Elderly pay higher care home bills so others can go free - Telegraph

Elderly pay higher care home bills so others can go free - Telegraph: "They warn that thousands of pensioners paying their fees in full – because their assets are worth more than £23,000 – are being charged over the odds in order to cover for the far lower rates paid for state-funded places.

The care home owners have instructed Cherie Booth, QC, the wife of former prime minister Tony Blair, to mount a legal challenge to force England's local authorities to increase the rates they pay."

In some parts of the country, care homes are charging "self-funders" more than £200 a week on top of the rates paid by local authorities, research shows.

In other cases, pensioners who are entitled to free care, because their assets fall below the threshold, are being charged hundreds of pounds in "top-up" fees by homes which have pushed their rate above the level agreed with local authorities, owners say.

One in four people who should be entitled to free care under the current system, is now paying for such top-up payments, which average more than £250 a month.

Care home providers have instructed Ms Booth to take England's 150 local authorities to the High Court next year.

They have set up a coalition, called the Fairer Fee Forum, which is gathering data from councils and home owners, in order to demonstrate the disparities in the rates paid for services. Charities for the elderly are backing the challenge.