Paying for Your Care
The financial side of paying for care is quite complex and subject to change. We realise that this can be quite daunting and so we do everything we can to help.
The following ‘guide’ seeks to give you an idea of what to expect and some background to the financial system that operates with regard to long term care.
We also have a dedicated team there to help you through every stage of the process, from an assessment of your entitlement to help with filling in the relevant forms.
What will I pay?
The government decides whether or not a person has sufficient wealth to pay for his or her own care, and therefore whether they are entitled to financial assistance or not. There are various sources of funding for care but the main two if you are seeking assistance are:
- Local Authority, Social Services
- The Pension Service (formerly the Benefits Agency)
Local Authority Funding
If an individual is seeking assistance from the local authority to fund the cost of their care they must prove that they qualify for it in terms of
- Means
The amount of assets that you hold must be below a certain threshold
- Need
You must have been assessed as needing the care
Benefits from The Pension Service
Again most of these benefits will be dependent on your means, although there are certain exceptions to this.
If you require care in a home there are three basic financial positions:
- Self Payer - You meet the cost of your own care from your own income/ assets. NB. there certain benefits that you can put towards the cost which are not means tested e.g. Attendance Allowance
- State Funded + Contribution - Combination of state funding and contribution from your own income/ assets
- State Funded - Care is paid for entirely by state funding
Contractually this means:
- For Self Paying clients, the contract will be directly between the client and the care provider (e.g. CLS). You are free to exercise complete choice about where to spend your own money, if you find a vacancy and the home deems it can care for you appropriately, there need be no other outside involvement.
- For State Funded people the contract will be between the Local Authority and the care provider e.g. they will pay a rate per person per week to CLS. In the case of State Funded + Contribution (where it has been deemed that the person can afford to make a contribution) there will be an additional arrangement where the Local Authority recoups some of the money back from you.
All the information provided on this sheet is only a guideline and we would advise that you contact us for current information and a more thorough assessment.
You may also wish to seek advice/ information on entitlement directly from the Pension Service and/or your Local Authority.
For current full cost prices click here