Care funding, benefits and money

The usual CHC assessment route

1. Ask a health or social care professional for a CHC Checklist. A positive Checklist normally leads to a full assessment; it does not itself decide eligibility.
2. A multidisciplinary team should assess P and complete a Decision Support Tool using evidence across all relevant areas of need.
3. The team makes a recommendation and the ICB makes the eligibility decision. Ask for the completed documents, recommendation, written decision and reasons.
4. If eligible, the ICB agrees a care plan and package that meets P's assessed needs. Funding responsibility should not delay urgent or necessary care.

Prepare for a CHC review

CHC is normally reviewed within three months of eligibility and at least yearly after that. A review should focus on whether P's needs have changed and whether the care package still meets them. It should not begin with an assumption that eligibility or support will be reduced.

• Ask for the review date, attendees and papers in enough time to prepare.
• Gather current care plans, daily records, incident logs, risk assessments, clinical letters and evidence of what happens when support is missing.
• Describe P's actual needs, including needs controlled by medication, skilled care or a well-managed routine. A need does not disappear because good support manages it.
• Attend with a family member, advocate or adviser. Correct inaccurate records and ask for disagreements to be recorded.
• Ask for the completed review document, any new assessment and the written reasons before accepting a reduction or change.

Can the money come from P's own funds?

If the application is for P's benefit, the fee can often be paid from P's own money or later reimbursed from P's estate once a deputy is appointed. Keep every receipt. A deputy must only spend P's money in P's best interests and must be able to account for it to the Office of the Public Guardian.

Where families borrow when they must

No UK bank sells a product called a "court fee loan". In practice families use ordinary credit, so compare the total cost and the term, not the monthly payment:

• High-street personal loans — Barclays, Lloyds, Halifax, Bank of Scotland, HSBC, First Direct, NatWest, RBS, Santander, Nationwide, TSB, Co-operative Bank and Metro Bank all offer unsecured personal loans, usually from around £1,000 upwards.
• Digital banks and lenders — Monzo, Starling, Zopa, Novuna, Tesco Bank and Sainsbury's Bank lend smaller amounts, often with a quick decision.
• Credit unions — usually the cheapest option for small sums. Interest on a credit union loan is capped by law, and many lend a few hundred pounds where a bank will not. Find one through Find Your Credit Union or the Association of British Credit Unions.
• An arranged overdraft or a 0% purchase credit card — sometimes cheaper than a loan for a one-off fee, if it is cleared before the offer period ends.
• Specialist estate and inheritance lenders — firms such as Tower Street Finance lend against an estate or an expected inheritance, repaid when the estate pays out. These are far more expensive than a bank loan and are only worth considering when nothing else is available.
• Your solicitor — some firms will pay the court fee as a disbursement and add it to your bill, or agree a payment plan. Always ask; it costs nothing to ask.

Before you sign anything

• Check the lender is authorised on the Financial Conduct Authority register.
• Ask for the total amount repayable and the APR in writing, not just the monthly figure.
• Never borrow in P's name or use P's cards or accounts without legal authority to do so.
• Avoid doorstep lending, and never use an unauthorised lender. Report loan sharks to the England Illegal Money Lending Team.
• Free, independent debt advice is available from Citizens Advice, StepChange, National Debtline and MoneyHelper.