Deferred Payment Agreements & Care - A Bitesized Guide to the Key Issues

Introduction

A Deferred Payment Agreement is a mechanism which enables loan funding from Social Services, through which a care home resident whose home cannot be disregarded in the Local Authority financial assessment process can ‘borrow’ from the Local Authority to pay their care costs, rather than selling their home.

Although the Government presents the DPA scheme as a way to ‘protect the family home’, and whilst a DPA can work when an empty property can be rented out to generate additional income to pay towards care costs, the reality is that the property will normally have to be sold or otherwise re-financed when the person passes away.

So the DPA arrangement can create an added financial or time-pressure burden as it still has to be paid back.

This short webinar is suitable for people who are already advising clients about paying for care rules and have some background knowledge of DPAs, as well as professional Attorneys and Deputies who might need to consider the implications of a DPA for their clients and provides a snapshot of the main points to be wary of or to know about.

What You Will Learn

This webinar will cover the following:

• A brief overview of DPA rules
• Mandatory DPAs
• Discretionary DPAs
• How much to defer
• Equity limits and calculations
• How top up payments interact with the DPA
• How the loan is secured
• Interest and administration charges
• What happens if the property is sold during the person’s lifetime?
• What happens post death?
• Practical issues - such as Deputy authority and restrictions on titles (specifically retirement properties)

This webinar was recorded on 20th August 2024

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