About CareAdvocate | CHC Guidance Experts

Our Mission

CareAdvocate exists to give families the knowledge they need to navigate the care funding system in England with confidence. We believe that understanding your rights and options should not require a law degree, a financial adviser, or sheer luck.

Every year, tens of thousands of families face the reality of arranging and paying for care — whether for an ageing parent, a spouse, or themselves. The system that governs who pays, how much, and what support is available is one of the most complex areas of public policy in the United Kingdom. Yet the people who need to understand it most — families in crisis — are often given little more than a leaflet and a phone number.

We are here to change that.

The Problem We Solve

NHS Continuing Healthcare is a legal entitlement that funds the full cost of care for people with a primary health need — free at the point of use, not means-tested. An approved family pays nothing for care. A rejected family pays everything.

The problem is not awareness alone. It is that the evidence standard required to win a CHC application is not explained to families, the documentation they already have is rarely presented in the way assessors need to see it, and the 12-domain Decision Support Tool is written in clinical language that most families cannot navigate without help.

Common reasons families lose or miss out entirely:

• Nobody flagged it — the NHS has no obligation to raise CHC funding, and most families discover it late or by accident.
• The wrong evidence was submitted — strong needs presented without reference to the correct clinical descriptors are routinely underscored.
• Well-managed needs were overlooked — NHS guidance requires needs to be assessed as they would present without the current care package. This is widely ignored in practice, and families rarely know to challenge it.
• The retrospective claims window was missed — families can claim back up to six years of costs if CHC was never properly assessed during that period.

These are not edge cases. They affect hundreds of thousands of families every year, and the financial consequences can be severe.

Who We Are

CareAdvocate was founded by Matthew Hosking, a legal manager with a background in reviewing medical records for litigation and formal public inquiries. Matthew has spent his career doing the kind of evidential work that CHC applications actually require: systematic document review, source weighting, gap identification, and structured arguments linked to a specific legal standard.

That framework is what drives this project. Primary health need is a legal test, not a clinical one — and families who approach the CHC process without that framing are at an immediate disadvantage. CareAdvocate applies the same evidential rigour to CHC cases that legal professionals apply in formal proceedings, at a price that reflects what families can actually afford.

How Our Content Is Developed

Our guides are carefully researched using primary legal and regulatory sources, including the Care Act 2014, NHS National Framework for Continuing Healthcare, NICE guidelines, and CQC standards. Content is written with AI assistance and reviewed by a legal and regulatory professional, a senior social worker, and experienced local government social care professionals. Reviewers are not individually named while they are still employed.

Our guides are reviewed against primary legislation (Care Act 2014, NHS CHC National Framework) and updated when the law or NHS guidance changes.

For full details of how we produce and verify content, please see our editorial policy.

Our Values

• Independence — We do not accept sponsorship, run affiliate links, or take payments from care providers. Our guidance is written solely in the interests of families.
• Accuracy — Every claim is sourced and every guide is reviewed. We correct errors promptly and transparently.
• Accessibility — Complex information is presented in plain English, structured clearly, and free to access.
• Empathy — We understand that families reading our content are often under enormous stress. We write with warmth, without condescension.

Get in Touch

We welcome feedback, corrections, and suggestions. If you have a question about our content or would like to get involved, please visit our contact page.

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