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Care Funding Advice | Legal
Services | Recruitment | Financial Services
Benefits for Care Homes
Introduction
As specialist
independent care fee advisers for those self funding,
we would like to briefly draw your attention to some
of the key benefits we offer to care homes:-
Care Funding
Advice
This is our core business. Giving
your residents/potential residents or their attorneys access to our
services could help increase or reinforce your star rating
with CQC:-
-
Care fee payment plan advice and arrangement is
a necessary service for most new residents and their families (who
are often unaware of the plans available to fund care), and therefore presents
a more holistic service offered by your home/organisation to residents,
their families and attorneys. (1)
-
Having secure funding arrangements in place for
residents can be seen as good financial management
by CQC through preventing future fee defaults and thus
securing the income of your care home, and your resident's future
with you. (2)
-
We can also build in annual
increases to care fee payment plans, with an optional Fee
Capitation Agreement if you wish, which limits increases
levied by your home (usually to about 5% pa), but contractually
commits the individual to paying them in return for providing
the means to do so (which we arrange). The Fee Capitation
Agreement works for some homes and not others, and for some in
certain instances and not others. However, with or without a
capitation agreement, giving potential residents access to advisers
who can arrange financial plans which build in increases to funding
could again be seen as a more holistic service to
them and good financial management by
CQC. (2)
This service is added with virtually
no effort on your part. The usual means
to refer potential new residents is via the short Financial
Advocacy Form (19 questions), which is completed
as part of potential residents' initial assessment
and sent on to us.
We recommend that adding
our services to your own, and the reasons why
you have done so (above), should be recorded
on your Annual Quality Assurance Assessment (AQAA)
and brought to the attention of your CQC inspector
on visits.
Legal
Services
Aside from care fee services, we
also provide access to:-
-
A
free legal helpline, to Shakespeare Putsman LLP,
solicitors, for legislative queries a care home may have, from
CSCI questions, to Local Authority funding issues, CRAG interpretations
and possible/impending complaints from residents. This offer
is made in conjunction with Symponia, the national care fee
adviser association.
-
Reduced
rate legal work, by Shakespeare Putsman LLP, solicitors,
for care homes who refer their private funding clients to us
for advice on, and if necessary arrangement of, care fee funding
plans. This offer is made in conjunction with Symponia, the national
care fee adviser association.
Recruitment Services
Information will son be available for recruitment of care home staff
in London, Herfordshire and East Anglia.
Financial Services
As an independent financial service provider, through our main firm
and colleague firms, we also give access to the full range of services:-
-
-
Access
to specialised medical negligence insurance, as
extensions to public liability cover often do not fully cover
negligence, and one uncovered claim can shut a home down.
We offer a free written assessment of existing insurance
via our colleague firm English Mutual. It is also a CQC
requirement that adequate insurance be effected, and this
again can benefit your star rating.
- A
Stakeholder or Group Personal Pension Scheme on preferential
terms for care homes who refer their private funding residents
to us to advise on and arrange care fees funding, if they do not
have an appropriate scheme already. It is a legal
requirement that employers with at least five employees have
a designated scheme, which involves some legal and financial paperwork.
No contributions have to be made. There is a potential fine of
up to £50,000 for relevant employers who do not comply.
- Commercial Loans, care homes often have
to raise money against property for improvements, extensions, new
properties etc.. For care homes which work with us we have negotiated
special terms on arrangement fees with one of the largest brokers
in the UK.
- Employee Benefits, we can provide access
to the full range of financial services for your employees, including
mortgages, savings, pensions, insurances and so on. We arrange group
schemes and/or simply provide access on a one-to-one basis. This
can help your employees, be seen to be helping your employees, and
help their production by advising on and dealing with matters which
could otherwise distract them.
Summary
Of course there is no guarantee of
an increase or reinforcement in your CQC star
ratings. However, there are
solid ethical and business reasons for utilising
our services which benefit you and your residents.
Should you wish to discuss linking with us, we
would be happy to hear from you.
References
1. 'Significant
time and effort is spent planning to make admission
to the home personal and well managed.’ ‘specialist
services required to meet the needs of people who
use the service.’ ‘Information is gathered
from a number of sources including other relevant
professionals.’ (KLORA, 12/07, Choice of
Home, Page 6).
2. The ‘manager
demonstrates effective financial planning and budgetary
control skill’ (KLORA, 12/07, Management
and Administration, Page 42).
18/02/07 Revision
Notes & Disclaimers
- Guides (which includes all
information, data and views expressed) on this site
are brief introductions, as such they cannot be relied
upon: full research needs to be conducted or professional
advice sought before investment and financial decisions
are made.
- In the case of new investments,
pensions, insurances or mortgages, literature from
the investment provider needs to be read and understood:
including product guides, key features and illustrations,
which give details of product aims, benefits, risks,
commitment needed, charges and commissions, before
financial decisions are made and action taken.
- Guides published on this site
express the opinions of the authors which may not always
concur with our own if from other organisations.
- Guides are published by the
permission of the authors and/or copyright holders.
- Your home is at risk if you
do not keep up repayments on a mortgage or other loan
secured upon it, this can include some forms of equity
release. The FSA do not regulate some types of mortgage.
- Past performance is not an
indication of future returns.
- The price of bonds, properties
and shares, income from them and investments in them
can rise and fall.
- Investments in bonds, property
and shares should be deemed mid to long term, meaning
at least five years. Early surrender increases the
risk of the investor receiving back less than invested.
- Investments in capital protected
funds are only as good as the ability of the investment
provider and/or any guarantors to meet their liabilities.
A default on their part may mean that the investor
receives back less than invested.
- Tax concessions and legislation
may change and reduce the benefits of investments.
03/01/07
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