Fair Deal Advice Blog

Honesty is The Only Policy When Submitting A Fair Deal Application

In my work running Fairdealadvice.ie, I am regularly engaged by clients to help resolve issues with Fair Deal/Nursing Home Support Scheme applications that have been submitted incorrectly. These errors have resulted in excessive contributions been taken by the HSE from applicants or under payments by the recipient sometimes for protracted periods before the errors have been discovered.

While we can recover over payments for our clients, we often are engaged by clients to help resolve situations where underpayments have been made. Underpayments can occur due to to incorrect asset and income figures supplied deliberately or otherwise or delays in notification of the death of a spouse which changes the status of the person receiving Fair Deal financial assistance from a couple to a single person and results in the recipient’s pension and asset contributions doubling and allowances halving. Delays in notification can result in a substantial debt accumulating and where under declaration of income and assets is discovered the recipient of Fair Deal support can be removed from the Scheme and all underpayments and Fair Deal funding paid to date by the HSE will be reclaimed by the HSE.

Errors also occur typically due to lack of information been available at the time of application and often by people applying for the Fair Deal for a relative who do not have the necessary skills to complete the forms correctly and or who are stressed from the pressure and emotional distress of having to admit a loved one to long term care.

Most worrying however is bad advice from persons who are not qualified to advise or who don’t know the specific circumstances financial and otherwise of the applicant. From my experience these can be friends, relatives, medical professionals and even some financial advisers. Often this advice is not to declare all of a person’s assets and income to reduce the applicant’s contribution to their long- term care costs under the Fair Deal. A recent example of this was a friend of a client applying for the Fair Deal telling her that she did not declare all her assets when applying for the Fair Deal for her husband and her application was not audited.

The HSE will find out that a recipient of Fair Deal support has undeclared and undervalued assets and income only after the person has died. Before an estate can now be distributed and where the deceased was in receipt of Fair Deal support a copy of the Inland Revenue Affidavit in respect of the Deceased’s Estate is filed with the HSE for the purpose of obtaining a Certificate of Clearance prior to the distribution of the Estate. This allows the HSE to crosscheck the assets and income declared by the deceased person or their representative in their Fair Deal Application. Any discrepancies will result in the HSE recovering any loss it may have incurred by undeclared income and assets and may result in any subsidy given being recovered in full from the Estate. This will result in delays in the distribution and in a reduction in the value of the estate to be distributed.

I trust you find this article informative and helpful and it highlights to you the importance of ensuring that the information submitted on your application for Fair Deal is correct. If you are looking to apply for the Fair Deal and need help and advice regarding any aspect of the Fair Deal please contact me Tom Murray on 086 6015042 or at advice@fairdealadvice.ie. For further information visit our website www.fairdealadvice.ie.

At Fair Deal Advice we offer impartial advice to our Clients on the Fair Deal and are not linked to any financial institutions or will attempt to sell any financial or investment products to you.

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 Corinne Culloty 
 
 
 
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The Fair Deal process can be cumbersome, complicated and hugely stressful. Tom’s guidance, support and reassurance have been invaluable to our family. He is calm and composed in his approach, rational and practical in his assistance and always responsive, whether by email or phone, while furnishing us along the way with much valued spreadsheets and back-up material. I just wish we had engaged with Tom sooner…
  
 
  
 
 
 
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 Conor O'Kane 
 
 
 
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Absolutely outstanding service. Highly recommended. Tom has a huge amount of experience with the Fair Deal process. Really helped us navigate the process during a difficult time. Thank-you.
  
 
  
 
 
 
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 Ursula Scarrfecody 
 
 
 
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I cannot recommend Tom's expertise highly enough . His calm and reassuring manner and his knowledge in the field of fairdeal is a breadth of fresh air .When I was at my wits end with a very stressful experience regarding a fair deal application he rang me back promptly . His advise and help were invaluable .I just wish I'd known about this service before I applied . I advise everyone going through this process to seek professional help and you won't go wrong with a phonecall to Tom. Thank you for your help .
  
 
  
 
 
 
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 Mary Collins-Smith 
 
 
 
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We contacted Tom for advice on my mothers care when my sister and I traveled to Ireland to visit our mother who was waiting to be discharged to a Nursing Home from CUH. His advice was thorough and he was able to assess my mothers financial needs very quickly.  His expertise, follow up, and professionalism were highly evident.  Tom sees things through and he takes his professional role seriously.  We will continue to refer to Tom on my mothers loan application process for her care. I am relieved to have found someone like Tom to help us navigate the nursing home process.  A million thanks, Tom for all your help!  I am happy to know you.
  
 
  
 
 
 
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 Mary O'Driscoll 
 
 
 
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Tom is exceptional.  His calm, reassuring expertise and ability cuts through the mind numbing complexity of the Fair Deal and supports when you are making difficult & heart-breaking decisions. Our Dad had died unexpectedly just days after our mother had transferred in an emergency situation into full-time care.  Thus, the original Fair Deal application was null & void. We were dealing with grief, anxiety over our mother’s care and dread over how her care would be funded. After one discussion with Tom,  a weight lifted off our shoulders and we had a clear approach to manage our revised Fair Deal application. If I had known of Tom’s existence, I would have persuaded my Dad to have spoken to him years ago. He would have put my Dad and all of us on the best financial pathway to not only provide the best care for my mother but would have removed the dread and fear that my Dad felt, believing he was going to lose everything trying to fund my mother’s care. My advice would be to contact Tom years in advance of needing care funding;  ask him to do a Fair Deal financial assessment and create a financial plan.  You will sleep better at night!
  
 
  
 
 
 
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 Jim Dore 
 
 
 
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I was directed to Tom by my attorney in July, regarding my mothers accelerated need for full time care. Living overseas and not knowing what I didn't know, Tom was a phenomenal resource to help me understand the ins & outs of the long term care options. It is by far the best investment one can make before proceeding down this path, absolutely invaluable advice & insight. Not cheap but you certainly get what you pay for - from the moment I reviewed everything with Tom, I had a huge sense of relief about the process.
  
 
  
 
 
 
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 Bastable-Warren Irish-Dancers 
 
 
 
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I have had the privilege of using the service on 2 separate occasions and I can honestly say that it was the most professional service I received in the area of providing advice around that fair deal System run by the HSE. The cost of the service was more than out weighed by the savings accrued as a result of Toms expertise and advice throughout (several thousand euro in savings) We were so lucky to have an expert such as Tom who provided information, expertise and most of all personal advice during the entire process and cannot thank him enough for his support and assistance.
  
 
  
 
 
 
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 Brian Mac manus 
 
 
 
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Tom Murray Fair Deal  was a huge help to us. He guided us the whole way through. His advice is impeccable. He responds to phone calls and e mails immediately and produces documents almost in real time. I could not emphasise too strongly the help Tom provided. Worth every penny. Thanks Tom.
  
 
  
 
 
 
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 Bernie Walsh 
 
 
 
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I contacted Tom for advice regarding the Fair Deal Scheme as my mother required full time care in a nursing home. Tom's expertise and advice was invaluable. He made the whole daunting process very easy. He had a list of required documents (some that I didn’t know I would need). He took the pain and worry out of the whole process and put my mind at rest. I cannot recommend Tom and this service highly enough. I consider this to be money well spent. Thanks Tom.