If you live in England and have been paying for your own care, you can explore the possibility of reclaiming care home fees you have wrongly paid as far back as 1 April 2012.

But how is it possible that many thousands of people have wrongly paid for their care in the first place?

Quite simply, lots of people continue to pay for care home fees which should be funded by their local NHS Clinical Commissioning Group (“CCG”).

By law, the CCG must fully fund your care if you have a “Primary Health Need” and the only way to decide whether you have a Primary Health Need is to undertake a detailed assessment of your needs.

If you have never heard of NHS Continuing Healthcare, or you know that you have never been assessed for it, then you should think about whether you are entitled to an assessment.

It is possible to seek an assessment of your eligibility now, known as a current assessment, and if you have been paying for your care for some time and have never been assessed, you can also ask for a retrospective assessment of your eligibility.

If you are concerned about a loved one who was never assessed for NHS Continuing Healthcare Funding in their lifetime, and they have since passed away, it is possible for the executors of their will to bring a retrospective claim.

Understandably, you might feel it is important to know whether you have a viable claim before embarking on the complex process of bringing and arguing your case. Or, you may just want to ensure you are presenting your claim in the best possible way to maximise the chances of a good outcome.

Ridley & Hall’s specialist care home fees partner, James Urquhart-Burton, can discuss your case with you and advise whether your claim for a refund of care home fees has a strong legal basis and how best to approach it.

Contact James for a confidential and no obligation discussion about your case on 0800 8 60 62 65.