Assessing your income

Community care charges in a residential or nursing home

• How will I know how much I have to pay?
• What if I have a low income?
• How much of my income will be taken into account?
• Will I keep any money for myself?
• What happens if I have savings?

How will I know how much I have to pay?

Using the information you give us, we will calculate your charge and send you a statement. The statement will tell you how much you will have to pay each week, the start date of the charge and how it was calculated.

What if I have a low income?

When we are working out how much you will have to pay, we will check to make sure you are getting all the welfare benefits you may be entitled to. If you have a low income you may find that you can claim additional benefits to help pay towards the cost of your care. As part of the financial assessment we will help you or the person looking after your financial affairs to complete the relevant forms.

Please note that there are strict time limits for making benefit claims and we would suggest that you or the person looking after your financial affairs contact the Finance Assessment Team for advice before you move to a residential or nursing home.

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How much of my income will be taken into account?

Most social security benefits are taken into account, although some war related benefits will be partially disregarded. Income such as private pensions, earnings or trust income will also be taken into account.

If you receive a private pension and you are married you are entitled to give half of that private pension to your spouse if he or she remains at home.

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Will I keep any money for myself?

You are entitled to a personal allowance for the purchase of newspapers and other items. The level of this allowance is set each year by the government. If you are over 65 you may be entitled to an increased personal allowance.

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What happens if I have savings?

Any capital and savings up to the value of £13,500 are ignored completely. For every £250 you have between £13,500 and £22,250 we will add £1 to the weekly income used to calculate your charge.

If you have savings over £22,250 you will be liable for the full cost of your residential or nursing home placement. You or the person looking after your financial affairs should contact us before your savings reach £22,250 to discuss how this will affect your charge.

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