Residential and nursing care

If you decide to make your own arrangements when entering into long term residential or nursing care or having non-residential care in your own home, this is known as a private arrangement or self-funding. It is always recommended that you contact our Community Access Team for a care needs assessment before you make any decisions about your care.

You will be expected to make your own arrangements if one or more of the following situations apply to you:

• you have capital or savings above the eligibility threshold of £23,250 and are a self-funder
• you have a home and/or other property or land to sell which is worth more than the upper capital limit and have savings above the eligibility threshold
• you have a combination of capital, saving, property and land which is worth more than the upper capital limit
• you have had a social care assessment, but you don’t want to tell us about your finances - in this case we will assume you are funding your own care and are a full cost payer
• you are not eligible for support from us and will arrange support yourself
• you don’t want to ask us for support

If you have a property which is counted as capital, you may be entitled to help towards the cost of your residential or nursing care for the first 12 weeks. 

Can I keep my benefits?

Any Attendance Allowance, Disability Living Allowance care component or Personal Independence Payment daily living component that you receive should continue to be paid if you are making your own arrangements and paying the full cost of your care. If you are not currently in receipt of these benefits, or if you are receiving the lower rate care component you apply for these by contacting the DWP:

• Phone: 0800 731 0122
• Textphone: 0800 731 0317

Pension Credit / Income Support

If you are meeting the full cost of your Residential, Nursing or Non-Residential care from your own income and capital, you should contact the Department for Work and Pensions / your local Job Centre Plus who will be able to advise you of the benefits you are entitled to receive.

How do I pay for my care?

If you have made your own arrangements, you will have to come to an agreement with the care home or non-residential care provider about how you will pay their fees. This should be confirmed to you in writing by the care provider. Each care provider will have its own procedures for billing care services. Most care providers should accept a standing order arrangement, and some will have direct debit facilities.

Can I give gifts or money and/or property to my family if I am making my own arrangements?

Once you realise that you are likely to need Residential, Nursing or Non-Residential care, any gift of money or transfer of property could be considered an attempt to reduce your assets, and your charges for care. There is an expectation that your assets should be kept to pay for your care services. However, the amount of the gift will be taken into account and each case would be considered separately.

If you deliberately dispose of a capital asset such as shares, money or property, in order to request help with your fees, we can treat you as still having the asset, this is known as notional capital. In these circumstances we may refuse your request for funding or assess you as still having the capital. This is known as deprivation of capital.

If you want to give money as birthday or Christmas presents to family or close friends whilst you are receiving or considering care services, you should seek advice from us first.

What if you make your own arrangements to move into a care home, then your capital falls below £23,250?

If you have been advised, that due to having capital over the upper capital limit of £23,250, to make your own care arrangements then you will be known as a self-funder.

If you are funding your own care and your capital and savings are likely to reduce to £23,250, you can ask us for a care needs assessment and financial assessment which may result in support with funding your care.

As it can take a number of weeks to complete these assessments, we would suggest that you contact us when your capital is likely to reduce below the upper capital limit within the next 12 weeks.

If you wish to stay in the same Residential or Nursing home and we agree that the level of care provided meets your needs, then we may help with the cost, however if the care home charges more than we normally pay for the service you require, and you wish to stay there, you may have to arrange for a relative or friend to pay the difference in price. This is called a 'Third Party Top Up payment' and it must be paid as part of a formal contractual agreement between the person paying this additional amount, the Council and the proprietor of the care home. This amount cannot be paid out of your own capital or income.

Should I seek independent financial advice? 

If you are required to pay the full cost for your care, you may wish to speak to a financial adviser. They can advise you on your situation and provide you with advice on how to meet the cost of care.

We would encourage everybody to seek unbiased, expert advice from Independent Financial Advisers (IFAs) to help work out how to pay for care. IFAs are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and must follow a code of conduct and ethics and take shared responsibility for the suitability of any product they recommend. Unlike advisers who are tied to individual providers, IFAs can offer advice on products from across the whole market.

You can find further information on organisations who can support you with financial advice on our managing your money pages.