Welcome, Guest

The Care Act - Deferred Payments

Overview

Deferring payment can help people to delay the need to sell their home (or other assets) and provide peace of mind during a time that can be challenging (or even a crisis point) for them and their loved ones as they make the transition into residential care.

Audience

This course is intended for:

  • People who have a role in giving information and advice about charging and financial assessment (including deferred payment agreements)
  • Staff employed by local authorities and other organisations who are responsible for care and support planning
  • Managers of people undertaking care and support planning

    About this course

    This course forms part of the suite of e-learning courses that have been developed to support the implementation of part one of the Care Act 2014. It is based upon the Skills for Care training materials.

    Upon successful completion of both modules you will be automatically awarded a certificate containing the course name, completion date, CPD hours and learning objectives.

    The course contains additional resource materials, useful links and refresher guides.

    Objectives

    In this course you will learn:

  • Learn what the main aim of the DPA is
  • Know how people can pay for their care
  • Know the eligibility criteria for deferred payments
  • Know when a DPA can be refused
  • Understand what information and advice must be provided
  • Learn how much can be deferred
  • Know how the equity limit is calculated
  • Understand what happens when property is used as security
  • Know what interest charges and administration fees can be included
  • Know what must be considered when making a DPA
  • Know how DPAs are terminated

    Content

    Here are some of the topics covered in this course:

    It is deferred – not ‘written-off’; Ways to pay care costs; Acceptance criteria; Legal charge; Valuable assets; Accepting other forms of security; The security should be revalued periodically; Exercising discretion; Refusing a DPA; Change in circumstances; Providing notice of termination; Information and Advice; Involving family and friends; Loss of capacity; Placing conditions in the DPA; How much can be deferred?; The equity limit; Using a property as security; Reviewing the cost of care; Local authorities may require a contribution; Can a person retain less than the disposable income allowance?; Top-ups; Does the local authority have to fund the top-up?; Future care and support needs; Rental income; Interest rate and administration charge; Making the agreement; 12 week disregard; Providing the written statement; Can interest be charged after a person dies?; What happens when a person dies?; Terminating the agreement