When we might contribute towards the cost of your care

As part of your financial assessment, we will check that you are receiving all the income you are entitled to.

Read more about claiming benefits.

Help with applying for benefits

A welfare benefits officer can help if you are receiving a chargeable service through us.

Our welfare benefits team can help you to work out which benefits you can claim. We offer free, confidential and practical advice and we can:

• carry out a telephone assessment with you
• visit you at home if necessary
• help with benefit applications where there is no one else to assist you
• help you to challenge the decisions of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) if required

They can be contacted by email at welfarebenefitsteam@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk.

You must notify us of any change in your financial circumstances.

Your local Citizens Advice Bureau, can assist with applying for benefits and form completion. You can also get advice via their online web chat.

Discounts

Discounts are available if you receive certain benefits. You may be able to get help with:

• Council Tax – if you are a carer, have a disability or a mental illness
• Wessex Water bills – if you receive Pension Credit 
• home fuel and energy bills – with a Surviving Winter Grant
• NHS dental bills, prescriptions, eye tests and glasses – if you are on a low income

How benefits can be affected by moving into a council-funded care home or into hospital

If you move into a residential care home and your care is funded by us, you will lose your entitlement to the following benefits 28 days after admission:

• Attendance Allowance (AA)
• Disability Living Allowance (DLA) – Care component
• Personal Independence Payment (PIP)

If your placement is funded by a Deferred Payment Agreement, you are entitled to continue receiving these benefits on the basis that you are ultimately responsible for the full cost of your care. 

The Mobility component of DLA and PIP is not taken into account in the assessment of charge.

The financial assessment will be different based on whether you will be having:

• permanent care in a residential or nursing home
• care at home or in the community, or temporary residential or nursing care

A member of the financial assessment team will contact you to offer an assessment by phone, via our online assessment system, or a paper form to be completed and sent back to us. 

They will collect the information they need from you. Then we can let you know how much you would have to pay each week towards the care you receive. 

We will also check that you are in receipt of all the welfare benefits you are entitled to. We may be able to help you claim any benefits, where appropriate.

We will ask about your capital

We will ask you about your savings and any other assets you have. This could include: 

• bank / building society accounts including current account(s) and savings account(s)
• property ownership records, including the one you live in and any other property or land you may own or have owned in the past
• stocks and shares
• life assurance bonds 
• Premium Bonds
• cash
• online bank accounts, PayPal, virtual currencies

You will need to provide information and evidence about these assets such as:

• bank statements
• savings passbooks
• investment documents
• property deeds

If you have given away or transferred assets to another person, the value of these assets may still be included in your financial assessment.  This is called Deprivation of Assets.

We will ask about your income, which means any money you receive

We will ask about any money you have coming in, which might include:

• State Pension (SP)
• private pension
• occupational pension 
• Disability Living Allowance (DLA) or Personal Independence Payment (PIP)
• Employment Support Allowance (ESA) / Universal Credit (UC)
• Attendance Allowance (AA)
• earnings

State benefits are shown on your bank statement as an income, and are identified by your National Insurance Number, and by the letters shown above, next to each payment. Some benefits are paid every 4 weeks so for the purposes of the financial assessment they should be divided by 4 to get the weekly payment. 

You may also have other money coming in, for example from a property you rent out. You will need to provide information and evidence about your income, such as copies of:

• your pension
• benefits statement
• tenancy agreement

We will ask about costs for your home

This is the money you spend relating to your home, including:

• mortgage payment
• rent (that you pay and is not covered by Housing Benefit)
• Council Tax (that you pay and is not covered by Council Tax Support)
• services charges and ground rent, if these apply
• buildings insurance (that you pay) 
• gas, electric and fuel
• metered water

We will ask you to provide information and evidence about these expenses, for example statements or bills. If your payments are more than the amount considered to be the norm for the type of property you live in, we could make an allowance only for the extra amount that you use on a weekly basis. The standard amounts included are set annually by the National Association of Financial Assessment Officers (NAFAO) and adopted by Dorset Council.

If you do not provide the evidence required, then no allowance will be made in the assessment. 

• Attendance Allowance
• Disability Living Allowance
• Personal Independence Payment

DRE refers to any additional outgoings you have as a result of your disability, which you consider necessary to enable you to maintain your independence or quality of life.   

What DRE may cover

DRE may take into account some personal expenses that relate to your disabilities or illness. This may include:

• domestic care costs (up to three hours minimum wage) if you pay someone to help you clean your home
• clothing costs – perhaps your clothes wear out more quickly because:
  • you have incontinence
  • a repetitive behaviour condition
  • you need specialist clothing because of your disability or illness
• food costs if you have a specialist diet that relates to your disability. However, foods for some conditions such as coeliac, gluten free or a diabetic diet are widely available at not much extra cost. It is unlikely that allowances will be made for these conditions
• assistive living items – such as:
  • lifeline alarms
  • other specialist equipment

These are only examples and you may have other disability-related expenses.

Each assessment will be based on you and your requirements to maintain an independent life. If you feel you do have a DRE you will need to tell us about it and:

• provide evidence of the need for this expenditure by discussing it with your assessment officer, or from information provided by your GP, other health professional or social worker
• tell us how much you are paying and provide evidence such as receipts or bills to show a frequency of purchase

Your DRE request will be given consideration which may include discussing your request with your social work team.

Where additional expenditure is being requested, any allowance made will only be for cost incurred over and above what would be considered the norm.

If you will be receiving care in your own home or for a temporary period in a care home, we will make an allowance for the money that you need each week to cover your:

• bills
• food
• normal living expenditure

This is called the Minimum Income Guarantee (MIG) and from April 2024, for a single person who is:

• over pension age, it is £228.70 per week
• under pension age it is £87.65 per week

There are several other MIG amounts which may be used, depending on your age and personal circumstances. These amounts are set annually by central government and adopted by Dorset Council.

Your MIG, home expenses and DRE are deducted from your income and the money left is the amount you will be asked to contribute towards your care. 

Personal allowance

If you are going to be living in a care or nursing home on a permanent basis, you will be left with a Personal Expense Allowance (PEA) which is set by the government annually and adopted by Dorset Council.

As of April 2024, the weekly personal allowance was £30.15.

The remainder of your income will be used to pay for your care.

Charging and Financial Assessment Policy

View our Charging and Financial Assessment Policy.

Care at home (or short-term residential care)

If you receive care and support in your own home, the assessment officer will work out the maximum amount you can pay per week towards your care. This is called your assessed contribution.

Your financial contribution takes into account your:

• income
• capital - savings and other assets
• household related expenditure
• agreed DRE - if it applies to you

We will notify you in writing of the amount you need to pay, showing you how it has been calculated.

If you feel your assessed contribution is not right you should contact the financial assessment officer who completed the assessment to discuss this with them. If the assessment is correct and you are still not happy with amount you have been assessed to contribute, you can submit an appeal online via the Appeals process within 28 days of receiving your finalised assessment. Read more about  Appeal a decision about what you must pay for your care.

You must inform the Financial Assessment Team of any changes to your capital, income and expenditure. They reserve the right to backdate increased charges, resulting from a change in financial circumstances they were not notified of.

Residential care or nursing home

If you are moving into (or are already in) a care or nursing home, the assessment officer will calculate the amount you need to pay per week towards your care fees. You will be notified in writing. We will give you a breakdown showing how we calculated the contribution.

If you feel your assessed contribution is not right you should contact the financial assessment officer who completed the assessment to discuss this with them. If the assessment is correct and you are not happy with amount you have been assessed to contribute, you can submit an appeal online via the Appeals process within 28 days of receiving your finalised assessment. Read more about Appeal a decision about what you must pay for your care. 

Change of circumstances

Such changes include:

• award of any new benefits (even if the actual payment is the same)
• increase or decrease in existing benefits
• change of address
• bereavement, separation, or divorce
• marriage or civil partnership
• living with someone as if you are married
• receipt of any private income
• receipt of any one-off payments
• increase in capital
• receiving an inheritance
• somebody moving into or leaving your home
• turning 25 years of age
• becoming eligible for state pension
• backdated benefit payments

The 12-week property disregard is set up to protect people during times of crisis. This is particularly important when they need care.

It means that whilst carrying out a financial assessment, we disregard the value of a person's home for the first 12 weeks.

It recognises the importance of stability and choice during challenging times. It gives people breathing space to focus on care needs without the immediate burden of home-related costs. This could help to prevent hasty decisions related to selling their home.

Circumstances when it would be applied:

1. Entering a care home
   
   When someone first becomes a permanent resident in a care home, we would temporarily ignore the value of their main or only home.
    
2. Unexpected changes
   
   Sometimes, a different property disregard may end unexpectedly. For example, if a qualifying relative passes away or moves into a care home.
   
   In such cases, we would continue to apply the 12-week disregard to provide stability.
    
3. Discretionary application
   
   We can also apply the 12-week property disregard when there is a sudden and unforeseen change in the person’s financial situation.
   
   Factors like a drop in share prices or unexpected debts might be taken into consideration.

A Deferred Payment Agreement (DPA) is an arrangement with the council to use the value of your home to pay towards your care home fees. Not everyone is eligible for a DPA.

If you own your own home, and no longer occupy it, this may be taken into account in the financial assessment and the assessment officer will discuss your options regarding a DPA. Under this agreement we may be able to loan you money by securing a legal charge against your home. This will avoid the need to sell your home to pay for care fees until you choose to, or until after your death.

Interest is charged on a DPA and there are costs associated with the set up and administration of the loan.

If you are eligible for a DPA we will send you further information on how to apply.

Read more about Deferred Payment Agreements

Top-ups and first and third-party contributions  

If you choose to move to a care home which is more expensive than your personal budget, you will have to consider how you will pay the shortfall. This could come from a relative or friend and this top-up is known as a third-party contribution. 

The choice you have about where you live

Under the Care Act 2014, if we assess that you need accommodation and you express a preference for a particular care home, we will make arrangements for care within that home providing:  

• we are fulfilling our duty to spend our public funds responsibly
• it is suitable for your assessed care and support needs  
• the cost is within your personal budget 
• a suitable vacancy is immediately available  
• the care provider is willing to accept the council’s terms and conditions

If you choose a care home outside of Dorset, we will still arrange your care if it meets your assessed needs. Your personal budget will reflect the cost of care in your chosen area.  

Choosing a care home that costs more than your personal budget

If you choose a setting that is more expensive than the amount in your personal budget, a top-up will be payable.

How third-party top-ups are agreed

1. When a third-party agrees to pay a top-up on your behalf, we will make sure that person is willing and able to pay for at least a two-year period. 
    
2. We will ask the third-party to give us details of their assets and liabilities, as well as their income and expenditure. 
    
3. If your third-party is unable to show us they will be able to afford the top-up, we will consider moving you to another care home that can meet your assessed needs. 
    
4. You can have more than one third-party contributing towards your top-up. We will ask them all to show us they will be able to meet their share of the cost, for the initial two-year period. We will ask one person to take responsibility for signing the agreement and paying the third-party top-up by Direct Debit.  

What happens if your third-party stops paying

If your third-party stops paying the top-up, we will seek to recover any outstanding debt. We might have to make alternative arrangements to meet the needs for care and support you have at that time. You may have to move away from the care home you are living in.  

Paying your own first-party contribution (top-up)

You are not usually allowed to pay your own top-up.  This is to ensure you are not spending all your own capital on your care fees as there could reach a point when you run out of money completely.   

There are a specific set of circumstances where you can pay your own first-party top-up which are:

1. Where your care is funded under Section 117 of the Mental Health Act 1983.
   
   If this is the case, you do not have to make a contribution towards the cost of your care.  You can then use your available capital and/or income to pay a first-party top-up.
    
2. Where your care is being funded under a 12-Week Property Disregard. 
   
   This is because you have assets in the form of a property which means that you are meeting the full cost of your care.  
    
3. Where your care is being funded under a Deferred Payment Agreement (DPA). 
   
   This also means that you have assets over £23,250 and are receiving a loan from Dorset Council, which will be repaid in the future. 

If you are choosing to pay a first-party top-up, you will also need to provide evidence that you can afford to pay the top-up, either from your own capital or from the income you receive.  

We will collect the top-up payment via a Direct Debit.   

If you lack capacity to express your own choices, we will follow the instructions of the person authorised to make decisions on your behalf. That may be a Power of Attorney or Court appointed Deputy.

Reviewing the top-ups 

We will review the arrangements for any top-up after a two-year period. This is to ensure that the payment continues to be sustainable. 

Appealing against a decision

If you are not happy with a decision we have made, you can appeal.

You can give away your assets, such as money or property, if you wish to. However, if you do this at a time when you could foresee the need for care in the future, we could still include the value of any gifts in the financial assessment.

You could be assessed as being able to meet the full cost of your care, even though you no longer have the assets. This is called Deprivation of assets.

We will usually send you an invoice for your contribution towards care every four weeks. Your assessed contribution is the maximum amount you will pay towards the care you receive, regardless of how much your care actually costs. Dorset Council will fund the remaining amount.  

We send: 

• residential care accounts two weeks in arrears and two weeks in advance 
• non-residential care accounts 4-weekly in arrears 

If possible, we will ask you to set up a Direct Debit to pay our invoices. 

How a reduction in service may affect your contribution 

Care is charged for whole weeks from a Sunday to a Saturday.  

You will only see a reduction in your charge, if the total cost of the care received in a week, falls below your assessed maximum ability to pay. 

Example: 

• if your care costs are £400 per week, we will only charge you £100 per week  
• if one week some of the care is not delivered and your care only costs £150, this is still more than your maximum contribution, so you would still be charged £100 for that week 
• if one week some of the care is not delivered and your care only costs £90, this is less than your maximum contribution. In this case you would only be charged £90 

We prefer you to pay by Direct Debit if at all possible.

Alternative ways of paying

You can also make payments in the following ways:

• online at make a payment to Dorset Council 
• by phone on 0300 330 1373
• at the bank with an invoice
• by post: cheques should be made payable to Dorset Council, quoting your reference number on the reverse, and sent with the counterfoil in the invoice to Corporate Services, County Hall, Colliton Park, Dorchester, DT1 1XJ
• by bank transfer, quoting the account reference number to:
  • sort code: 60-07-01
  • account number: 5919001

These easy read guides explain some of the topics covered in this section:

• Paying for your own social care (self-funding): easy read format
• Paying for care at home: easy read format