Paying for Care

The council has a flat rate charge for services which substitute for ordinary daily living costs.  The charge is paid at the same rate by everyone who receives these services.  Everyone will pay these charges irrespective of the outcome of their financial assessments.  These services are:

The services listed below will be charged depending on the outcome of your financial assessment and the type and amount of services you are assessed to receive.

*One Day Care session is defined as:

• A service received before 1pm on any day, for any length of time
• A service received between 1pm and 6pm on any day, for any length of time
• A service received after 6pm on any day, for any length of time

*The charge for meals/snacks at a Day Centre will be paid by all attendees and is in addition for the charge for attendance at the Day Centre (2 separate invoices will be issued).

Please note that the charging week runs from Monday to Sunday, therefore one night's Respite/Short-term care in a care home during a charging week would be charged at your assessed charge shown on the Statement of Financial Assessment - which will be provided to you, and this may be the current maximum charge, i.e. you could pay £100 for a one night's stay at a care home.  The charging week runs from a Monday to Sunday.

You will be offered a financial assessment to determine how much you will be charged for the placement. This will depend on your capital, income and allowances/disregards. If you have above the maximum capital threshold of £24,000 (2024/25) or you may not want to disclose your assets you will be assessed to pay the full cost of your care, up to the maximum charge.

Nobody will pay more than the charge for the services they are assessed to receive, and the charge will not be more than the maximum weekly charge of £100 per week.  (2024/25)

The value of your main home (the home you live in) is not counted as part of your capital, however land, or share of land, or second properties owned or jointly owned are counted as a capital asset. 

If you have given away any savings, money or other assets or have sold a property at less than its value before receiving care, or whilst receiving care then we may assess you as though you still have the full value of the asset. The person who benefits may become liable for any unpaid charges.

We will ask you about the timing, reason, recipient and the monetary value of the transfer and use this information to base our decision on whether the asset is included or disregarded from the financial assessment.

You will be charged (if you are assessed to pay a charge) from the first day that the service(s) is provided, however the first invoice for care charges will not be issued until you are provided with a statement detailing how the charge has been calculated. 

Allowances and disregards

As part of your financial assessment all of your income is considered but some  types of income are disregarded from the financial assessment. The main allowances or disregards are:

• Any employment earnings
• Carer’s Allowance
• Child Benefit
• Christmas Bonuses
• Council Tax
• Disabled Person’s Tax Credit
• Income Tax and National Insurance
• Mobility component of Disability Living Allowance and
• Personal Independence Payment (as opposed to the care
• component) and War Pensioner’s mobility supplement
• Paid expenses at work
• Payments to Far Eastern former POW’s and Vaccine damage payments
• Rent/mortgage
• The first £10 of War Widows/Widowers pensions, survivors Guaranteed Income Payments from the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme, Civilian War Injury pension and payments to victim of National Socialist persecution
• The value of your home (n.b. not additional properties, or any land owned)
• War Widows Supplementary Pension
• Winter Fuel Payments
• Working (families) Tax Credit
• War Disablement Pension
• Up to the first £5.75 of Savings Credit
• 50% of a private/occupational pension where you give at least 50% of the pension to your spouse/partner for their living expenses

Disability Related Expenditure is also disregarded.

Joint Financial Assessments

The financial assessment will be carried out on the person who is to receive the non-residential social service(s). Only income and capital to which that person has a right are considered. Where capital/investments etc. are held jointly with another they will be apportioned equally, or on the basis of entitlement if the records provided reflect something different. Where benefits are paid in respect of a ‘couple’ then the amount paid for the person who receives a service will be taken into account in the financial assessment process. 

If anybody else lives with you at the same address, then the Council will endeavour to ensure that the household’s income does not fall below a certain level set by the Welsh Government.  A financial assessment for the other person(s) living in the house would be offered and the result could mean a reduction of the charge to the person receiving the service.

If you believe that your charge has been assessed incorrectly, then please contact the Financial Assessment Team. An Officer will go through your assessment to re-check that all the figures are correct and that there is no relevant information missing.  If you are still unhappy with the outcome, then you can ask for a manager to check the assessment.  If after this you are still unhappy then you can request a formal review of the decision and the staff in the Non-Residential Financial Assessment Team can explain the steps you should follow next.

You can also ask someone outside the Council to check the calculations (e.g., the Citizens’ Advice Bureau).

If you are assessed as needing care and support you are able to receive a direct payment in place of a service in order that you can arrange your own care. Direct Payments make it possible for you to buy the services that you have been assessed as needing, in a way that gives you greater choice and control.   

You should inform us if you get an increase or decrease in your benefits/income, if you get any new benefits/income, if you benefit from an inheritance or any other transfer, or if your savings/capital has gone above or falls below the maximum capital threshold (see page 12 for current capital threshold) or if you incur new or additional expenses as a result of a change in your care needs.

If you are assessed to pay something towards your care, then we will inform you of the ways you can pay your charges when we write to you to confirm the outcome of your financial assessment.

If the invoice(s) remains unpaid the Local Authority will pursue these through its debt recovery arrangements.

The authority does charge interest in certain circumstances. When someone has passed away the authority will charge interest on the whole of the outstanding debt from 91 days after the service user passes away. There are other circumstances when the department is able to charge interest on debts, e.g. where the debtor deliberately refuses to pay for care even though they have the financial means. Each case is considered on an individual basis.

If you wish to contact the Council about your charges, then please write to or telephone:

Financial Assessment Team

Department for Communities

Carmarthenshire County Council

3 Spilman Street

Carmarthen

SA31 1LE

Telephone: 01267 228683

Email: fassessnonrescare@carmarthenshire.gov.uk