Overview
We offer a financial assessment to everyone with a social care support plan. If you do not have a social care support plan and feel you need one, you can arrange a care needs assessment.
You do not need to contact us for a financial assessment. We will get in touch with you to arrange this.
A financial assessment tells us how much you can afford to pay towards your care and support. It looks at your:
- income, such as pensions and benefits
- assets, such as savings, investments, property and land
- expenses, which will be different for care at home and residential care
We will not look at the income or property of your partner in the financial assessment.
Eligibility for financial support
If your income and assets are:
- less than £23,250, you will be eligible for support to help pay for your care
- more than £23,250, you will have to pay the full cost of your care
Our care contribution calculator can give you an estimate of how much you may need to pay.
The value of your home
We won’t include the value of your home in the financial assessment if you have care at home or if you have a partner living there. We will include the value of additional properties you own.
We will normally include the value of your home if you permanently move to a care home. You may be able to choose a deferred payment if you do not want to sell your home straight away.
Giving away your money or property
Giving away your assets, such as property or money, to avoid paying care costs is called ‘deprivation of assets’. If we think this has happened, we will include the value of the assets in your financial assessment.
See the Care Act guidance on financial assessments on GOV.UK.
If you choose not to complete the financial assessment
You can choose not to complete a financial assessment or tell us about your financial circumstances. However, we will assume you can pay for the full cost of your care and we will charge you that amount. If you don’t pay, we will take action to recover any outstanding charges owed to us.