Paying for care

If your care needs assessment has identified that non-residential or residential care is the best way to meet your needs, we may ask you to pay a contribution towards the cost.

Paying for care and support at home

When you have been identified as requiring a care assessment, your care manager will advise our financial assessment team that a financial assessment needs to be carried out.

Non-residential care means all support and care that you receive while living at home - for example, home care, day care, outreach, respite care, support provided by a personal assistant and supported housing/living.

Other benefits

You may be entitled to other benefits.

Use our benefits calculator

We may be able to help you to apply for any benefits you are entitled to claim. 

How much will you have to pay?

The amount you will have to pay towards your care services will be calculated by a financial assessment.

Complete an online financial assessment

If you have capital assets (savings, stocks and shares, and other investments - not including the value of the house in which you live) of more than £23,250, you will need to pay the actual cost of the care and support you receive.

If you own or part own a property (other than the main or only home in you live in), the value of that property will be included in your financial assessment, based on the percentage of ownership.

How do we work out your contribution?

You must give us a full statement of your financial position and we will work out the maximum contribution each week. Documentary evidence must be provided to confirm financial position.

We work out your contribution by:

  • adding together all your weekly income
  • taking away any costs for housing
  • taking away any income we have ignored
  • taking away any disability-related expenditure (DRE)
  • taking away your MIG allowance (Minimum Income Guarantee).

We will give you a breakdown of how we have worked out your contribution.

What income will be taken into account?

  • All the benefits you receive, except those listed under 'We will ignore'
  • Your State Pension and work pensions
  • Income generated from any capital investment or bond
  • Any other income and capital
  • If you have savings between £14,250 and £23,250, we will add £1 a week to your charge for each £250 (or part of £250) that you have in capital
  • If you pay a mortgage, service charge, rent or council tax, we will take these from your income before we work out your contribution. Your rent and council tax payments are the amounts you have to pay after any related benefits have been taken off your income.

Disability-related expenses

If you receive disability-related expenditure (DRE) and you have any extra spending because of your disability or being frail, we may be able to include the expenditure in your financial assessment.

We will need to ask you how these extra costs relate to your disability or being frail, and will ask for proof of your spending on these items in the form of receipts, bills and invoices covering a 3-month consecutive period.

The government's care and support statutory guidance (Annex C) gives details of expenses and costs a local authority should consider when determining disability-related expenditure.

Non-payment of charges

If you do not pay your charges for care and support, the council will commence the debt recovery process. After all available avenues of recovery have been explored, legal action will be considered.

Download our care and support at home booklet (PDF) [290KB]  for more information on how we work out your contribution towards your care and support and answers to some frequently asked questions.

Page last updated: 04 Nov 2024