Are you eligible to reclaim care fees
Anyone who has less than £23,000 will be asked to pay for care, but if they have a medical need, the cost should be covered by their Primary Care Trust instead. Some families may be entitled to reclaim care fees which have been paid in error in the past.
Are you eligible to claim?
You could be eligible to reclaim care fees if you paid for residential care or nursing care which your Primary Care Trust should have funded. This includes care needed by people with certain types of health problems, both physical and mental, which qualified them for care under the NHS as part of the Continuing Healthcare package.
You or your relative doesn’t necessarily need to be in a care home: they may have received care in their own homes. This ruling also doesn’t just apply to older people, and if you had to have care after a serious illness or accident, you could also be eligible. You may not have been told that NHS care was available, or you or your relative may simply have been assessed in the wrong way.
Why reclaim care fees?
Many people have paid out hundreds of thousands of pounds in care fees which they need never have paid. Some people have unfortunately sold their property to pay for care, but they could be eligible to claim that money back. So far, it’s estimated that more than £15 million has been claimed back from the NHS, and there are many more eligible people out there who have yet to make their claim. You could very well be one of them.
If your relative has passed away, don’t worry: you can still reclaim the money back April 2004 if you live in England, or April 2003 if you live in Wales. In rare and exceptional cases, you may be able to claim back as far as 1996. Any payout received must be overseen by someone who represents them. This is normally a family member.
How to reclaim care fees
Reclaiming fees from your Primary Care Trust can be complex, and if your relative has passed away, you may find it quite stressful. Expert firms often provide ‘no win no fee’ services to help service users reclaim care fees. If your (or your relative’s) primary need was of a medical nature, and they received nursing care, you have a very good chance of success. You can set the wheels in motion regardless of where that care was provided, and the time you spend initiating the claim could be worth thousands of pounds.