How can going into hospital affect my finances?

Going into hospital can affect your finances in a number of ways. You may find:

• your income may drop,
• you may not be able to afford all of your bills and you may fall into arrears,
• your benefit entitlement could change, or 
• your doctor might think that you cannot make money decisions for yourself.

This is called not having ‘mental capacity’. If you can’t make decisions, someone else might have to do this for you. Your relative could apply to get an Enduring Power of Attorney, so that they can represent you if you lose mental capacity. You can find detailed information about the EPA in Options for dealing with someone else’s debt.