First financial assessment

[Adjo]

Hi everyone is my sons first financial assessment please what should l expect and things l need to show some one with experience on this advise me please?

[Bluey203]

Hi Adjo, the adult services will want to know all your sons disability related expenses and income. They then work out from this what contribution he will need to make towards care costs.Try to keep all receipts for expenses, if you haven't done so now, then keep them for the following years assessment.

My son has severe autism with learning disability, so some of his disability related expenses would seem strange to the outsider but i included them anyway, for example £30 worth of balloons per month, £40 of fuel per month to take for a drive 3 times per day which keeps him calm, extra shoes and clothing because he walks alot, aprox £30 per week on fast food obsession. I emailed receipts from amazon for balloons, and she wanted a professional to back me up about fuel etc like a social worker.

Remember to also include their share of household expenses, like utilities etc, but not rent.

Good luck😊

[Eeviee]

Some excellent suggestions from Bluey. This is an area you want to get right from the start as it’s sets a precedence for the future. A charity called cascaidr will check it for you so I would get in touch with them before hand

[SpeedyH in reply to Eeviee]

Cascaidr will check that an assessment that has already been done is lawful. There is a charge for this service. Generally, they do not have the manpower to give support prior to an assessment, ie helping you collate your disability expenditure and so on. 🙂

[Tracidu]

This is a very interesting post , my SLD son has been having financial assessments for years , he lives with me and is 37 . The social workers have never said I could add house hold utilities to his expenses . He needs regular chyropdist as he suffers with his feet , they allow £2 for that . I will be very aware now on his next review to include the true costs . His contribution to Social Sevices towards his day care from his benefits has always seemed High to me and I now realise his expenditure has never been fully discussed at his assessment , the last social worker completely messed up his care plan that he had for 12 years mostly successfully over transport cost by his care agency, they pulled out of the contract as they couldn't agree with the Social worker and told me they were sorry to loose my son but they couldn't run at a loss so she had to find him another care company which turned out to be more expensive?? it left him without support for 6 weeks.... He cannot speak for himself and has no understanding so its down to me to speak for him.

Good luck with your assessment Adjo hopefully this post will make you more aware .

[Eeviee in reply to Tracidu]

Hi as I had posted earlier you can get help with knowing what should be in these financial assessments. CASCAIDR may charge for checking assessments or giving advice but they will tell you if they can help and what those charges will be up front. I know they are helping others fight their local authorities and are at the forefront of a campaign to stop social care charging. Other organisations are inclusion London and disability England. Other people can suggest other organisations. It’s a postcode lottery as different local authorities will apply different rules to disability related income. Only lawyers like CASCAIDR know the facts.

[Creamcrackers20]

My daughter had her 1st financial assessment a few months ago which I appealed against, I'm still waiting for a reply. She lives in her own 2 bed flat with 24/7 care, she's brain damaged and Autistic. Her benefits are £288 a week and the authority are deducting £97 a week towards her care package which leaves her £197 a week to pay all her household bills, food, clothes etc. I wasn't asked for receipts just bank statements.Just put down every last penny that you can think of, however insignificant, that is spent over 12 months. Doing it for a month won't be a true reflection of every possible expenditure. Think about all the things that you may pay for your son that he would have to pay himself if you weren't around, you may be surprised when you realise just how much you are subsidising his benefits. Good luck

[Tracidu in reply to Creamcrackers20]

Thankyou for your reply , I will be very aware from now on , and keep a check on his expenses , as he has always lived with me I have always payed the same as when he was a child . After 37 years you would think I would of learnt ??? different SW everytime , all have different criteria??

[49Twister in reply to Tracidu]

Yes things seem to have definitely changed regarding expenditure. We were part of the pilot scheme in our area when direct payments first became available and household utilities were never included in expenses, even though they were adults. You were made to feel guilty if it was even suggested. Like you Tracidu I was a single parent on a very small income, pretty much all of my son’s life, he’s 47 now. Make sure you claim all your allowed in the future. Shame on the social workers for not making you aware of this, you get no thanks for supporting your son in these areas, and unfortunately local authorities are anything but on a level playing field.

[Adjo]

Thankyou all for your advice l have taken note of it and l will do my best for my son.

[Tracidu in reply to Adjo]

Good Luck

[Head_cook]

I disagreed with the increase , so they asked for receipts and evidence. I had kept receipts luckily but not in order. I took photos and emailed them ALL. They still insisted on an increase. I took my case to my sons MP they looked at bank statements and I told them everything he spent his money on. The council accepted this and no increase.The following year they did the same, I got threats (red letters) but I stuck to my guns. In the end they said “what can you afford to pay extra”? I replied “ He cannot afford to pay more, leave it as it is”. They agreed . Life is hard enough without all this red tape!