My client is a man (aged 65), who was admitted to residential rehab on 19/1/04, a care home specialising in recovery from alcohol/drug misuse. His wife (under 60 years old) and 3 children under 14, are at home.

The couple are in receipt of (Guarantee) Pension Credit to top up SRP and CHB, and are entitled to full HB and CTB. My client's wife is also in reciept of middle rate DLA for care.

Social Services department are stating that there will be a charge of £84.60pw to cover the cost of the stay. This charge has been assessed by the Finance Dept. The charge seems to be based on £102.10 (PC for single person) minus £17.50 hospital pocket rate. In fact the Finance dept have advised my client to fill out a form MIG(1R) to apply for PC! They don't seem interested that he has a family. I suspect that form MIG(1R) no longer exists, and that my client doesn't need to claim extra PC as he's getting all his entitlement. But I can't find anything to support my view/opinion and so getting nowhere with LA Finance dept.

I've determined that the couple's current benefits should remain unchanged as my client does not receive DLA/AA/CA and downrating won't come into play until 52 weeks (he's unlikely to be there more than 3-4 months). Have I got this bit right? Should I be treating him as a hospital in-patient?

Any advice, guidance would be grately appreciated.
Thanks
... Andi
020 7089 1080

In relation to MIG(1R)form - this is for people who are in permanent residential care. It was continuing to be used as an equivalent PC claim form had not been printed yet (I don't kniow if this is still the case). As your client is a temporary resident this form is not relevant.

Quite a few issues here!

1. Patient status will not arise because the man is in a care home funded by his local LA SSD, rather than being in a hospital or similar institution funded by the NHS, from what you say.

2. I think the LA has failed to respond to the introduction of Pension Credit in October 03. Before that date, when all ages got Income Support, this man could have claimed extra IS for the duration of his rehab, with a special assessment being carried out under Schedule 7 para 9 of the IS (General) Regulations. He and his partner would have been treated as single claimants for applicable amounts purposes, with £102.10 being allocated for his personal needs. Out of that sum, the LA would have charged £84.60 for his care, leaving him £17.50 pocket money, as you say.

Trouble is, this special assessment provision has not been carried forward into PC (though it's still there for IS). As you say, no extra PC is available for the rehab period. So, it's up to the LA to assess this chap for what he can afford, rather than simply following tradition. I think that the least the LA should do is make an IS-style assessment of the wife's needs, presumably without the kids, who should be covered by Child Tax Credit, but including housing costs & any single person's premiums applying. They can then deduct that figure from the couple's total income (disregarding CTC and Child Benefit), allow the man his £17.50, and charge the balance as his contribution.

The problem has been recognised by the Dept of Health. In Local Authority Circular LAC(2003)22, para 12 of the Annex thereto, the difference in IS & PC is pointed out and it says "Councils are asked to exercise discretion to ensure that the partner at home has sufficient income for their needs ... in this regard ... couples now receive less benefit than younger individuals."

3. The old scheme you describe, allowing only £17.50 for the man's "normal" personal expenses in care, disregarded another DoH instruction: the Charging for Residential Accommodation Guide (CRAG) at para 5.005 makes it clear that, for a temporary case, property related costs need to be taken into account when setting the personal expenses figure. For that reason, my LA has always allows a blanket figure of £5 pw towards items such as property insurance and standing charges for gas, electricity and telephone. We would, of course, allow more if there was a case for it. So, this problem applies equally under PC.

Jim

I forgot to mention that if the man has any Savings Credit as part of PC, there's a disregard of up to £6.75 a week applicable to it.

Jim