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Clear and honest prices
Beacon is not a charity, but we are a non-profit social enterprise, which means that we operate on an ethical and values-based system. We are realistic with our clients about chances of success; we are upfront about our fees at every stage; and we donate any profits made to supporting charitable objectives that are in line with our aims.
We also guarantee that you will never be tied into a long-term contract, and we will never ask for payment upfront. You can ask us to stop work on your case at any time.
We publish our prices as we believe in full transparency with our clients, from the start.
Our fees go towards covering our costs and paying our expert team.
See below our fees for our Representation and Casework services.
Assessment Advocacy Service
Our Assessment Advocacy Service is designed to support you through the CHC full assessment process. This is for people who have been referred to their Integrated Care Board (ICB) for a full assessment, usually following the completion of a Checklist Screening Assessment, or for people who are already eligible and are being reassessed to see if they remain eligible.
Our experienced caseworkers will help you to understand the NHS Continuing Healthcare criteria and to prepare for your assessment, representing you at the assessment meeting and giving you the best chance possible of achieving an accurate and fair assessment without the need for an appeal.
The cost of the Assessment Advocacy Service is £2,500 (plus VAT). This represents 2 – 3 weeks’ typical care home fees.
Please note that this service is for ‘current’ assessments of need rather than retrospective assessments which generally span a longer assessment period.
Click here to find out more about our Assessment Advocacy Service.
Assessment Advocacy with Evidence Review Service
Our Assessment Advocacy with Evidence Review Service is the same as our Assessment Advocacy service (above), but with the benefit of a comprehensive review of care records and a written report as to how those records could be improved to better reflect your care needs.
The cost of the Assessment Advocacy Plus+ Service is £3,500 (plus VAT). This represents 3 – 4 weeks’ typical care home fees.
Please note that this service is only possible where we are able to begin work on your case at least two weeks in advance of the assessment, and able to obtain a copy of your care records in sufficient time.
Click here to find out more about our Assessment Advocacy with Evidence Review Service.
Checklist Advocacy Service
Our Checklist Advocacy Service is designed to support you with the Continuing Healthcare screening process, which is the first stage of assessment. This is for people who have been notified that a Checklist screening is due to take place and would like our help to ensure the Checklist is carried out correctly. We can also help to arrange the Checklist. Our experienced caseworkers will help you to understand the Checklist criteria and prepare for the screening, giving you the best chance possible of meeting the criteria to progress to the next stage of assessment.
Please note that this service is for ‘current’ checklist assessments rather than retrospective checklists which generally span a longer assessment period.
The cost of the Checklist Advocacy Service is £1,200 (plus VAT).
Click here to find out more about our Checklist Advocacy Service.
Expert Analysis Service
This is our most popular service and is for people who have been assessed as ‘not eligible’ for NHS Continuing Healthcare.
We will ask you to send us your Decision Support Tool, eligibility decision letter and any panel reports associated with the eligibility decision. Our specialist caseworkers will then conduct a review of your assessment based on our understanding of your care needs and produce a written opinion document which looks in detail at the quality of assessment and application of the criteria to your needs, scrutinises the process, and provides you with tailored advice that will enable you to appeal the eligibility decision. Once you have received and read your completed analysis, your caseworker will contact you to arrange a telephone or video-conference consultation, during which they will discuss the Analysis with you in detail and answer any questions you may have.
The cost of the Expert Analysis Service is £1,295 (plus VAT).
Click here to find out more about our Expert Analysis Service.
Appeal Management Services
Our Appeal Management services are for those who have been assessed as not eligible for NHS Continuing Healthcare and would like us to manage the appeal process on their behalf.
Our caseworkers will advise and share expertise with you, so that you are able to make informed decisions and remain in control of the process. Experience has shown that the key to a successful appeal is drawing on the detailed knowledge of the individual’s care needs from the people and professionals who know them the best. Our approach, which contrasts to many claims firms working in this area, is to involve you throughout to ensure that the case is built on accurate and comprehensive first-hand evidence.
To help you stay in control of your budget, we offer two Appeal Management services:
Our Full Appeal Management Service allows us to manage the whole process on your behalf from start to finish.
Our Bespoke Appeal Management Service is very similar to the Full Appeal Management Service, however rather than commissioning us to manage the entire appeal from start to finish, we agree each piece of work one stage at a time to help you plan and stay in control of your budget.
Our Appeal Management services are charged at our standard hourly rate and will be agreed with you in advance.
Click here to find out more about our Appeal Management services.
NHS Complaint Service
Our NHS Complaint Service is for people who wish to make a formal complaint through the NHS complaints procedure about a Continuing Healthcare-related matter which cannot be addressed through the appeals process.
Our caseworkers will assess the strength of your grounds before agreeing the most appropriate course of action with you. In most cases this will consist of a research and fact-gathering stage after which we will write to the NHS body concerned detailing their failures and proposing remedial action. If you are not satisfied with the NHS body’s response, we will then take your complaint through their stage-one formal complaint procedure and if necessary on to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman.
The NHS Complaint Service is charged at our standard hourly rate and we will agree the number of hours required with you at each stage.
Click here to find out more about our NHS Complaint Service.
Hourly rate
Beacon’s fees are significantly less than those of many other firms.
Our standard hourly rate is £210.
Travel time is charged at the rate of £105 per hour (for example attending appeal meetings) and mileage is charged at £0.45 per mile from our head office in South Oxfordshire or the location of your caseworker, whichever is closest.
VAT is added to all costs.
See below for an example cost comparison with other firms, based on a case requiring 36 hours of casework for an individual who spent two years in a care home.
| Organisation | Model | Rate | Cost exc. VAT | Total Charge |
| Typical Firm | No Win No Fee | 40% Fee | £33,280 | £39,936 |
| Typical Firm | Hourly Charge | £300 | £10,800 | £12,960 |
| Beacon | Hourly Charge | £210 | £7,560 | £9,072 |
Free Information & Advice Service
As well as our chargeable Representation and Casework services, Beacon is the chosen supplier for the NHS England Free Information & Advice Service for CHC.
Our trained staff can answer your questions on any aspect of NHS Continuing Healthcare in England.
Click here to find out more about our Free Information & Advice service, and to find out how to book a consultation of up to 90 minutes with a specialist adviser.
