If you are assessed as needing residential or nursing care, your care manager will be able to tell you about the choices that are available to you.
Our care management staff will ask you for details about your income and your capital and whether you own your own home.
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?
Financial help towards the cost of care in a residential or nursing home is only available to people who:
- have less than £23,250 in savings and investments (not including the value of any property)
- have been assessed as needing care in a residential or nursing home by social care.
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 are expected to pay the full cost of your care you may be eligible for our Deferred Payment Scheme.
How do we work out your contribution?
Once you have filled in the financial assessment, we will assess the information that you have given us based on your income and capital assets, to work out the contribution we will expect you to pay if you go into a care home permanently or on a short term basis.
If you are entitled to certain benefits but have not made a claim for them, we will financially assess you based on your benefit entitlement - this is called notional income.
We will look at the following:
- capital (bank accounts, savings, investments, property and business assets)
- income (state pension, private pensions and state benefits)
- property (details about your home and who lives with you)
- housing costs (bills and expenses)
- disposed assets (any money or property you have given away).
What if you own your own home?
If your stay in a residential home is temporary, we will not count the value of your home in the cost of your stay.
If your stay becomes permanent, we will take account of the value of your home - except where 1 of the following people currently live in your home, as their main and only home:
- your husband, wife or partner
- a relative aged 60 or over, or who is incapacitated (incapacitated means they receive a social security benefit that recognises incapacity or disability, or they would be eligible for one)
- a dependent child aged 16 or under who you are responsible for.
If your capital is under £23,250, we will always ignore the value of your home for the first 12 weeks of a permanent stay - this is called the 12-week property disregard. This does not apply if you have previously funded your own care fees. If you're eligible for the 12-week property disregard, we will need to carry out a financial assessment to work out your contribution for this period, from your income and capital under £23,250.
If you cannot pay the full cost of your care (either because your property has not yet been sold, or because you do not want to sell your property), you may be eligible for our deferred payment scheme.
More expensive homes and top-up agreements
If you are eligible to receive help from us in paying for care home fees, and it has been agreed that a place in one of our contracted homes will not meet your needs, we will help you find somewhere more suitable.
If you choose a home that costs more than the amount the council can pay, a third party can agree to pay the difference. This extra cost is in addition to your client contribution and is referred to as a 'third party top-up'. The top-up must be paid directly to the home by someone other than the person receiving the care.
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 nursing home booklet (PDF, 336 KB) for more information on how we work out your contribution towards your care and support and answers to some frequently asked questions.