Paying for a care home
Most people moving into a care home will have to contribute towards the fees. How much you contribute will depend on the amount of savings, income and assets you have.
Take me to Calculating your contribution ↘ Ways to pay for your care ↘ Personal Expenses Allowance ↘ Staying at expensive care homes ↘ Deferred payment scheme ↘
Calculating your contribution
If you move to a care home, we will carry out a financial assessment to work out if you need to pay for your care home costs or if you are eligible for financial support. This depends on how much you have in savings and assets, such as property and investments.
If your savings and assets are:
- less than £23,250, you will be eligible for means-tested support to help pay for your care
- more than £23,250, you will have to pay for all of your care
Ways to pay for your care
There are different ways you can fund your care. You could:
- Use savings and/or income from investments
- Rent your property
- Sell your property
- Take a deferred payment agreement
- Purchase an insurance policy that pays for your care
We recommend you seek independent financial advice before making a decision.
Personal Expenses Allowance
If you are living in a care home, then you are entitled to a Personal Expenses Allowance of £25.65 a week.
The Personal Expenses Allowance is to cover the cost of items such as newspapers or toiletries and it should not be spent on care or support.
This is the amount set by the Department of Health and is reviewed annually.
The Personal Expenses Allowance is deducted from your assessed charge to find your owed weekly contribution towards the cost of your care.
Staying at expensive care homes
If you are eligible for financial assistance from the council but wish to stay in a care home that charges more than our rates, you may be able to make third party top-up’s to cover this difference.
This can be though a friend or relative that wishes to pay an additional contribution to cover the cost of a more expensive care home.
However, there is no obligation for them to do so and if the third party top-up fees stop, you will have to move to a care home that is within our rate.
We may ask for evidence that the third party can sufficiently cover the cost of the top-up fees for the planned duration of your care.
Deferred payment scheme
A deferred payment agreement is an arrangement with the council that will enable people to use the value of their home to help pay care home costs, rather than having to sell their home.
If you are eligible, we will help to pay your care home bills on your behalf. You can delay repaying us until you choose to sell your home, or until after your death.
Who is eligible for deferred payments?
You should be eligible if:
- You own your own home
- You live in or are moving to a care home on a permanent basis
- You have less than £23,250 in capital and savings
- Nobody else, such as a spouse, partner or dependent child needs to continue living in your home
