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Accomodation Bond
ACCOMODATION BOND
ACCOMMODATION BOND HELP IN PERTH
We have substantial experience in the aged care and retirement living sectors and in depth knowledge of the relevant legislative frameworks.
Our lawyers can assist you in aged care and retirement living services in the following areas:
- Aged care and retirement village facility leases, and managed agreements.
If you moved into an aged care home before 1 July 2014, you may have paid an accommodation bond to your aged care home provider.
ACCOMODATION BOND
An accommodation bond is an amount that you pay for your accommodation in an aged care home. You would have been asked to pay an accommodation bond when you moved into an aged care home and you had low-level care needs or when you moved into an extra-service place with high care needs.
An accommodation bond works like an interest-free loan to an aged care home. Any income earned from the bond is used by the aged care home to improve accommodation and services.
You can only be charged an accommodation bond for an aged care home that is certified as meeting minimum building and care standards.
The bond (with any amounts taken out that you have agreed on) is returned to you or your estate when you leave the aged care home.
The accommodation bond amount
The amount of your accommodation bond is worked out based on your assessed assets when you first moved into an aged care home. The Department of Human Services would not have advised the amount of accommodation bond that you could be asked to pay, the amount you pay is agreed between you and the aged care home.
However, you cannot be asked to pay an accommodation bond that will leave you with less than $49,000 in assets (from 20 September 2018 to 19 March 2019).
Bond amounts can vary between residents in the same aged care home, as well as between homes because the bond is based on an individuals assessed assets.
When you agreed to your accommodation bond amount, there were a number of payment options you could have chosen. These are:
- A lump sum
- Periodic (regular) payments (usually every fortnight or month), or
- A combination of lump sum and periodic (rental-style) payments.
If you agreed to pay a lump sum, you had up to six months after you moved into your aged care home to make the payment.
However, if you didn’t pay your bond in full on the day you moved into the aged care home, you can be charged interest on the outstanding amount owing – as set out in your accommodation bond agreement.
The Australian Government sets the maximum interest rate you can be charged, which is fixed at your date of entry to aged care.
If your assets go up or down after you move into a home, this does not affect the amount of your accommodation bond or the interest charged. Your assessed assets are fixed at the date you first entered an aged care home and won’t be reassessed unless you request this when you move to a new home and your care needs have ‘increased’.
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