Financing your care – can your local authority help?

Long term care is a financial worry for most people. And because the rules and guidance can seem complicated, it can be difficult to know how to approach financing your care. Can your local authority help? Will you need to sell your home? What’s the threshold for savings? It’s one of the biggest considerations for people starting to look for care homes, so we have put together a handy guide to help.

Where do you live?

Like many things, the way care home fees work will depend on where you live in the UK. If you live in England or Northern Ireland, and have assets of more that £23,250, you will need to be able to pay for your care yourself. This is called ‘self-funding’. In Scotland, the asset threshold is £28,750 and it is £50,000 in Wales.

So to understand whether you qualify for any support, you need to know what your assets are. These are made up of your income, your home, your investments and any cash savings. If you think you are eligible for funding support because you are below the relevant threshold, your local authority will assess your assets. They will also take any debts you have – such as a mortgage into account.

Do you qualify for any other support?

If you are over 65 and need care and support – even if you are self-funding – you can apply for the Attendance Allowance. At the time of writing, this is paid at a rate of £61.85 a week, or £92.40 a week if you have a certain level of disability.

You may also qualify for Carer’s Allowance, if you have substantial caring needs. The Carer’s Allowance is paid to a carer who spends more than 35 hours a week with caring duties.

Local authority support for care home fees

If your assets are lower than the threshold in your area, your care home fees will be paid by your local authority. This is often managed on a case-by-case basis, because funding will depend on the pension income you have coming in and whether you can get any support from family.

The local authority will run an assessment to see what level of support you qualify for. They will often send a list of the homes that they are prepared to pay for. If you want to choose a more expensive home, the local authority may agree to pay their portion of the fees to that home – but your family will need to show they are able to top-up the fees on your behalf.

The best thing to do, if you think your assets come under the threshold, is to get in touch with the relevant department at your local authority. This is usually under the ‘adult social care’ section of the website. Or call a general number and ask to speak to someone who can help you.

Self-funding

If your assets are over the threshold, you will be expected to pay for your own care until your assets drop below the threshold. At that point, you or your family will need to contact your local authority to see how they can support you.

Often, self-funding is managed by selling or letting your property. Some people invest the capital from the sale in a bond that guarantees payment at a certain rate.

If you or a member of your family is investigating long term care, it’s best to start thinking about funding as soon as possible.