Paying for residential care

The Council follows regulations set out by central government when deciding what people can afford to pay toward the cost of their care, and how much financial help they can get.

In general, everyone needs to pay something toward the cost of their care, unless one of the following applies:

• Your care is provided under Section 117 of the Mental Health Act 1983
• You qualify for NHS continuing Health Care Funding. See NHS: Continuing Healthcare

Some people may pay the full cost themselves. Others may get help to pay these costs.

The laws we must follow

When deciding how much you need to pay, the Council must follow the laws set out in:

• Care Act 2014
• Care and Support (Charging and Assessment of Resources) Regulations 2014
• Care and support statutory guidance

In general everyone living in residential care must pay for it in some way.

You can ask the Council to help you pay for your care, and we will complete a financial assessment with you to decide how much help we can offer you and how much you will have to pay yourself.

Short-term care and respite care

If your stay in a care home is intended to last for a limited time, and there is a plan for you to return home, the Council has a standard charge for those with savings less than £23,250. 

This applies for the first 8 weeks of short-term and respite care. 

If your stay is over 8 weeks in total, the standard charge will end, and you will be subject to a full financial assessment from week 9, like the financial assessment for long-term care.

Any Attendance Allowance, Disability Living Allowance (DLA) or Personal Independence Payment (PIP) you receive are not included in the assessment.

The value of your home is not included in the assessment.

How the financial assessment is carried out

If you move to long-term residential care, you will be asked to provide information about your:

• Income
• Savings and investments
• Property

Only your own income will be included in the financial assessment, and not those of a spouse or partner.

However, we do need to consider the share of savings and property you own jointly with another person.

We will also ask you to provide relevant financial documents and paperwork, such as bank statements, property ownership documents and proof of your income.

We will use this financial information to work out how much you will pay for your care.

It is your choice whether to provide it, but without it we won't be able to offer any help with the cost of your care, and you will have to pay the full cost yourself.

You can find information about how we store and handle your personal information in our privacy notice.

Income

Most income will be used to pay for your care and support, up to the full cost. This includes most welfare benefits and your state retirement pension, together with any private income or occupational pensions. 

You will always keep a minimum amount for your personal day to day expenses (such as toiletries, clothing and hairdressing). This is called the Personal Expenses Allowance and is set by central government.

Savings and investments

The total value of your savings and investments will be considered in the financial assessment.

This includes savings and investments held in your sole name and your share of any savings and investments held jointly with another person.

• If you have less than £14,250
  This will be ignored in the financial assessment and will not affect the amount you have to pay for your care. You will still contribute from your income.
• If you have between £14,250 and £23,250
  You will need to pay £1 per week for every £250 (or part thereof) you have over £14,250. This is on top of anything you pay because of your income.
• If you have more than £23,250
  You will have to pay the full cost of your care and support.

The types of savings you may have that we would need to know about include, but is not restricted to:

• Current and savings accounts in a bank or building society
• Post Office accounts
• Premium Bonds
• Shares
• Trust Funds
• ISA's/PEP's
• Cash

If your savings fall in the future and are approaching the £23,250 limit, please contact our Let's Talk Team to discuss how this will affect what you pay for your care and what you need to do.

The lower and upper savings limits above are set by central government and may change.

Property

Equity in any property that you own can be counted alongside savings in the financial assessment.

If you are moving into a care home permanently and we cannot ignore the value of your former home, it will generally not be included in the financial assessment for the first 12 weeks after you move.

Sometimes the value of your property is ignored in the financial assessment, including when one of the following is true:

• Your spouse or partner still lives in the property
• A child you are responsible for still lives in the property
• A family member who is over 60 still lives in the property
• A family member who is disabled still lives in the property

From the 13th week, the value of your former home will be included in the financial assessment.

If you don't wish to sell the property or need help to pay for care while you wait for it to sell, you can enter a Deferred Payment Agreement with the Council to make sure your care is paid for in the meantime.

After we complete your financial assessment, we will let you know how much you need to pay toward the cost of your residential care.

How you pay your contribution depends on the arrangements we have agreed with the home providing your care.

You may be asked to pay your contribution directly to the Council, in which case we will pay the full cost to the home and a bill will be sent to you to request payment of your contribution.

There are several ways you can make these payments to the Council, and these will be shown on the invoice.

Alternatively, you may be asked to pay your contribution directly to the care home.

We advise that you discuss this with the administrator at the home and agree how you will pay.

We will arrange to pay any contribution from the Council directly to the home.

Care homes can decide how much they want to charge for care arrangements.

If you choose a care arrangement that is more expensive than the standard cost of the care you need, a top up will be needed to meet the extra cost.

This would normally be paid by a third party, such as family members, friends or charities.

You wouldn't usually be able to pay the additional cost yourself.

Top up payments may increase in the future, so the person or people who wish to make the payments must make sure they can afford them for the duration of your care.

Your social worker will discuss residential care options with you, including how much they will cost.

Your financial assessment will be reviewed every April to take account of any increases to state benefits you receive and any changes to your financial situation.

If at any time there is a change in your financial situation, you should let us know and we will carry out another financial assessment.

Some of the changes you should tell us about

• A rise or fall in your savings and investments
• A change to your benefit payments or pension payments
• You start to get a new type of income, or an existing type of income stops
• You sell your property
• A spouse, partner or family member living in your property moves out or passes away

The Council must follow rules and guidance from central government when deciding how much you need to pay toward the cost of your residential care.

If you do not think we have applied the rules correctly and fairly in your financial assessment, please contact us so we can look at it again and explain the outcome.

If you can pay the full cost of your residential care yourself, or with help from your family, then you are free to arrange it yourself.

We can still provide a care assessment and advise you what type of care and support you need.

You should make sure you can afford the full cost of your care as well as any other important costs you need to meet.

You should also make sure the care home you choose can provide the right care and support for you.

We advise that you get independent financial and legal advice before making your own arrangements for your care and support.

Spending your savings

If you spend money on expensive items, we need to consider whether you may have done this on purpose to reduce what you need to pay for your care and support.

This means we may still include what you have spent in your financial assessment as if you still had it.

This doesn't mean you cannot spend some of your savings, whether it be on items for your own enjoyment or on gifts for others.

Reasonable spending is okay, but if you intend to pay for something expensive or give away a sum of money, we advise that you check with us first to see how this might affect what you pay for your care and support.

You should also keep receipts or records for any large sums you spend or transfer to others, in case we ask you about them later.

Giving money or property to family or friends

If you give money or property to someone else, we need to consider whether you may have done this on purpose to reduce what you need to pay for your care and support.

For example, giving a large sum of money or ownership of your home to someone else when you are unwell and might expect to need to move into a care home in the future.

In this situation, we may decide that you made this decision so that you wouldn't need to use your savings and investments to pay for your care.

If this happens, we may still include what you have spent or given away in your financial assessment as if you still had it.

This could be the case if you give away savings or investments before or after you move into a home.