When the care assessment has been completed, the local authority will decide whether or not it should provide or arrange community care services under eligibility criteria set by each local authority. Local authorities are obliged to involve other departments in the assessment process such as welfare benefits, health, housing, transport, etc.

The assessment process will normally consist of three stages:
Assessment of need and circumstances.
Identifying needs to be dealt with by the local authority under its eligibility criteria.
Financial assessment, if appropriate.

Following a financial assessment in England, people with assets in excess of £23,000 are generally advised to make their own arrangements. The only exception is for residents who lack mental capacity and have no legal representatives.
Individuals entering residential long term care who own total assets under £23,000 in England and Northern Ireland, £22,000 in Wales and £22,500 in Scotland may be eligible for local authority funding. Eligibility is normally assessed by the individual’s inability to manage at least two activities of daily living such as mobility, washing, dressing, eating, toileting and transferring, say, from a chair into a bed.

Persons with assets (including property) of more than £23,000 in the UK will be obliged to fund their own care. They will need to pay the difference between their monthly income, such as pensions together with higher rate attendance allowance, and the money going out to the care home. The ’shortfall’ is often in the region of £ 1,000 – £2,000 plus every month. Unfortunately, the problem does not stop when the money runs down to £23,000, although the local authority is obliged to take over funding at this stage. However, there is a weekly ‘tariff’ of £1 for every £250 of savings between the lower limit of £14,000 and £23,000. This can amount to £36 each week and gradually tapers down to the prevailing lower limit (currently £14,000) at which stage no further contributions are required.

When a person enters long term care, income from their investments, private pensions, state pensions and benefits will be taken into account towards the costs of paying for care. However, a weekly allowance of £21.90 is granted for personal expenditure such as birthdays, seasonal gifts, toiletries, hair dressing and clothes. Needless to say, this amount is insufficient, so many residents will eventually use up the lower £14,000 limit allowed to them. Each local authority sets down the regular amount they will pay for care depending on the type of care required.

The amount they pay may not necessarily cover the full fees at a chosen care home. This may result in family or another third party having to pay ‘top-ups’ in order to make up the difference. This is because the person in care is not allowed to make any personal top ups to stay in a more expensive care home if they qualify for local authority funding.

Shaun Dalton is the Marketing Manager for UK Chartered Financial Planners, equityCare. He has over 38 years experience in financial services and holds the madatory qualification to provide care fees advice in addition to the CII diploma in financial planning.

equityCare is a company advising on equity release, long term care and investment. We also offer easy access to legal advice and support in related areas through equityCare Legal Services. We at equityCare understand about long term care and will inform you of all the options for funding care whether it is in your own home or in a residential or nursing home. We will work with you to obtain the type of care that is affordable and right for you.

Whether the solution is achieved by using equity release, an immediate care plan, investment or a combination of two or more of these products, your circumstances and wishes will dictate the outcome.
http://www.equitycare.co.uk

There are no posts related to UK Community Care Framework.

Thousands of families now find themselves dwelling in flood plains, and live with the looming threat that they can be hit with flood damage practically without warning. With the recent flood activity that’s been experienced across the UK, and the ensuing damages that property owners have had to face; people have experienced a lot of difficulty attempting to find an insurance company that will provide flood risk insurance coverage. Increases in the number of areas facing possible flooding has increased over the years, and the number is expected to continue to grow with the erosion of the polar ice caps caused by global warming.

Flood insurance cover is vital in uncertain times when families can’t afford the unexpected expense of replacing valuable assets. It is a common occurrence for a policy holder to experience devastation from a damaging storm that destroys their treasured belongings, and then receive heart breaking news from their insurance agent who has to tell them that they’re not covered for much or all of their losses. Many insurance agencies do not offer sufficient quality flood risk insurance or fail to provide any flood insurance cover at all.

It is important to find a provider that offers flood insurance cover to help provide relief to families in areas facing down the flood threat. You should look for cost-effective flood risk insurance that gives you the peace of mind of knowing that when you need it, your flood insurance coverage has you well protected.

There are no posts related to Get Protected Against Increasing Flood Activity.

You’re likely to be extremely excited before your holiday starts, and as you make your way to Platform Nine and Three Quarters you’ll probably start to notice a few extraordinary people passing you by. Owls transported in cages, wire-haired grey wizards hurrying by with straggling children, and rats poking their noses out of small boys’ pockets are likely to be the sights that will meet your eyes. And if you’re a little nervous about running through the wall onto the mysterious platform, you can always ask a kindly witch for a few tips on crossing through.

Poltergeist Nicks Your Bag

Now, although this exciting holiday is likely to be a great overall success, entering a magical world for the first time will leave you vulnerable to the tricks of those who have been in the trade for a lot longer than you. As you arrive at the doors of this magical school, you should not be alarmed by the headless ghost, fondly known as Nearly Headless Nick, who may just soar straight through you. But these ghosts, if they catch on to the fact that you are new to the wizarding world, will be inclined to play a few tricks on you. For instance, your suitcase may just disappear entirely, right in front of your very own eyes. But don’t fear, because UK travel insurance policies will likely treat it as a stolen item, so while your holiday may be a little tricky without the contents of your bag, you might be able to claim it back when you get back home.

Broken Broomsticks

When it comes to broomsticks, you will probably want to get a good one like the Nimbus 2001, which may be a little pricey. And it may be rather difficult, if not impossible, to find a cheap travel insurance policy to cover a magical item, but there is no guaranteeing that your broomstick will be safe while you’re out on the Quidditch pitch. It may happen that a rather nasty witch or wizard supporting the opposing team will cast a spell on your broomstick, and your beautiful Nimbus will be ruined in an instant. So best beware, because if it can happen to Harry Potter, it can happen to you.

Spells Gone Wrong

Since you’re new to the magical world, using your wand even for the simplest spell just may backfire horribly. For example, as you cast your wand toward an unsuspecting frog trying to turn him into a prince, you may mispronounce the incantation, and the spell will be reversed and switched around, turning you into a frog instead! This, of course, would be a most undesirable situation, and you will need to seek medical help immediately. But with the brilliant wizards wandering within the Hogwarts walls, you’ll be as good as new in no time.

Patrick Chong is the Managing Director of Journey’s Travel. Their commercial travel insurance website, Insuremore, offers UK travel insurance for families, couples and singles with a quick and easy online claims feature.

There are no posts related to Mysterious Mishaps on a Hogwarts Holiday.

If the vacation that you’re booking is costing you a small fortune between the flights, hotel rooms and other details, then travel insurance is probably a good idea. Unlike a cheap vacation, if your expensive holiday plans fall through or are otherwise compromised, you could be out a great deal of money. Rather than take that kind of chance, you should at least purchase cancellation/interruption insurance when your trip is going to cost you a pretty penny. If something happens and you have to cut your trip short or cancel it altogether, the nonrefundable part of your reservation – as well as other fees – will be covered.

Package Deals

Package deals are great ways to save money while traveling; all-inclusive deals are even better still. However, they usually come along with very strict rules regarding cancellations. Many times, changing even a single part of your reservation will be penalized by all of the rates being reverted back to their full price. This can turn a cheap vacation into an incredibly costly one. Insurance can help protect you against this type of situation, allowing you to make your plans without fretting about any unforeseen problems ruining everything.

Cruises

Like package deals, cruises usually have very strict rules about cancellations. In fact, cancellations are usually not allowed at all. Booking a cruise can feel a lot like signing your life away, knowing that if anything comes up you are basically out of luck. Travel cover can mitigate this worry, covering you in the event of a problem that forces you to cancel your cruise. Obviously, you would never cancel a cruise without very good reason; travel insurance is just a way to give you peace of mind and can help you avoid losing a lot of money if you need to cancel.

Intricate Plans

Sometimes an itinerary can look like a puzzle, with many complicated maneuverings involved in getting you and your travel companions from point A to point B. If your trip is going to involve a complex series of flight connections, back-to-back flights or other similar details, then travel cover is a smart way to go. Missing even one connection or flight can throw a major kink into the works of your carefully planned itinerary; rather than lose a lot of money booking alternate flights, you can protect yourself with a travel insurance policy.

Other Great Reasons To Get Travel Insurance

Beyond the situations outlined above, there are many other very compelling reasons to purchase travel insurance. Take all of these into consideration when booking your trip in order to determine whether or not travel insurance is right for you.

* If you or a traveling companion suffers from a medical condition, travel health insurance is a smart move in case medical attention is required during your vacation.
* In the event that your bags are lost – prescriptions still inside – travel insurance can work to get your prescription filled in a foreign country.
* If your wallet is stolen, along with your passport, you can be in quite a bind. Good travel insurance will let you get access to emergency funds and to more easily get a temporary passport.
* Airlines sometimes go bankrupt; if yours does, don’t lose out on the nonrefundable parts of your reservation; use travel insurance to have everything reimbursed to you.
* If you become seriously ill or injured in a foreign country, a medical evacuation may be in order. Travel insurance can make this easy to arrange, protecting your health and well being.
* With travel insurance, a cancelled flight doesn’t have to ruin your trip or cost you a lot of money; both can be covered easily.

Derek Rogers is a freelance writer who represents a number of UK businesses. For travel tips, he recommends Gawwk.com, one of the worlds leading online travel guides.

There are no posts related to Is Travel Insurance Really Necessary?.

For a caravan park with employees, employee liability insurance is compulsory by law and caravan park owners must be insured for at least £5m. The Health and Safety Executive can levy fines of up to £2500 per day if any employer does not have adequate cover in place and on display..

Now many might think that a caravan site is a low risk environment, but accidents can and will happen and it is for this reason that caravan park businesses are required to insure itself against this risk. Employee liability insurance enables caravan park owners to meet the costs of damages and legal fees if any employee is injured or made ill at work through the fault of the employer.

It is always possible for employees to injure themselves when mending, repairing or maintaining any of the fixtures, fittings or buildings on the park. They might also be at risk from consuming food and water while on the premises if due hygiene care is not practised and there have been well documented cases of illnesses like Legionnaire’s Disease being caught due to poor hygienic conditions. Extreme, perhaps, but possible. And there is always the risk from the use of faulty electrical equipment.

And remember too that if staff are using vehicles owned by the caravan site and are involved in an accident resulting in injury or worse, the employer may be liable for the cost of any damages if fault is proven. And the NHS can even recover its costs in this event from the caravan park owner should the caravan park owner be at fault.

It is also worth considering public liability insurance to protect the business from claims from customers or indeed from any member of the public visiting the park. Unlike employer liability insurance, public liability insurance is not compulsory but it is only common sense. Public liability insurance covers any awards of damages given to a customer or member of the public because of an injury or damage to their property caused by any employee of the business, including legal fees and costs of hospital treatment.

Any accident that may occur to employees might also be a danger to customers or members of the public visiting the caravan site so it makes sense for the park to be covered against these risks, too. And it is also worth bearing in mind that caravan park customers have significant levels of property as well, as in some instances income streams run the risk of being damaged should disaster strike. In this sense the risks for park customers can be higher.

Running a caravan park is not a dangerous business but it is not without some risk.

And a final piece of advice for anyone running a caravan park or thinking of doing so – go to a broker. A broker will assess all likely risks and will make sure that these risks are insured against at a price that is competitive.

George is the Webmaster of http://www.caravaninsurance.org and we are please to announce that we have a new facility for Caravan Park Insurance to help protect holiday park owners from liability risks.

There are no posts related to Caravan Park Insurance Policies in the UK.

One of the first questions that arise in the process of getting an insurance policy for such type of property is for how long the property is supposed to be unoccupied. This depends mostly on the reason why the property is considered unoccupied.

Such reasons might be: the building might be empty because it is in a probate, the owner renovates it in order to sell it, there might be some construction works that expand the house, the house is prepared for tenants or the property is bought as a vacation or holiday home.

The majority of these reasons require a cover for a short period (no more than 30 days) and this is the most wanted type of unoccupied home insurances in UK. After that period the insurance usually could be transformed into a normal building insurance if the house gets occupied.

The cover for unoccupied properties in the UK also differs from company to company and depends on the conditions of the property, its intended purpose and period of vacancy. For a shorter period some of the policies require the house to be heated, for longer periods the policies might impose various actions to be done by the owner of the property for the cover to be active. Such actions might include finding a way to observe the property every one or two weeks (like asking a neighbour to take a look at the house), stopping electricity in the house, making regular drainages of the water, etc.

Insuring the unoccupied property is vital if the landlord or the owner wants to be sure any accidents that might happen during the period of vacancy will be covered. The usual insurance might not cover the period in which the house is unoccupied or the covered risks might be drastically lower in amount than the owner expects. These types of insurances are often tailored to the specified building and involve on site inspection .

If the property is in a stage of building or developing the policy usually does not has the content covered as such properties does not have any content inside. There are also two types of cover – the basic and the extended cover and the later might include risks like accidental or malicious damage.

If the property is being renovated for one to qualify for the extended cover, the extension or renovation works usually have to be done by a qualified contractor and not by the owner alone.

All these are things one has to have in mind when obtaining unoccupied property in the UK or the occupied property suddenly becomes vacant due to any reason. The most important is that the policy for an occupied property most probably won’t cover the period when the building is empty. For such times a separate insurance for an unoccupied property should be purchased. And when the vacant period ends what is important is if there are any taxes or fees to convert the policy to one of occupied property insurance.

Active Insurance are the leaders in providing low cost unoccupied property insurance solutions. Short term and annual policies available.

There are no posts related to Unoccupied Property Should Be Insured Too.

The reasons why the property gets vacant may vary. The property might be in a process of building and developing in order to sell it for profit, the owners might be moving to another house and selling the old one, occupants may be temporarily out of the house because of renovation or extension works or the property might be bought as a holiday or a vacation home. All these reasons determine periods of different length in which the property stays vacant.

Generally UK insurance companies offer insurance policies for such vacant properties that are located in the UK. Offering policies for properties located abroad is much more difficult as these types of insurances are often connected with an initial inspection of the property’s conditions. Insurance for vacant properties located outside of the UK is easier to get from the respective country office of an international insurance company or a local insurance company in the country where the property is located.

Vacant properties often require special insurance arrangements. Usually these are properties that will be vacant for some time and then become inhabited again. For this amount of time is needed the special insurance for unoccupied properties. The main difference with ordinary property insurance is within the cover clauses. For the cover to be effective and valid in the case of a vacant property usually some actions are required from the owner.

These might be preliminary actions such as in case of a prolonged vacancy to insure that the property is well protected, locked and the gas, electricity or water is securely stopped, and subsequent actions such as arranging with someone, possibly a neighbor, to keep an eye on the property on a regular basis (every one or two weeks).

The most common case of a vacant property is a rental house that is changing its tenants. The landlord should then arrange a vacant property insurance for that period to be sure any risk that might occur is covered. The usual period for such insurances is between 30 and 60 days and they could be prolonged if the period of vacancy extends.

One should ask for any taxes or fees for such continuation of the policy or if it could be transferred to a policy of an occupied house when the property gets habited. Some companies offer automatic continuations while others don’t.

Their fees for that if any, also may vary.
The owners should also pay attention to what risks are covered for the vacant properties and not chose the policy solely based on price. It is a common practice the insurances for properties that are currently under development or being built not to cover the content of the properties as in the most cases such buildings do not have anything inside them. The owner should arrange a special agreement if there is something inside the property that he or she wants to be covered. .

Great deals on unoccupied property insurance quotes from Active Insurance Agents. Providing cover for both residential and commercial empty buildings.

There are no posts related to Things You Should Know About Vacant Property Insurance in the UK.