Paying for care

You should expect to pay towards the cost of your care. The amount you pay depends on your level of need and the value of your income, savings and assets.

If you’re paying the full cost of your care to live independently at home or in a care home, you’re known as a self-funder.

If you’re planning for care needs for the future, it is important to get appropriate financial advice

You can apply for the right to look after financial and legal affairs and make decisions for someone else if they aren’t able to do it for themselves.

If your care and support assessment shows that you have eligible needs, you can have a financial assessment to work out how much you’ll need to pay towards your care in your own home, in someone else’s home (shared lives), supported living or extra-care housing.

Your personal budget is the total amount of money allocated to you to meet your care and support needs, as agreed in your support plan, following your care and support assessment.

The Government’s White Paper sets out a 10-year vision of how it proposes to transform support and care in England.

If you’re eligible for a personal budget, you can have this money as a direct payment. This means that you can arrange your support directly with the person or organisation you want to use instead of the council arranging services for you.

A direct payment card is a pre-paid card which is similar to a normal debit card.  You use the card to pay your care and support providers.

You may be able to get money to help you make changes to your home. The Disabled Facilities Grant can help you with home adaptations costing over £1,000.

If your care and support assessment shows that you have eligible needs, you can have a financial assessment to work out how much you’ll need to pay towards your care home.

You won’t have to sell your home in your lifetime to pay the cost of a care home.

If you choose a care home that costs more than we have allocated for your care, you or someone else will have to make extra payments to cover the shortfall. These are known as ‘top-ups’.

Some of the benefits you and your carer (or your husband, wife, civil or unmarried partner if they’re not your carer) get will stop or change because you’re no longer living at home.

You may be able to claim benefits or get financial help.