What does the team do?

This service supports vulnerable adults to remain living as independently as possible by

• Safeguarding and protecting adults from financial abuse
• Empowering individuals and supporting them to make decisions about their own property and financial affairs
• Providing for an individual’s material needs to ensure they are comfortably accommodated and can maintain a reasonable standard of living.

The benefit to the local authority in providing this service includes:

• Preventing homelessness and/or preventing or delaying a person’s admission to residential care
• Securing payment of charges and debts due to the local authority from the individual for care fees, council tax, rent etc 
• Allowing individuals to self-fund their care for longer by unlocking assets, selling properties, entering into Deferred Payment Agreements with the local authority, and investing money.

The scope of financial and property affairs is broad and can be complex

In addition to working directly with vulnerable adults and supporting them with their affairs, the functions carried out by the team include:

• Financial administration – payment of invoices, purchasing, bank account reconciliation, managing debt, investing money
• Property maintenance – protecting unoccupied properties, clearing and selling properties, signing and ending tenancies, maintaining owner/occupied properties, managing Motability vehicles
• Legal – making applications to the court of protection, attending court hearings, administering estates, and dealing with Wills and Probate matters