Most people have to pay something for care and support. Find out what the national rules are on how much you pay.
You will only get financial help with your care and support if:
If you have less than £23,250, not including your home, ask us for help.
National rules mean we can only help to pay for your care from the date you ask us for this.
To do this, contact our team on 01305 221 016 or your social work professional.
We can only give you financial help if we have looked at your needs and found you qualify for care. Get your care needs looked at.
To get financial help with care, you have to show us evidence of:
We need this to work out what you are able to pay. If you do not want to show us this, you will have to pay the full cost of your care.
You will need to show us evidence of both your money and your costs.
We look at both money you’ve got in accounts and money coming in each week.
We will need to see evidence showing all of:
If you will live at home, we need to know how much you spend on:
If you will live at home, we will consider if you need money for disability costs. Tell us if you think you have these costs.
Disability costs can include:
These are only examples. What you need to pay for to live independently is personal to you.
We will ask to see evidence of your expenses. You can give us receipts or bills showing what you pay.
We also look at all the money and assets you’ve got. Money you put aside could be cash, savings, bonds or stocks and shares, for example.
We only look at the value of a house you, your partner or certain other relatives will not live in. Find out how you can use the money in your home to pay towards your care.
| Your money in accounts and assets | What you must pay from this |
|---|---|
|
£23,250 or more |
The full cost of your care |
|
£14,250 to £23,250 |
Between £1 and £36 a week* |
|
Less than £14,250 |
You only pay some of your money coming in regularly, like a pension. |
*You pay £1 towards your care for every £250 you have above the cut-off of £14,250. For example, if you have £2,500 more than the cut-off, you pay £10 a week.
If you want financial help with care, we will ask you about property, assets or money in accounts you used to own.
You may need to pay for care using assets you no longer own. This happens if we find you gave assets away when you knew you needed care.
This would be a case of ‘deprivation of assets’ under the rules we work to.
To be safe, we would advise you to:
You keep some of the money you have coming in regularly to live on. Any money that is left must go towards your care.
If you will live at home, we make sure you have money left for your living costs. This is called the ‘minimum income guarantee’ and is between £82.15 and £214.35.
We work out the amount for you based on your age and situation.
If you will live in a care home, you are allowed a smaller amount for expenses. This is called the personal expense allowance and is between £28.65 and £34.75.
We will let you know in writing what you need to pay towards your care.
This letter will show what you need to pay each week from:
We will show how we worked this out. We will tell you how much money you are allowed for living and disability costs.
If you think there is a mistake, you can appeal a decision on what you need to pay towards your care.
Otherwise, find out the different ways you can pay towards your care.
Ask us about getting the money for your care as direct payments. This could give you more choice over who you get care and support from.
Paying for your own social care (self-funding) - easy read format
