realises that they aren’t being paid properly. Some care homes will actually appoint a core worker who will apply for all relevant state benefits, some don’t see it as any of their business.

Most of the elderly clients that I deal with in this situation either have no relatives left or are estranged from them.

So What Happens To Their Home?

Have you ever noticed the dilapidated house sitting there for years? Once these elderly clients go into care there is often no one to help them. The house just sits there rotting away. Is it even insured, what would happen if there was a flood or a fire?

Here are some examples of the help that clients have not received and my solutions once I was appointed as their attorney under a Lasting Power of Attorney;

• A client who had not been assessed for Attendance Allowance. This should have been sorted out as soon as she came into contact with social services. I applied for the same on her behalf and obtained over £22,000 in back-dated benefits. This meant that she could pay the arrears on her care home fees. Imagine how stressed that lady was to receive regular letters from her care home threatening legal action.
• A client who, when I managed to gain access to his bank statements, was overpaying many bills. In particular, he was paying house insurance to three different companies at one stage. I managed to produce medical records showing that he was not capable of understanding his mistake, and after quite a battle I recovered a considerable amount of money on his behalf.
• I also stopped the £600.00 per month that he didn’t realise he was paying to various charities. They would ring him up and ask for his bank details, he would merrily provide the same.
• A client who had been paying council tax on a property for years when he should have been assessed as having a lack of mental capacity and thus in England should not have been paying council tax.
• A client who, it transpired, had two houses. We found out about the second house (his old family home) when we spotted a demand from a local authority that council tax be paid forthwith or he would be sued.


What’s particularly galling about that case is that if you are going to sue someone you should make sure that they have received your correspondence first. He could have been dead, as it was he was in a care home and had stopped receiving his post three years previously. Where on earth did this local authority think the man had gone? He is over 90 years of age.

• The client who had not received over £30,000 of pension payments to which he was entitled. We then used this money to clear the arrears on his care home fees which prevented any further court action against him.

The above list is lamentable. It s a complete failure of society to care for our elderly. No joined up thinking, often a lack of kindness, no one prepared to investigate what is going on. It’s not my job guv. So in the absence of help from society there are solicitors out there like me. It shouldn’t be the case that you need the likes of me to help you. But it’s clear that various government organisations are not helping in England. If you need someone to manage your affairs because you physically can’t cope anymore then contact me.

It might be worth you addressing your mind to this situation now, if you live alone and don’t have relatives to help you. A Lasting Power of Attorney could be drawn up and could be used by a solicitor as and when you need help. It is not a complete takeover of your affairs unless you simply can’t manage at all.

I’m sorry to start the new year off with this article but unless a miracle happens this situation will continue. You need to know how to obtain help and how to access the funding to which you are entitled. You need to live your life free of worry and stress.

If you require any help, or a chat about how we can help you please don’t hesitate to contact our team or myself.

Lasting Power of Attorney Solicitors Newcastle:  0191 284 6989

Lasting Power of Attorney Solicitors Sunderland: 0191 567 6667

Email us: enquiries@emmersons-solicitors.co.uk

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