Financial assessments

Residential, nursing care and non residential services

You may be asked to make a financial contribution towards the cost of some adult social care services you receive. These include residential services and some community services.

For more details, the following documents are available for download

• Paying for adult community care and support
• Easy Read Paying for adult community care and support
• Financial declaration form - non res
• Financial declaration form guidance (how to complete the form)
• Reassessment Form non-residential
• Disability Related Expense Guidance
• Financial Declaration Form Residential or Nursing
• Charging policy for Adult Social Care
• Find out if you need to pay for the cost of your care

The local authority has a duty to carry out Financial Assessment for people who are eligible for residential/nursing and Extra Care accommodation. Once your needs have been assessed, the local authority will make a decision about whether to offer you community care services, and if so, what sort.

When the local authority arranges or provides a place in a home for you, it must carry out a means-test of your income and capital to calculate how Disability Related Expense Guidance much you should pay towards the cost (unless the accommodation is provided as part of your after-care services under Section 117 of the Mental Health Act 1983. This also applies if you have been assessed by the Health Authority and are eligible for Continuing Care. The local authority is obliged by law to do this.

The means-test will look at income and capital which includes savings and investments - and sometimes may include the value of any property which you own. Which includes savings and investments –and sometimes may include the value of any property which you own.

When the local authority provides personal care, domestic help and other support to you if you live in an Extra Care sheltered housing scheme we will carry out a means test of your income and expenditure to calculate how much you should pay towards the cost. Only income or savings in excess of the Statutory Rate of Pension Credit (Income Support for under 60 years old) plus 25 per cent will be taken into account for charging purposes.

If you have any queries, please call the Financial Assessment Team on 020 7364 5000 or email FinancialAssessmentTeam@towerhamlets.gov.uk

Other fees and charges

Currently the authority does not charge for Telecare services.

A nominal charge is made in our day care services for drinks and snacks and this charge applies to both staff and users of the service.

In accordance with the law, we charge people for residential and nursing respite care at a weekly rate equivalent to the statutory rate of pension credit (income support for under 60 years old) for 8 weeks of respite care in any year. We do not charge people with Learning Disabilities for respite care services.

A standard daily charge is made for lunches provided through the Mobile Meals service. If you live in sheltered housing or an Extra Care scheme, you will have a charge for Telecare services added to your weekly rent amount. This amount varies depending on which scheme you live in.

Review and appeal process for Adult Community Care and Support charges

This guidance is for service users or carers who have received a letter stating that they will need to start making contributions to the cost of their care. 

Advice, guidance and support

At any point during the financial assessment process, if you do not feel that you have a full understanding of the process, or what disability-related expenditure includes, then you should read the following information or contact

• Financial Assessment Team on 020 7364 5000
• Visit the Tower Hamlets Connect website.

Tower Hamlets Community Advice Network provides free confidential, independent advice regarding benefits. There is a list of local benefits advisors on the Tower Hamlets Community Advice Network website.

Review process

The review process is the first stage if you are unsure the amount of money that you need to contribute towards your social care is accurate. 

• When you receive the letter stating the amount of your contribution for social care, if you are unsure of the calculations used in your financial assessment then you should call the Financial Assessment Team on 020 7364 5000. They will explain to you the income and capital that were used in the calculation of the financial assessment and how they have arrived at the contribution that you have to pay.
  
  
• If you do not agree with the contribution that they have calculated then you should ask for the financial assessment to be reviewed. Reasons for asking for a review include:
  • you wish to provide details of additional disability related expenditure that was not included in your original financial assessment form
  • you have new relevant information that you would like to be taken into account
    
    
• If you do not have a copy of your original assessment form then inform the Financial Assessment Team and they will send you a copy of the form you originally submitted with the new assessment form.
  
  
• The new financial assessment form will be sent to you and should be completed within 28 days. If you would like support to fill the form in, you can get help from the Financial Assessment team, who can be contacted on 020 7364 5000 or FinancialAssessmentTeam@TowerHamlets.gov.uk. Contact Tower Hamlets Connect on 0300 303 6070 or email enquiry@towerhamletsconnect.org.
  
  
• You will receive a response to your review by letter within 28 days of submitting your form informing you of your revised contribution (if it is revised) for your social care. During this period you will not be invoiced for the care and support charges but you will be expected to set aside monies that may be due once the reassessment is completed. You should set aside the original amount in case your review does not result in a revised contribution.
  
  
• If you still do not agree with the decision following the review then you can appeal.

Appeal process

If after following the review process you do not agree with the review outcome, you can appeal the decision. Possible reasons why you might want to appeal include:

• you do not believe that the charging policy has been applied accurately
• you have additional information that you feel is relevant to your financial assessment that has not been considered to date

You will need to put in writing your appeal within 28 days of the outcome of the review to the financial assessment team providing information setting out the reason for your appeal.

if you would like support in the appeal process, you can contact Tower Hamlets Connect on 0300 303 6070 or email enquiry@towerhamletsconnect.org.

If you require independent statutory advocacy support Tower Hamlets Connect will refer you to POhWER. This service is free, confidential and independent.

PohWER contact information

Tel: 0300 456 2370
Email pohwer@pohwer.net.

The appeal will be considered by the financial assessment team leader and a written response will be provided within 28 days.

During the period when you are waiting for a response to your appeal, you will not be invoiced for your care and support charges but will be expected to set aside monies that may be due once the reassessment is completed.

For any queries or further information, contact the Financial Assessment Team:

Financial Assessment Team

London Borough of Tower Hamlets
Albert Jacob House
1^st Floor
62 Roman Road
London
E2 0PG

Tel: 020 7364 5000
E-mail: FinancialAssessmentTeam@TowerHamlets.gov.uk