Invoicing and payments
The Council's preferred method of payment is Direct Debit. In exceptional circumstances it my be possible to pay for care using a social care payment card.
Where the person requires an Appointeeship or Court of Protection Deputyship and it is not in place at the time they enter the residential care home the Council will pay the care home on a temporary basis to allow the Appointeeship or Deputyship to be granted. The payments will be accrued for the appointee or deputy to repay back to the Council in full within 28 days of them being granted.
The Council reserves the right to take legal action where the Court of Protection Deputyship or Appointeeship has not been granted in a reasonable period of time and it appears unreasonable delay is the cause. (e.g. a Deputyship not being granted due to non-compliance by the person/representative not applying for the order). In these circumstances the Council will refer to the relevant body to appoint an alternative person to manage the customer’s property and financial affairs. The Council requires documentary evidence of these Appointeeship and Court of Protection applications within the timescale outlined below to set up and maintain arrangements for payment of care fees:
- For Court of Protection: evidence must be provided within 3 months of the financial assessment being completed.
- For Appointeeships evidence must be provided within 6 weeks of the financial assessment being completed.
- Or within 30 days following any written request by the Council.
Failure to comply with the requirements of the Charging Policy will result in the Council withdrawing funding and seeking to recover the full outstanding amount through its debt recovery policy.
Where the Council is satisfied that an Appointeeship or Court of Protection application is in progress, the Council will, on a temporary basis, start paying the care fees to the care provider and will accrue these charges (for the person/representative to pay at a later point) whilst the application is being progressed. Once legal authority has been granted, the appointed person(s) will be responsible for repaying (in full) the accrued care fees, within the first 28 days following the date of appointment.
Administration fees
The Council will charge an administration fee for work undertaken on behalf of people in certain circumstances for example managing Appointeeship, Direct Payments and in some cases supporting self-funders. An annual Schedule of Charges will be published to accompany the Council’s Charging Policy.