Hi we have viewed a property that my son and ourselves like very much he is now goin through the "matching" process I don't know if that's a general term or just where we live social services use that term just a quick question really POA is going through I am still appointee for my son but I have no idea of how the finance works re bills food etc best way to do it because he cannot use a bank card tho he has one but his carer does all that at the moment I just don't know how to budget for him with everyday living any ideas would be much appreciated I know they will explain but I'd like some ideas if possible before we get to the moving in stage which is going to be highly emotional as he is 48 and lived here with us but we are now early 70s and I saw what happened to one of my sons friends when both his parents died within nine months 🙄so I want to know he's settled and happy..
Nearly there : Hi we have viewed a property that my... - Mencap
Nearly there
Hi, it's up to you really. You can continue to assist him as you currently are or you can add into the care plan that your son will need assistance to pay his bills over the phone with his bank card. Keep the lines of communication open with the people who will be caring for your son and I'm sure you can agree upon a solution. I know that there are money management services out there who can assist but it's not something I would choose personally as I have seen errors in my daughters rent calculations in the past and had to spend a long time getting them rectified. I'm just not sure I would trust a money management team to care enough to pick up on errors.
I guess it depends also whether he will be living alone or sharing. If sharing, he would need to agree with the others regarding food, whether they will cook joint meals or separate and for bills I would think direct debits would be easiest. The carers need to monitor whether the fuel account balances are appropriate, not too excessive.
is the property you have viewed, a residential care home or will your son have a tenancy agreement and care provider. These two are quite different. For example, if 4 people live in the same house they will likely have a tenancy agreement for their own room. They share the cost of groceries and also the cost of utilities to their own room. Remember the lounge, bathrooms and kitchens are usually classed as communal areas so the landlord covered the utility costs for these areas in their service charge. It can be complex and many care staff don't know how the system works so may tell you, your son has to pay utilities for the whole house, when that's not true.
Hi, do you have any legislation on this matter please? My daughter is paying bills for the whole house and has done for the past 4 years. When 2 of the tenants moved out, my daughter was then liable for the utilities for the whole house by herself.If this is true then I have yet another matter to raise with the care provider. Unbelievable!
Also how do they calculate bills for just 1 room?
The care provider has allowed my daughter’s utilities to accrue £6000 into debt between her and the other 2 tenants.
Oh dear this is not good, please speak to your daughters Social worker, they are not doing their job, letting accumulate Debt, Carer's should be ontop of Bills, organising DD's etc. I am ontop of my 35yr olds,he lives independently, but we are deciding whether a step back to Supported Living, not Care home, as Son is uncharged of his Bank Account, but if he goes the Supported Living route, they can have Own flat in one building & Tenancy. I think your talking more of Assisted Supported Accommodation.
The first place to check is your daughters tenancy agreement. See what it says about utilities. We had this situation. Care staff said our tenants wanted to manage the utilities themselves. When bills started coming in we complained that the landlord should be managing the utilities for them. Thats when we found out ththey only pay for their own room. We still disagreed on the size of the communal area so th landlord sent a surveyor to measure up. More than half of the house was communal! If the house your daughter lives in has 2 rooms that can be let out but are empty, that's not your daughters responsibility.
Ask to speak to the housing officer but often they don't know the rules either. In which case you will need to raise a complaint. I don't know if there is any legislation for this but I'm convinced thousands of disabled people are being over charged for utilities. Also furniture and blinds in communal areas is the landlords responsibility. Hope that helps.
It depends on how the property is set up. My son lives in a house with two others . There is a Social Landlord to look after the property, take care of Utility bills, the HB, cutting the grass etc etc. Then we have a separate Care provider they take care of the shopping, medicines, day to day stuff. I give them out of my son’s benefits money every couple of weeks for his shopping and spending. The 3 often eat the same food but pay for things the others maybe don’t want. So far it’s working well.
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