Get financial help to pay for care at home or in the community
To get financial help from the council to pay for care or support, you’ll need to:
- Have a care needs assessment first, to determine whether you qualify for care and support based on our eligibility criteria.
- If the results of your care needs assessment say you need care and support, we’ll ask you to complete a financial assessment (means test).
- The financial assessment looks at your income, savings and investments to work out how much you can afford to pay towards the cost of your care.
Learn more about the care needs and financial assessment process
How much financial help you can get
How much the council will contribute to the costs depends on:
- the type of care or support you need
- the income, savings and investments that you have
Who can get financial help
Most people will need to pay at least something towards their care. How we decide is based on how much you have in capital - the total value of your savings and investments.
If you have capital of:
- more than £23,250 - you will need to pay the full cost for your care (called self-funding) until your capital falls below £23,250
- between £14,250 and £23,250 - you may still qualify for help to pay, but we will include this amount in our calculations of what you should pay
- less than £14,250 - you may be eligible for help to pay for your care, and you will be left with at least this amount of savings if you have it
Our charging policy
Our charging policy explains the legal context of charging for adult social care services, and how different types of services and support are charged.
Read our Charging Policy in full for Adult Social Care (PDF, 403.5 KB)
What we consider in the financial assessment
If you’re getting care at home or in the community, the financial assessment will look at your:
- capital, meaning all of your savings and investments
- income from any pensions and benefits (we do not consider any salary)
- household outgoings such as utility bills
- extra costs due to a disability
Read a full list of what we’ll ask you about
Value of your home
We don't need to know about the value of your home if you're receiving care at home or in the community.
Minimum Income Guarantee (MIG)
When we calculate how much you will pay towards your care, we make sure that you’re left with enough money to cover everyday expenses. This is called the Minimum Income Guarantee (MIG).
It’s an amount set aside to cover your everyday expenses when we calculate what you can afford to pay towards your care each week.
The government sets this amount every year, and it varies depending on your age and the benefits you’re getting.
Disability-related expenditure
If your income is made up of a disability related benefit (Disability Living Allowance, Personal Independence Payment, or attendance allowance), you may be able to claim for extra expenditure that results from your disability or infirmity.
Tell us about disability-related costs in your financial assessment, such as:
- extra heating
- community alarm system
- extra laundry costs
- special clothing
- special dietary requirements
- disability-related equipment
- transport costs
You’ll need copies of invoices and receipts for these items.
For more information about disability-related expenditure, download:
- Disability-related expenditure leaflet (PDF, 80KB)
- Easy Read Disability-related expenditure leaflet (PDF, 3MB)
Get an estimate of how much you might have to pay
Use our estimators to get an idea of how much you’d have to contribute to the costs of care at home or in the community.