Wednesday, April 15, 2020

Getting Through The Financial Assessment For Fair Deal Nursing Home Scheme


When you are applying for the Fair Deal Scheme, the care needs assessment is the first step that makes sure and certain of the care needs or requirements you have and how much it is going to cost. The Financial Assessment stage ascertains how much you need to pay. Fundamentally the Financial Assessment guidelines are largely designed to evaluate the applicant’s income and assets, which might turn up disregarding the individual’s capacity or willingness to give away the same. So the golden question remains- is the scheme right for you? Here’s all you need to know about the financial aspect of the grant.


Even though the Fair Deal Nursing Home Scheme is open to all, and people of all ages, the scheme is ideally designed for a specific category of people. Let’s answer the bottom line first, that this scheme is the most beneficial for pensioners, single or widowed individuals, and someone not only have limited assets and low income but also doesn’t have to worry about the succession of their estate, farm or land if anything is there. But if you are someone with more assets and huge savings, then this scheme can drain you 80% of your property and savings.

So what matters is, what you have and what you are willing to give, as an investment for long term nursing home care.

What You Have To Pay


On a general scale, the applicant has to pay 80% of their income, which will include personal savings, earnings through renting out of a property, any Government allowances, earnings from a shop, personal shares and stocks. Next up, is the evaluation of your non-cash assets, such as private home, farm, business, and land, against which you’d have to contribute 7.5% annually. In some cases, the 7.5% contribution can be capped after 3years. So you have to pay a total of 22.5% the value of your home or property.

The first €36,000 of your income is exempted from the count. Moreover, the payment structure is halved in case you have a husband or a wife still living in your house, and who might also have a fair share of the savings. So for couples, the contribution becomes a split of the primary cost - so they have to pay 40% for income and 3.5% for non-cash assets.

Note, that valuables such as antique pieces, furniture, jewelry, and cars are not radically counted as assets, until and unless you use such things for financial gains, such as pawning or leasing out your car. In such cases, the money you received in the process will be counted as a cash asset and is most likely to affect your cost of care contribution amount to increase.  


How The Financial Assessment Works


The financial assessment is run by the HSE, wherein the designated person will contact you, and ask for the following documents:
     Pension Statements (If Any)

     Up-to-the-date bank details and statements, as well as details of any savings, account in any bank or private financial institutions that you deal with. It is good to know that you may be asked to provide bank statements for several years up to 5years, most significantly when any situation of asset transfers are involved.

     If the applicant is associated with a social welfare or Government allowance programs, then they have to mention it and must present any evidential document to verify the same.

Basically, the financial assessment is the review of all your data that can direct a detour of your ‘financial condition’. The financial condition can be often contradictory to the actual financial capacity. But for that, you will have time to decide that this thing is ideal for you or not.

Early Plans

It always makes up for a good decision to plan ahead, especially if you want to transfer your property to your children or grandchildren. You may appoint a special Nursing Home Support Scheme Guide to help you throughout the process. Having a Power of Attorney in place can also be helpful for later when you can find it easy to appoint someone else, such as a Fair Deal Attorney to handle the grant application on your behalf, later in life.

The Ancillary State Support - Nursing Home Loan Scheme


The Fair Deal Loan scheme is created for those families that need to defer the sale of the land, farm or home. Under this scheme, families can defer the payment of the Asset-based contribution until after the lifetime of the applicant. It is an unnecessary rule that one has to, after all, mortgage or sell the house that is in the name of the applicant. With the provision of the Loan, it is possible to delay the inevitable.

Exemptions and Relief

There can be tons of exemptions and relief from the cost of care, which includes the payment of income tax, medical and therapeutic expenses, caring for a child, and a host of other obligations.

So it is possible to have a holistic settlement with the Fair Deal Scheme if you know how to work things out in the right way and the right time.

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