Top-up payments
What are top up payments?
If you are considering choosing a care home that is more expensive than ones identified by the council, this page contains important information about Top Up Payments (sometimes called Additional Payments).
This information is important if you or a friend or relative will be moving into a care home setting and the council are contributing to the cost of your/their care home.
We will carry out a Care Act Assessment that will identify how your outcomes will be met.
You might wish to choose a care home that costs more than the weekly amount of the care home identified by the council. A payment will need to be made to pay the difference between the care home fees identified by the council and the home chosen by yourself or your representative. These are called Top Up Payments. This top up payment is in addition to both the financial contribution required to be paid by the person receiving the care and to the amount the council is contributing towards the care.
There are government rules about who can pay a Top Up and in most circumstances you are not allowed to pay it yourself if you are the person receiving care. This Factsheet covers Top Up Payments made by another person.
A Top Up Payment may be made by a friend or relative of the person who receives the care or, in some cases, by a charity. The person making the Top Up Payment is called the Third Party. They are not the individual or the council. Third Parties can be a member of your family but this is not a requirement. The Third Party Top Up Payment is made from the funds of the Third Party.
We will state which homes are able to meet the personal outcomes following a Care Act Assessment and will offer what is available at the time.
A Top Up Payment may be considered if, for example, you or a family member requests that care be provided in a more expensive home than the one on offer from us, or that a more expensive room be provided in the home that has been offered by us.
We need to know that anyone offering to make a Top Up Payment is able to do so.
The Third Party should seek independent legal and financial advice to help them decide if they have sufficient resources to sustain the payments for the duration of the stay in the accommodation.
If your third party decides to make a Top Up Payment, and we have agreed to enter into an agreement, the third party will be given two copies of the proposed Agreement (including the terms and conditions of the Agreement) and a copy of this Factsheet for their consideration. We suggest you and your third party seek independent legal and financial advice before deciding whether to sign the Agreement.
If the third party decides to enter into this arrangement and make payments from their own money, they will be asked to sign both copies of the Agreement and return it to the care manager involved. Both copies will then be signed by the Council and one copy returned to the third party for their records.
As stated in the Agreement, if the third party is unable to continue the payments or if the payments cease for any reason we reserve the right to move you / the person receiving care to accommodation that is within your personal budget.
A third party can decide to pay the residential/nursing home direct if they choose not to come through the Council to facilitate the third party top up.