Poor procedures in the NHS have meant that thousands of pensioners have wrongly lost their homes to pay for social care.
Paying for social care is a very controversial issue because the Government won’t pay the costs of care for many patients. Instead the patients normally have to find the money themselves and often end up selling their homes.
However, a law firm called Farley Dwek says that thousands of people in social care have needlessly sold their home and can claim compensation.
The issue is that if a pensioner’s health deteriorates to a sufficiently poor level, the pensioner is then eligible for ‘NHS continuing health care funding,’ and she no longer has to pay her care costs.
Patients in care homes are supposed to have their care – and funding – reviewed on a regular basis, but more than 5,000 families have told Farley Dwek that these reviews never happened. A review can lead to a decision that the NHS should pick up the funding costs, so some pensioners have probably paid too much towards their care.
Farley Dwek has made successful claims on behalf of some patients, and claims can still be made even if the patient has died. The patient’s family then benefits from the compensation.
Farley Dwek estimates that as many as 100,000 people and families may be eligible for compensation.
If you want to make a claim for any pensioner who lost their home between 2004 and March 31st 2011, you need to launch the claim by 30th September this year. The sums of money involved could be considerable, so it’s well worth looking into this if you think a member of your family may have been affected.
More on social care from lovemoney.com:
Eight ways to pay for social care
Social care problem is far from solved