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You might have to pay for some or all your care costs, or you might not have to pay anything.

This depends on your income, savings and investments. 

The Council follows regulations set out by central government when deciding what people can afford to pay toward the cost of their care, and how much financial help they can get.

When deciding how much you will need to pay, the Council must follow the laws set out in:

What 'non-residential care' is

'Non-residential' care and support means a range of social care services, including:

• help or care in your home
• rehabilitation
• assistive technology (community alarms)
• support to access the community
• going to a day centre
• respite care (not in a residential care home)

These services are to help you improve your wellbeing and live independently.

They may be provided by the Council directly, or we may arrange them from another provider.

Some services are free, including:

• advice about social care services
• an assessment of your care and support needs
• services you get under Section 117 of the Mental Health Act (after discharge from a mental health hospital)
• any service that the NHS must provide
• community equipment and aids, and
• intermediate care after leaving hospital, including reablement for up to 6 weeks, or longer in some cases

Other social care services will probably need to be paid for.

The amount you need to pay, if anything, depends on the type and amount of care and support you need, and what you can afford.

If you are assessed as needing care and support, the Council will look at your income and savings to see if you need to pay toward the cost of these services.

This is called a financial assessment.

How the financial assessment is carried out

After your care and support needs are assessed, you will be asked to provide information about your income, essential spending, savings and investments.

Only your own income will be included in the financial assessment, and not those of a spouse or partner.

However, we do need to consider your share of savings you share with another person.

We will also ask you to provide relevant financial documents and paperwork, such as bank statements and proof of your income.

We will use this financial information to work out how much you will pay for your care and support.

It is your choice whether to provide it, but without it we won't be able to offer any financial help, and you will have to pay the full cost yourself.

You can find information about how we store and handle your personal information in our privacy notice.

Income and spending

Most income can be used to pay for your care and support.

This includes most welfare benefits and your state retirement pension, together with private income or occupational pensions.

If you qualify for extra benefits but choose not to claim them, they will still be included as income in our assessment.

You will not be expected to use the following types of income to pay for your care, and you can keep them in full:

• Earnings from employment or self-employment
• Direct payments from the Council
• War Pension Scheme payments made to veterans except for Constant Attendance Allowance
• Guaranteed income payments for veterans from the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme
• The mobility component of disability living allowance (DLA) and personal independence payments (PIP)
• Pension credit savings credit
• Social fund payments
• Regular charitable or voluntary payments (e.g., from a relative)
• Child benefit and child tax credit
• Child support maintenance payments

The financial assessment will compare the amount of income you get with the amount you need for essential weekly spending.

We will use this assessment to decide whether you need to pay for your care, and if so, how much.

We will ensure that you keep enough income to pay your day-to-day living costs. This is called the Minimum Income Guarantee (MIG).

You will also be able to keep the money you need to cover mortgage repayments, rent and council tax.

We will also consider any extra costs you have because of a disability. This is known as disability-related expenditure (DRE). This may include costs for:

• transport to attend a day centre or medical appointment, or to keep up social contacts, if not met by the mobility component of PIP or DLA
• care or personal assistance that isn't provided or arranged by the Council
• gardening or home maintenance you would otherwise do yourself
• extra heating costs
• extra costs for equipment, clothing, bedding, or a special diet, and
• other costs you need to pay for with your disability benefits to ensure your needs are met

Savings and investments

The total value of your savings and investments will be considered in the financial assessment.

This does not include the value of your home but does include the value of any other property that you own.

The lower and upper savings limits below are set by central government and may change.

• If you have less than £14,250
  This will be ignored in the financial assessment and will not affect the amount you have to pay for your care.
• If you have between £14,250 and £23,250
  For every £250 (or part thereof) you have over £14,250, you will be treated as if you had an extra £1 per week of income. For example, if you have £15,000 in savings, you will be treated as having and extra £3 per week of income.
• If you have more than £23,250
  You will have to pay the full cost of your care and support. If your savings increase or fall in the future and are approaching the £23,250 limit, please contact our Financial Assessments Team to discuss how this will affect what you pay for your care.

The types of savings you may have that we would need to know about include, but are not restricted to:

• The value of land or property that you own, other than your home
• Current and savings accounts in a bank or building society
• Post Office accounts
• Premium Bonds
• Shares
• Trust Funds
• ISA's / PEP's
• Cash

After we complete your financial assessment, we will let you know how much you need to pay toward the cost of care and support.

The Council will pay the full cost to the service provider and a bill will be sent to you to request payment of your contribution.

There are several ways you can make these payments to the Council, and these will be shown on the invoice.

Your financial assessment will be reviewed every two years to take account of any increases to state benefits you receive and any changes to your financial situation.

If at any time there is a change in your financial situation, you should let us know and we will carry out another financial assessment.

Some of the changes you should tell us about

• A rise or fall in your savings and investments
• A change to your benefit payments or pension payments
• You start to get a new type of income, or an existing type of income stops
• You sell your home

The Council must follow rules and guidance from central government when deciding how much you need to pay toward the cost of care and support.

If you do not think we have applied the rules correctly and fairly in your financial assessment, please contact us so we can look at it again and explain the outcome.

If you can pay the full cost of your care and support yourself, or with help from your family, then you are free to arrange it yourself.

We can still provide a care assessment and advise you what type of care and support you need.

You should make sure you can afford the full cost of your care as well as any other important costs you need to meet.

You should also make sure the care services you choose can provide the right care and support for you.

We advise that you get independent financial and legal advice before making your own arrangements for your care and support.

If you spend money on expensive items or give money or property to someone else, we need to consider whether you may have done this on purpose to reduce what you need to pay for your care and support.

This means we may still include what you have spent in your financial assessment as if you still had it.

This doesn't mean you cannot spend some of your savings, whether it be on items for your own enjoyment or on gifts for others.

Reasonable spending is okay. But if you intend to pay for something expensive or give away a sum of money, we advise that you check with us first to see how this might affect what you pay for your care and support.

You should also keep receipts or records for any large sums you spend or transfer to others, in case we ask you about them later.