Paying for care home placement
You may be moving into a care home permanently or for a short time. In both cases we will look at:
- any income you have from benefits, pension, and other unearned income
- any capital you have, including bank and building society accounts, shares and investments, and properties that you own or have a financial interest in
- certain outgoings you have which reduce the amount of income you have
Paying for Care has a Care Cost Calculator to help you check average care home costs
If you own a property
If you have eligible needs and you need to move in to a care home permanently, you will need to make a contribution towards the cost of the placement. If you own a property, it is likely that you will be responsible for paying the full cost of your placement, and you might need to think about selling your property to do this. To help make this process as easy as possible for you if you have been in care for less than one year you will automatically be given a 12 week property disregard. After the 12 weeks you may be entitled to a deferred payment.
12 week Property Disregard
A 12 week property disregard means that we will ignore the value of any property you own for the first 12 weeks of your care home placement if you have:
- eligible needs and own a property when you move in to a care home permanently for the first time
- savings and investments valued at less than £23,250 (not including the value of your property)
During this time you will make a contribution based on your income and other savings and we will fund the difference to make up the full fee. This period gives you and your family time to make decisions about how you will pay for your care long term in a care home, and make arrangements to sell your home if you decide to do so. At the end of this 12 weeks we will stop funding your placement and you will be responsible for paying the full fee to the care home.
Deferred payment
A deferred payment is a loan, secured against your property, where we will either pay the fee to the care home on your behalf, or lend you the money to pay the care home yourself. This provides you and your family with the peace of mind of not needing to sell your property straight away. There are criteria that you must meet before we can offer you a deferred payment and it must be possible to register a first charge against your property with the Land Registry to act as security for the loan. Having a Deferred Payment means you don’t need to sell your house quickly and you can decide to wait until you die to repay the loan, at which point we will claim the money owed under the agreement from your Estate. It is important to remember that a Deferred Payment is a debt that must be repaid, and that we will charge you interest and administration fees during the time that the agreement is in place. We recommend seeking independent financial advice before you decide whether a Deferred Payment is right for you.
Top-up fees
The council agree a price for types of care home placements. They always pay this amount for the same type of placement in the same care home.
Care homes can charge extra for additional services or facilities that they provide. These costs are more than what the council has agreed to pay. This is called a top up fee. For example, you may pay a top up fee for room with en-suite facilities. Your social worker will explain any top up fees that are payable. The council will always try to offer you at least one placement that does not require a top up.
In most cases, the top up needs to be paid by someone other than the person moving in to the care home. Whoever agrees to pay the top up on your behalf must agree to make the payment directly to the care home for the whole time that you live there and must understand that the top up may increase over time.
If you decide to take a deferred payment to cover the cost of your care home placement, you may be able to pay the top up yourself. Before this is agreed, the council will make sure that the money spent on your placement, including the top up, will be paid back to them when your property is sold. If agreed, the top up fee will be included in your deferred payment agreement and the full placement cost will be recovered when your house is sold.
Contact Adult Social CarePoint for more information on top up fees.
For more information read our Charging and financial assessment policy