Fair Deal Advice
If someone in your family needs long term nursing home care, the Fair Deal Scheme is usually the best way to fund it. The application is free. The decisions around it are where families lose money.
We calculate what your contribution will actually be, advise on the cheapest source of funding and whether the Nursing Home Loan is the right route. We also complete the application for you if you need us to. Most people come to us mid-discharge or after a sudden change in a parent’s health, so part of our job is to take the paperwork off you.
100% independent and not affiliated with any nursing home · Nationwide · Free introductory call
250+
Fair Deal cases completed
75%
New clients referred by solicitors, accountants and financial advisors
10+ Years
In the nursing home sector
FCCA
Qualified Accountant
Media
Featured on Newstalk and in the Irish Independent
100%
Independent
Do you need Fair Deal advice?
Plenty of people complete the application themselves without any difficulty. It is worth talking to us if any of the following apply:
You are unsure whether you should apply for the Fair Deal Scheme or pay privately
One partner is going into care and the other is staying in the family home
You are planning ahead and want to future proof your assets
Assets were transferred or gifted in the last five years
You own a farm or a family business and want it protected
There is a second property, a property abroad, or rental income involved
You are asset rich and cash poor, and cannot fund care out of income
A hospital discharge is coming and the application has not been started
Your parent no longer has capacity and there is no Enduring Power of Attorney in place
You have been assessed and the contribution is higher than you expected
If none of that applies to you, you may not need our support and we will tell you.
What We Do
What you get, depending on the level of support you need:
- A calculated Fair Deal contribution based on your real income and assets, so you know the figure before you commit
- A written report you keep
- Taxation advice relevant to your circumstances
- Nursing Home Loan analysis, including whether it is the right option for you
- Advice on capacity and Enduring Power of Attorney, and what to do if it is not in place
- A one hour consultation, in person or online, where we go through the figures with you
- Optional: we complete the application and submit it to the Nursing Homes Support Office for you
What You Will Pay
For a single applicant, your contribution is 80% of your assessable income plus 7.5% of the value of your assets per year. The first €36,000 of assets is not counted. Your home is only assessed for three years, to a maximum of 22.5% of its value, and then it drops out permanently. You do not have to sell it.
In practice, a person with a €400 weekly pension, €50,000 in savings and a €250,000 home contributes around €700 a week, falling to around €340 after three years.
For a couple, the contribution is 40% of the combined net income, 3.75% of combined assets and the first €72,000 is exempt.
That is the straightforward version. What it does not cover is a farm, a business, a second property, assets transferred in the last five years, or a couple where one partner stays at home. Those are the cases where the figure moves significantly, and they are the cases we are usually called about.
Read our full guide to how the Fair Deal Scheme works.
Enduring Power of Attorney
Not having Enduring Power of Attorney in place is the single most common reason a Fair Deal application may be delayed. If your parent no longer has capacity to sign, the home loan application cannot proceed until someone is legally authorised to act for them, and that takes time nobody has when a hospital discharge is pending.
We work with a solicitor who handles this, so if it needs sorting we can point you straight at it rather than leaving you to find someone.
Is a nursing home definitely the right option?
Not always, and we will say so. For a lot of families, staying at home with the right support is both the preferred option and the workable one.
We partner with Dovida for private home care services, so if that looks like the better route we can help you set it up. That advice is free.
How long it takes
Once a completed application reaches the Fair Deal office, it takes around 10 to 12 weeks for it to be approved.
Our part is faster. If you get us everything we need, we turn the work around in 72 hours. That matters when a bed is being held or a discharge date has been set.
A few things worth knowing about timing:
- You can apply up to six months before the place is needed, and applying early costs you nothing
- Funding is not backdated. It starts from the date of approval or the date of admission, whichever is later
- If a bed is needed before approval comes through, the cost falls to the family in the meantime
- Private health insurance does not cover long term nursing home care
Our service is a fee paying service, and what you pay depends on how complex your circumstances are. We will tell you the figure before we start, not after.
Most of our clients are not paying us to fill in a form. They are paying to find out, before they commit to anything, what the scheme will actually cost them and whether there is a better route available. That answer is usually worth considerably more than the fee.
The introductory call is free and there is no obligation.
What it costs families to get this wrong
A solicitor passed on my details to a daughter whose mother had been in a nursing home for two years. In all that time they had been paying the full private rate. They had never applied for the Fair Deal Scheme at all, because somebody had told them they would lose the family home if they did.
That one piece of misinformation cost the family €80,000.
There is a lot of misinformation circulating about the Fair Deal Scheme, and some of it comes from people who sound like they ought to know. Before you make a decision with financial consequences this size, get advice from an expert that has experience in the sector.
How We Work
Five stages. We can stop after any of them.
Initial Enquiry
Tell us by phone, email or the form what your situation is. We will tell you what we can do and whether you need us at all. Free, no obligation.
Fact Gathering
We send you a list of what we need: income, assets, property details. The list is specific, so you are not guessing.
Report
Within 48 hours of getting everything, you have a written report covering your Fair Deal contribution, tax position, how to complete the application, funding options, the Nursing Home Loan alternative, and capacity.
Consultation
An hour, in person or online. We go through the figures and you ask whatever you need to ask.
Application
Optional. We complete the form and submit it with all supporting documents to the Fair Deal office on your behalf.
Why applications get delayed or refused
No Enduring Power of Attorney where the applicant no longer has capacity. The most common cause by a distance.
Assets transferred inside the five year window and not declared
Incomplete or missing supporting documents
A care needs assessment concluding that home support would be sufficient
Property valuations not accepted, or not from a registered valuer
Why Care Home Consultancy Ireland
Everything In One Place
We are the only service in Ireland that will source the nursing home and handle the Fair Deal advice together. You are not managing two sets of advisors.
Completely Independent
We are not affiliated with any nursing home or nursing home group, and we take nothing from anyone but you. That is the whole basis of the advice being worth having.
Financial Expertise
Donal is a qualified accountant (FCCA) with over a decade in the nursing home sector, seven of those in senior management with major Irish nursing home groups.
Trusted By Professionals
75% of our new clients come to us through solicitors, accountants and financial advisors.
Nationwide
Based in North County Dublin, working across the country, in person or online.
Working With Hospitals
We work with both public and private hospitals, helping families make decisions at the point of discharge.
About Donal Dempsey
Donal founded Care Home Consultancy after more than a decade in the nursing home sector, including over seven years in senior management with major Irish nursing home groups. He is a qualified accountant (FCCA), which matters here: the Fair Deal assessment is a financial exercise before it is anything else.
He writes regularly for the Irish Independent on the Fair Deal Scheme, has appeared on Newstalk with Sinead Ryan, and has delivered webinars to over 100 accountants, solicitors and financial brokers on how the scheme works.
“I founded Care Home Consultancy to give families the peace of mind they deserve during what can be a difficult transition.”
Donal Dempsey
What our clients say
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