Residential and nursing home care
How are my finances assessed?
If you have been assessed as needing residential or nursing home care you must complete a form about your financial position. This lets us work out how much you can afford to pay. This is done to make sure that you are claiming all the benefits you are entitled to and that you only pay what you can afford. We will meet with you to help you to complete this form.
How much will I have to pay?
When you have completed the financial assessment, we will write to you to tell you how much to pay and how we have worked it out. We will make the following calculations:
- if you have savings/investments over £22,250 we will charge you the full amount for your residential care.
- if you have savings/investments under £22,250 we calculate a charge of £1 for every £250 above £13,500. We now add this amount to your income for the next set of calculations.
- if you have savings/investments of less than £13,500 this will not affect the next set of calculations.
After looking at your savings, if you do not have to pay the full charge we then go on to look at your income. We take away the following amount:
- £21.15 a week for personal expenses such as newspapers, toiletries and sweets. (This amount is set by the Government and may change each year. It may be higher for people who are 65 or over.)
For the first four weeks of a permanent stay in a residential or nursing home, you will still be entitled to benefits such as Attendance Allowance, Disability Living Allowance, or the Severe Disability Premium part of Income Support or Pension Credit. We will take these benefits into account in your assessment for the first four weeks.
In April each year, the Government increases the amounts they pay in state benefits. We will carry out a financial review for you each year, between April and June. We will then tell you how much you need to pay towards your care. If your financial circumstances change before we carry out the review, you should write and tell us.
What will I have to pay if my needs change?
If you have recently been given a medical assessment which states you need to move from residential to nursing care, you will be moved to a suitable home where qualified nursing staff can look after you.
Your client contributions for residential care will remain unchanged. We will fund any additional charges while you are in nursing care.
There would be no charge increase if you were moving from an old people’s home to an Elderly Mental Infirm home (EMI).
Deferred payment scheme
The deferred payment scheme can allow you to put off the sale of your house if you go into residential or nursing home care.
