While reviewing financial arrangements for a young woman with cerebral palsy, Paladin Advice uncovered missing support and helped secure a significant back payment of NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC) funding. Continue reading to learn how we guided our client and her family through the process and ensured her primary healthcare needs would be met throughout her life.

Depleting Damages Award and Lack of NHS Continuing Care Funding

Our client is a young woman living with cerebral palsy, who has been awarded damages to fund specialist support for her significant long-term care needs. When a new deputy was appointed to oversee her financial and investment planning, Paladin Advice was instructed to:

• Take over the investment management of the client’s funds
• Review the financial due diligence carried out under the previous deputyship
• Provide forward-looking cashflow modelling to ensure long-term sustainability

However, upon reviewing the existing financial arrangements, we identified two key concerns:

1. Funds were depleting faster than expected – Cashflow analysis demonstrated that current care and support costs were placing increasing strain on the settlement. This was having a knock-on effect on the family, who were constantly worried money would run out.
2. A major funding entitlement had been missed – No application had previously been made for CHC funding, a critical source of support for people with primary healthcare needs.

Without intervention, there was a real risk that the client’s compensation would not cover a lifetime of care.

CHC Funding Eligibility

As experts in managing finances for the most vulnerable clients in the UK, Paladin Advice were able to spot that CHC funding had not been claimed, provide a holistic review and implement a long-term strategy to ensure funds would last throughout our client’s life.

Firstly, through our detailed lifetime cashflow analysis projections, we helped the deputy and family understand current expenditure levels, the sustainability of care funding and the long-term affordability of support and care packages.

Secondly, as standard, we carried out a full CHC funding eligibility assessment and instructed the family on how to apply for Continuing Healthcare. This involved:

• Identifying whether our client was eligible for funding
• Assistance with submitting the initial NHS Continuing Care funding application
• Gathering evidence and documentation related to our client’s long-term care needs
• Liaising with professionals involved in our client’s care

Although our client met all Continuing Healthcare criteria, the initial application was rejected. This is a common outcome, as the NHS must prove that applicants’ needs primarily relate to healthcare (which they must fund) rather than social care (which local authorities fund). CHC funding is incredibly difficult to secure, with eligibility varying widely.

Paladin Advice supported the deputy through the appeal process, resulting in a significant six-figure back payment of CHC funding and ongoing recognition of eligibility. This was transformational for our client’s long-term security.

Thirdly, beyond CHC funding, Paladin Advice identified further statutory support available to contribute towards a plan for long-term care, including:

• Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) – We confirmed eligibility for a DFG, which secures up to £30,000 in government-funded support for home adaptations and reduces the need to fund privately.
• Welfare Benefits Oversight – We ensured our client’s welfare benefits were reviewed and maintained, preventing missed entitlements and supporting household stability.

Provision for Long-Term Care Needs

Having secured backdated NHS Continuing Care funding, Paladin Advice restructured our client’s financial position by replenishing invested funds, retaining appropriate levels of cash for flexibility and reducing long-term pressure on her damages award.

This meant that her primary healthcare needs could be met throughout her life, with significantly reduced risk of fund exhaustion, and financial investment planning could begin in earnest.

This outcome delivered both financial security and emotional reassurance for everyone involved.

We Ensure Settlements Support Plans for Long-Term Care

This case highlights our team’s expertise in combining specialist financial planning, knowledge of statutory funding and deputyship support to protect vulnerable clients and ensure that lifelong primary healthcare needs are met.

As we have seen, the difference between ‘good enough’ and ‘fully optimised’ can be worth hundreds of thousands of pounds and a lifetime of security.

If you require guidance on NHS Continuing Care funding or specialist financial investment planning for a vulnerable person, please contact Paladin Advice today. We also offer a free Life After Settlement meeting for people who have recently received a damages award.