Receiving care at home can ensure you stay independent, but knowing how to finance it can be tricky and complicated.

Care at home can be financed independently and through social services. However, if you go through social services they will carry out a Care Assessment. This will enable them to decide whether they should arrange support and, if so, up to what level. If they do agree to provide support they will carry out a financial assessment to determine how much you should be charged.

Please note: In certain circumstances, the local authority may decide to limit the cost of  care provided at home to no more than it would  cost for you to be cared for in a care home. So if it would cost the council £300 a week to pay for a care home place, they might restrict the cost of home care service to £300. If this happens, you should always ask for a full explanation of the reasons for the restriction and how it affects any charging arrangement they put in place.

Privately funded care at home will be paid direct from you to an agency. Information on privately-funded agencies and how to use them can be found here.

If they decide that you are entitled to their support, Social Services will offer you services provided by them or provided by external agencies. Social Services Departments may also offer you a degree of direct control or influence over the way any budget agreed for your care is spent.