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How much you should pay for your care depends on the level of care needed, income and savings, and personal circumstances such as whether you live alone or not. Funding systems differ across the UK and they can be difficult to understand.
Financial assessment
The cost will depend on the level of care needed
The local authority carries out a financial assessment, or means test, to work out how much of your care it will pay for and how much you must pay yourself. If you move into a care home, your local authority may pay the fees. But around a third of all residents are not eligible and have to pay the full cost of their care.
Paying for care in your own home
To qualify for financial support, you must have less than £23,000 (England and Northern Ireland), £22,000 (Wales) or £22,500 (Scotland) in savings and investments (not including your home). If you hold these jointly, you will be assessed as owning half their value. If your spouse or civil partner has savings in their name alone these will not be taken into account. You pay for care on a sliding scale, depending on your income after housing and disability-related costs.
Paying for residential care
The local authority will normally pay for your care only up to an agreed limit
If you have less than the upper assets limit (£23,000 in England and Northern Ireland, £22,000 in Wales, £22,500 in Scotland), you will receive some financial help from your local authority but will still be expected to contribute to care-home fees. If your home is still occupied by your spouse or civil partner, a relative who is aged 60 or over or who is incapacitated, or a child under 16 for whom you are legally responsible, its value is excluded from your assets. You may also get non-means-tested financial help from the NHS for nursing care.
If you have to contribute, your assets below a lower limit (£14,000 in England and Northern Ireland, £20,750 in Wales, £13,750 in Scotland for 2009-10) are ignored. You will pay £1 a week for each £250 of assets above this. You must also pay your occupational and state pension to the council, plus any benefits you are entitled to. The only income you can keep is £21.90 a week (£22 in Wales) for personal expenses (2009/10 rates).
The local authority will normally pay for your care only up to an agreed limit, which may restrict your choice of home. If you want to go somewhere more expensive, your relatives or another third party must pay ‘top-up fees’ to make good the shortfall.
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