Paying for Residential Care

There is no one simple answer.  The cost you will have to pay will depend on your assessed care need and what type of stay or placement is needed and it will be determined by a financial assessment.  Nobody will pay more than the full cost of the placement at the care home.

You will be offered a financial assessment to determine how much you will be charged for the placement. The amount you will be asked to pay will vary, depending on what your income and assets are.

If you have capital (including property in most instances) above the maximum capital threshold of £50,000 (2024/25) you will be assessed to pay the full cost of the placement, until the level of your assets falls below this figure at which time a new financial assessment will be undertaken, and a new charge will be calculated. 

If your capital assets are below the threshold of £50,000.00 you will be assessed to pay a contribution based on your income, less certain disregarded income.

The care will be free if:

• you receive after care services provided under S117 of the Mental Health Act 1983
• you are an adult who has been diagnosed with CJD
• or if your services are funded through Continuing Health Care by the Local Health Board.

You will be charged from the first day the of the placement, 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. As a result, you will need to save your benefits and income from the date that you go into the care home, as most of these will need to be used to pay towards the cost of the care home.

You can choose not to disclose your assets, in those instances you will be asked to pay the full cost of the placement. The full cost will depend on your assessed care needs and type of stay and may include an Additional Cost. 

You will be able to claim:

• Attendance Allowance
• Disability Living Allowance - Care Component
• Personal Independence Payment – Daily Living (usually at the higher rate)

to help pay for your care and support if you choose not to disclose your assets, as we assume that you have sufficient income/assets to pay the full cost of your placement.

If your savings are above the maximum capital threshold (including property) or your weekly income is sufficient to pay the full cost of your placement then you can ask the Council to arrange the placement for you and you will be charged the full cost of the placement.

You will be able to claim:

• Attendance Allowance
• Disability Living Allowance - Care Component
• Personal Independence Payment – Daily Living (usually at the higher rate)

to help pay for your care and support if you have sufficient income/assets to pay the full cost of your placement.

If your total capital is over the maximum capital threshold, but is not accessible, because your capital is tied up in your main property/land and you do not wish to or are unable to sell it at this time, then you can choose to enter into a Deferred Payment Agreement where you will be able to defer an element of your charge.  The Council will put a “Legal Charge” on the main residence and accrue the debt until a later date. This means that we will recover the amount that you owe us from the money you get if or when you decide to sell your home or from your estate after your placement has ended. You will however be required to use your weekly income and any accessible savings to pay towards your weekly charge until your property is sold or until your savings have reduced. 

You will be able to claim:

• Attendance Allowance
• Disability Living Allowance - Care Component
• Personal Independence Payment – Daily Living (usually at the higher rate)

to help pay for your care and support if you have sufficient income/assets to pay the full cost of your placement.

If you are admitted to a care home as a temporary placement then your main residence is disregarded from the financial assessment for the period of the temporary residence, up to a maximum of 52 weeks. If you own land, or own any additional properties then the value of these are included in the financial assessment from the start of the placement.

If you are admitted as a permanent placement, the value of your main residence is disregarded from the financial assessment for the first 12 weeks following your admission into care. If however you were to sell your main residence during this initial 12 week period, then the sale proceeds will be included in the financial assessment from the date of the sale. If you own land, or own any additional properties then the value is included in the financial assessment from the start of the placement.

In some circumstances your main residence will be disregarded from the financial assessment completely, if it is also the main residence of any of the following people:

• Your partner (this means husband or wife, or someone you live with as husband/wife or civil partner)
• A relative who is aged 60 or over
• A relative who is incapacitated
• Your child aged under 18
• A lone parent with a dependent child who is your estranged or divorced partner

The Council has discretion to consider other situations, and these are considered on their individual merits.   If any of these conditions cease during the placement then the value of the property will be included in the financial assessment from that date.  You will need to advise us if the circumstances change.  

We would examine documentation to confirm that the property is jointly owned and we would normally only take into account the value of your share of the property.

The financial assessment is based only on your own assets including your share of joint assets. The financial assessment will be carried out on the person who is to be placed at the Care Home. Only income and capital to which that person has a right to are considered. Where capital/investments etc. are held jointly with another they will be apportioned equally, or on the basis of entitlement if the information provided reflects 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. We will disregard 50% of a private/occupational pension where you give at least 50% of the pension to your spouse/partner for their living expenses. If your spouse/partner continues to reside at home then the property will be disregarded for assessment purposes whilst they continue to live there, however this decision would be reviewed should their circumstances change and you will need to let us know if this happens. The Council will endeavour to ensure that your spouse’s/partner’s income does not fall below a certain level set by the Department for Works and Pensions/Job Centre Plus. A financial assessment will be offered for the other person(s) living in the house.

We would examine the documentation confirming this and we will ask you to provide information relating to the terms of the transfer. We will use this information to base our decision on whether the property is included or disregarded from the financial assessment.  The person who benefits from the transfer may become liable for any unpaid charges.

If you choose to put your main residence up for sale we will continue to help you pay for your care costs until your property is sold. Once it is sold you must tell us and we will then calculate how much you owe for the placement costs.

As part of the financial assessment the local authority will value all of your properties for financial assessment purposes. If the sale price differs from the valuation then we will consider the reasons for this at that time.

The local authority can offer a Deferred Payment Agreement. This is a legal agreement between the service user and the Council to defer part of your charge. See the Deferred Payment Scheme for more information.

If you gave away savings, money or other assets or sold a property at less than its market 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 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.

In some circumstances, your health care needs will be such that the Health Authority will accept responsibility for the full cost of the placement under the Continuing Health Care (CHC) arrangements, in this situation you would not be asked to make any financial contribution. 

If your needs are reassessed and you are no longer eligible for full CHC funding, the council may take over some or part of the funding for your placement.  You will be asked to complete a financial assessment to determine your contribution towards your care and support.  Please note that this charge may be backdated.

The council has standard fees which it pays a care home, depending on your assessed care needs. If you choose a more expensive care home than the two care homes offered at the time of placement, i.e. where the care home chosen charges a weekly fee that is higher than the fees required by the two care homes offered to you, then you can only fund the Additional Cost yourself if you have a property and can enter in to a Deferred Payment Agreement.

If you have insufficient disregarded income to meet the cost of the placement and cannot enter into a Deferred Payment Agreement, then a third party must agree to pay the Additional Care Home Cost and he/she will be responsible for paying this amount for the duration of the placement and this will be in addition to your assessed charge.

The third party, or yourself, depending on the circumstances, will be asked to sign an agreement with the local authority to pay the Additional Cost.

The Additional Cost payment will be in addition to your means tested charge for the placement. More information can be found in the Additional Care Home Cost Page.

Please note the council is not required to offer a choice of two care homes if that placement is provided under Section 117 of the Mental Health Act 1983.

As part of your financial assessment all of your income is considered and then where applicable certain types of income are disregarded from the financial assessment.

Included in your benefits there is an amount commonly known as Minimum Income Amount and this amount is disregarded from your financial assessment and you are entitled to spend it as you wish. The amount is set by the Welsh Government, and it is reviewed annually. The amount for 2024/25 is £43.90 per week.

Within the financial assessment there are other forms of benefits and income which are disregarded from the financial assessment. Examples are:

• all the mobility components of Disability Living Allowance and Personal Independent Payment
• the first £10 of War Widows/Widowers pensions
• all of the War Widows supplementary pension
• all of the War Disablement pension
• all earnings
• all of the Armed Forces Independence payment
• all of the Guaranteed Income Payments made under the Armed Forces compensation scheme
• up to £5.75 of savings credit (part of pension credit). This is the amount for 2024/25 and this amount is set by the Welsh Government

This is not an exhaustive list.

As part of your financial assessment all of your capital is considered and where applicable certain types of capital are disregarded from the financial assessment.

Each year the Welsh Government sets an amount which must be disregarded from the calculation. The amount for 2024/25 is £50,000.00. The value of capital in excess of this figure is included in the financial assessment. If your capital is below this figure then it does not mean that you can retain income until your capital reaches this threshold.

In addition, capital received in the form of ex-gratia payments made to former Far Eastern POWs, payments made under the Vaccine Damage Scheme and some payments made by charities, trusts etc. will also be disregarded from the financial assessment. This is not an exhaustive list. Please contact the Assessment Team for further advice.

If you gave away savings, money or other assets or sold a property at less than its value before coming into a care home, 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.

If you are in a Care Home on a temporary or permanent basis and you are admitted to hospital or temporarily discharged from the placement, we will normally keep your placement available until it is decided that the placement is no longer needed or is unable to meet your future needs. The Local Authority must pay the care home in full whilst the placement is retained.  During the time that you are in hospital/temporarily discharged from the care home, you will still be charged your usual financially assessed charge for your placement.

You will be entitled to a Minimum Income Amount (MIA) every week. This can be used as you wish and can never be used to pay towards your care unless you choose to do so. The Welsh Government sets the amount of the Minimum Income Amount (MIA) each year and the current amount is £43.90 (24/25). 

There are a number of ways in which you can pay for your fees, and you can choose which option suits you best. Often, more than one option is used where it is the most convenient for you.

The most popular options are:

• Re-direction of pensions- it is possible to have your State Retirement pension and other benefits re-directed so that they are paid directly to the local authority instead of to you. Rarely, pensions from you/your spouse’s previous employers can also be redirected in the same way.
• By invoice - we can send you an invoice periodically for the part of the charge that you are able/have elected to pay this way. The invoice will relate to a service that you have already received.
• Direct Debit - you can set up a direct debit agreement so that all, or part, of your charge is taken directly from your bank account. You will be sent an invoice to show you how much is owed before the payment is taken from your account.

If you do not pay your charge, we will contact you to find out whether there is a problem. If there is a problem, we will try to help you sort it out. If there is no problem and you still do not pay your bills, then we will need to take appropriate action to recover any debts.

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 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.