What Happens If You Run Out of NDIS Funding?
Written by: NDIS Plan Management Team
You’ve realised your NDIS Funding is running out faster than expected and may not last the duration of your NDIS Plan. Do not panic! We get it. We’ve seen it all before and we’re here to help. Life happens, circumstances change, and your support needs and goals may be different from when your NDIS Plan started. Turns out you may need more supports and services than what was initially predicted in some areas and less in others – and that’s ok!
Everyone’s National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) Plan is as individual as the individual themself and can change and evolve over time, based on the support needs and goals. Your NDIS Plan was created to try to fit your supports and services you required to help you achieve your goals. NDIS Plan funding is structured and calculated to cover the full duration of your NDIS Plan, but we all know life doesn’t always go to plan…
Why Understanding Your NDIS Plan From The Beginning Is Important
We get it. We understand how confusing and sometimes, overwhelming it can be to receive your NDIS Plan and have an allocation of NDIS Funding broken into categories that don’t yet make sense can be. That’s where we, Canny Plan Management, come in. We can help you understand how your NDIS Plan has been tailored and built to support your needs and your goals.
We can work with you to create a funding budget breakdown, identifying various supports and services and the amounts required to engage the supports and services over the course of your NDIS Plan. When you’re receiving multiple supports and services from various NDIS Providers who are all invoicing from the same funds, it can be hard to keep track of. We look after the who, what, when, and how much because we want you to be able to enjoy life without having to worry about the financial side of your NDIS Plan.
So, let’s touch on the basics again:
NDIS Budgets – The Types of Funding
- Core Supports – are supports that enable an NDIS Participant to complete activities of daily living.
- Capacity Building Supports – are supports that enable an NDIS Participant to build their independence and skills.
- Capital Supports – are investments, such as assistive technologies – equipment, home, or vehicle modifications, or for Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA).NDIS Participant budgets for this support purpose are restricted to specific items identified in the NDIS Participant’s plan.
NDIS Plan funding, in particular, Core Support funding is generally flexible within the specific funding type, but not interchangeable between the funding types.
We touch more on this in a previous blog: So, Just How Flexible is Flexible… In The NDIS?
The Importance of a Service Agreement
It’s important to have a service agreement, for many reasons. We touch more on this in a previous blog: NDIS Participants + Service Agreements.
While not mandatory, having a service agreement with each of your NDIS Providers definitely sets you on the right foot from the beginning of your NDIS Plan. It helps to budget your funding, and provide transparency over the supports and services to be delivered, making sure both you and the provider understand the expectations and outcomes of the agreement.
For example, if in your NDIS Plan you have been funded for the equivalent of 20 hours of Capacity Building Improved Daily Living allied therapy supports and you plan to use it for Occupational Therapy, it may not mean 20 hours of direct services. Subject to prior agreement from you, your provider can charge for travel to and from appointments, non-face to face note supports including report writing and late notice cancellation charges.
Times this by multiple NDIS Providers, and before you know it your NDIS Funds might be running low quicker than expected. Of course, things happen, extra services are needed and life doesn’t work like perfectly scheduled clockwork. Unfortunately, the unexpected is not factored into your NDIS Plan, so if this does occur, funding expenditure needs to be monitored to reduce the risk of being without the support or services you need.
Canny Plan Management’s Service Agreement is with our NDIS Participant client, not the providers. We provide regular funding updates to our clients (and/or Suppor Coordinator if applicable) to ensure they are aware of their funding status to liaise directly with their NDIS Providers to keep them informed if they need to change the engagement or schedule of supports, due to remaining low funding.
NDIS Plan Management Helps You Keep Track of Your Funding
At Canny Plan Management, we do things differently – in a good way that is. We listen, and we help. Yes, we process the invoices from your NDIS Providers, but we do much more. We’re here to help you maximise your NDIS Plan to its fully potential through your choice and control over your supports, services and engagement of providers, by guiding you and providing information on reasonable and necessary supports, and compliance with the NDIS rules and requirements.
We become part of your support network… Having an NDIS Plan Manager means you have an extra set of eyes on your NDIS Funding. In addition to sending monthly statements and providing access to the Canny Plan Management client portal, our system is set up to provide an alert when 70% of a funding category has been utilised. This helps you to review your funding status and where necessary, due to low funding, make any changes to engagement or schedule of supports for the remainder of your NDIS Plan.
At Canny Plan Management, we have put multiple things in place to help you, keep up to date with your NDIS Funding utilisation and budgets and how it’s tracking.
How Canny Plan Management Help – from Start to End to Manage Your Plan
- Budget breakdown – we create an initial budget based on how your NDIS Funding has been allocated between the funding type categories.
- Live portal access – we can give you (and/or your Support Coordination) 24/7 live access to your funding status so you can always be on top of your NDIS Plan and how you’re tracking.
- Monthly statements – we send you monthly statements on how your funding was used for the previous months.
- Provider Service Agreements – we can allocate NDIS Funds to specific providers if we receive a copy of their service agreement
- Monitor your funds – with the flexibility of Core Support funding, we can move funds between the Core supports sub-categories if you require.
- Approve invoices yourself – if you prefer to approve invoices yourself, we can set this up. We can still do all the nitty gritty behind-the-scenes and administrative work for you and send you a link to view and approve the invoice.
- Send low funds alerts – when any of your funds hit 70% utilisation, we notify you (or your Support Coordinator if applicable).
- Only a phone call away – the Canny Plan Management team are available to be contacted via phone during business hours, Monday to Friday.
Whose Responsibility Is It To Monitor Your Funds + Let Your NDIS Providers Know?
Will you stop receiving services if your NDIS Funds run out?
Canny Plan Management are always here to help, to guide you though, to break it down and explain it all, no matter how may questions you have but ultimately the final decision on the engagement of supports and funding expenditure is with you as the NDIS Participant.
We will monitor your funding and expenditure and notify you of your funding status through the monthly reports, access to the Canny Plan Management portal, and contact you when you have expended 70% of funding within a funding category. It’s then up to you (or your Support Coordinator) to liaise and inform your providers.
Nurturing a good relationship with your NDIS Providers and communicating with them when funds are running low is important to enabling changes of supports, which may need to be put in place, and reduce the risk of having to self-fund any outstanding amounts which may be owed to the provider.
The NDIS aims to make sure you’re not without services so fostering a good relationship with your NDIS providers as well as having a team like Canny Plan Management managing your NDIS Funding is a great place to start.
Why It’s Important To Be Prepared for Your NDIS Plan Reassessment (formally NDIS Plan Review)
If you’re running out of NDIS Funding earlier than anticipated, it’s a sign you’ll need to contact the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) to request an NDIS Plan Reassessment meeting. It’s important to be prepared for the plan reassessment and communicate why the funding is running out sooner than expected. As well as provide information, including reports to support a reassessment for a new NDIS Plan with increased funding.
We go further in-depth in one of our previous blogs: How to Prepare For Your NDIS Plan Review.
You might also want to think about what you want to talk about at the plan reassessment meeting. This might include:
- What worked will in your NDIS Plan?
- Which goals you achieved?
- What didn’t work as well?
- Do you have any new goals you would like included in your next NDIS Plan?
- Have there been any changes to your situation? Are you expecting any changes to your situation?
So, If your NDIS Funds are Running low ‘who you gonna call?’ The …Canny Plan Management!
Regardless of if you are a current Canny Plan Management client or not, we are here to help! Get in touch with our team today to find out why we are the leaders in NDIS Plan Management services and why we work for the client and put them first!
If you are unsure about why or how your NDIS Funding is running low in your NDIS Plan, Canny Plan Management can help you to understand and navigate your NDIS Plan and your funding so that you get the supports and services you need, when you need them.
