Financial assessment for care at home

If you think you, or a loved one, would benefit from care at home, it’s important that you look into all the help that’s available to cover the costs.

When home care is arranged through your local council, rather than privately, they will look at your financial situation to determine whether you’ll have to pay towards your care, and how much if so. This is called a financial assessment.

The financial assessment for care at home, also known as a means test, looks at how much money you have, both in income and capital. The test is conducted after or alongside your care needs assessment, which determines your social care needs and the type of care and support you would benefit from.

If the care needs assessment determines that you would benefit from support, your local authority must look at your financial circumstances.

Generally, the more money that you have, the more you will have to pay.

How the financial assessment works

During the test, a Financial Assessment Officer from your local council will ask about your income and your capital. This may be in person or over the phone.

If you are receiving care in your own home as opposed to living in a care home, the value of your home will not be included in the assessment so long as you will continue to live there.

What does the means test for home care involve?

To calculate how much you will have to contribute towards your care, the financial assessment looks at:

• Earnings
• Pensions
• Benefits
• Savings

If you receive home care, you may be entitled to a variety of benefits. Some types of income, such as payments from the mobility part of Disability Living Allowance, will not be considered.

It’s important that you understand the support you’re entitled to because the assessment officer will assume you are receiving the benefits you are eligible for even if you are not currently claiming them.

If you receive income as part of a couple, only your share will be taken into account. The assessment will also ignore the value of your possessions and any life insurance policies.

If you try to reduce your wealth on purpose to avoid paying for care, known as deprivation of assets, your council may refuse to provide any type of financial support.

What you need for a financial assessment

To make the assessment as smooth as possible and to ensure that you receive the correct amount of support you are entitled to, make sure you have all the information at hand when the financial offer visits.

• Details of savings in bank accounts, building societies, premium bonds and individual savings accounts (ISAs)
• Any stocks and shares that you own
• Any disability-related expenses

How much will you have to pay for your care?

As well as your personal assets, how much you pay towards your care will also depend on the capital limits in the country you live in. Capital limits are a set amount of money that you can have before you are required to contribute towards the cost of your care.

England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have different capital thresholds and ways to determine if, and how much, you will have to pay.

Capital limits for help with home care costs

England

• Over £23,250 – you have to pay for care services in full
• Between £14,250 and £23,250 – your local council pays for some of the costs
• Less than £14,250 – Only your eligible income is included in the test, and the council pays for your care

Wales

• Upper limit – £24,000

In Wales, local authorities can only charge you a maximum of £100 per week for home care services regardless of how much you have in savings. This means that even if you have more than £24,000 in savings, you will only be charged a maximum of £100 a week and the council will cover the rest.

If you have less than £24,000 in savings, the means test only looks at your income and you will only pay as much as you can afford while still having a liveable income.

Scotland

In Scotland, nursing and personal care are free for anybody who has been assessed as needing it. This is regardless of income, savings and assets. Bear in mind that different local authorities have differing criteria for what counts as personal care.

Local authorities in Scotland also have different policies on how much they will charge you for care and support. Guidelines from the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) recommend that the first £10,000 should be ignored if you are over state pension age.

If you are below state pension age, the first £6,000 will be disregarded.

If you have capital over these amounts, a weekly tariff income of £1 per £500 over £10,000 is assumed if you are over state pension age, and £1 per £250 over £6,000 if you are below state pension age.

Northern Ireland

In Northern Ireland, how much you have to pay also depends on where in the country you live. Each local Health and Social Care Trust determines what help you are entitled to and how much you should contribute.

Contact your local Trust for more information:

• Belfast Health and Social Care Trust
• Northern Health and Social Care Trust
• South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust
• Southern Health and Social Care Trust
• Western Health and Social Care Trust

For more detailed information on how to pay for home care costs, read our guide to paying for care at home.

What happens after the financial assessment?

Following the means test, your council will provide you with written records of their assessment and decision about how much you need to contribute.

If you qualify for financial support, your local authority will provide you with a personal budget, which is money you can spend on care costs.

You can either receive money through direct payments into your bank account each month. Or the council will organise the care for you, which they will then bill you for.

If the financial assessment shows that you do not qualify for help with home care costs, you must pay for all the costs yourself.

Contact the council if you have any questions about the assessment.

If you are unhappy with the financial assessment?

You should contact the council first, if you disagree with the results of the means test and think that you do qualify for support or that you should pay less than the assessment shows.

If you want to take it further, get in touch with your local social care ombudsman.