When you apply for home care, the local social services will carry out a Care Assessment. You will not be charged for your assessment and it should consider:

  • Your emotional needs
  • Your social life and
  • Whether you have a disability
  • Your housing needs

Once your care assessment has been completed, you will also have a financial assessment that will determine how much you will pay towards your care services.

The amount you are eventually charged will vary from authority to authority, but the government has issued guidelines designed to make the process fair and as consistent as possible. The overall financial assessment will take account of your capital and your income, but if you have more than £23,250 in capital you will have to pay the full amount to receive services. Otherwise you will be charged on a sliding scale, taking account of remaining capital and your income.

The financial assessment will be calculated in a way that ensures you have enough to live on once you have paid for care services. This will usually be at least the minimum amount of money the government says you can live on PLUS an extra percentage, depending on the authority. Other deductions that may be made before the assessor looks at how much you can pay include:

  • Any disability benefits, or costs that you incur because of a disability
  • Any housing costs

You cannot be charged more than the chargeable income.