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Financial assessment

Long-term stay in a care home financial assessment

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    Introduction

    As part of the assessment process for arranging care and support, if you are moving into residential care on a long-term basis, we’ll offer you a living in a care home financial assessment.

    You are classed as living in a care home if you live in:

    • residential care home
    • nursing care home
    • residential college (as a placement).

    Step 1: Your assessment appointment

    Shortly after your needs assessment, we will contact you to arrange a telephone appointment for your financial assessment.

    Read step 2 below to find out what you need to do to prepare for your appointment.

    Step 2: Your assessment - what we need to know

    To carry out a financial assessment, we need some information about you and your finances. We also need to know about anyone who is involved in your financial decisions.

    You can find out more about the information we require below.

    We recommend that you have any related documents ready to hand for your telephone appointment. This will help you to provide all the information we require and allow us to correctly calculate how much you can afford to contribute to your care.

    We'll also consider:

    Step 3: Share your financial documents with us

    At the end of your telephone assessment, the person assessing you will advise on the best way for you to share your financial documents. This is usually by one of the following methods:

    Please note: you will need to include your PID reference number with any proofs you supply.

    Step 4: After your assessment

    We will send you an assessment letter that:

    • confirms the details of your financial assessment
    • tells you how much you are required to pay towards your care
    • provides details of how to pay us.

    Check the details

    It is important that you check the details of your assessment letter. If anything is missing or incorrect, it may make a difference to the amount you must pay towards your care. Any difference will be backdated to the start of your care and you may need to repay us.

    Find out how to report missing or incorrect information

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    Personal details

    As well as your contact information, we need the details of anyone who is involved in your financial decisions, such as:

    • your power of attorney
    • deputy or financial representative.

    You must also provide us with any of the following documents that apply to you:

    • power of attorney documentation
    • appointee forms
    • court of protection order.

    Benefits and allowances

    You must tell us about all of the benefits or allowances you receive, however we will only take some of them into account when we calculate your contribution.

    Some examples of what we take into account:

    • universal credit
    • income support
    • employment and support allowance (ESA)
    • armed forces independence payment
    • attendance allowance
    • personal independence payment (PIP) daily living component
    • disability living allowance (DLA) care component
    • industrial injuries disablement allowance.

    We do not take these benefits and allowances into account (but you must still tell us if you receive them):

    • working tax credit
    • disability living allowance (DLA) mobility component
    • personal independence payment (PIP) mobility component
    • child benefit
    • child tax credits
    • guarantee income payments from the armed forces compensation scheme.

    You must provide us with:

    • your latest benefit entitlement or award letter from the Department for Work and Pensions for the current financial year (April to March).

    Extra benefits and allowances

    Some benefits, such as attendance allowance, are there to help you pay for care and support. Please make sure that you apply for every benefit or allowance that you think you qualify for. Learn more about benefits.

    If you are unsure, please ask for help during your financial assessment appointment. We can advise what you may qualify for and support you to apply.

    Please note: we will still include the money you could claim for in your financial assessment - even if you have not claimed for it.

    Outstanding benefit claims

    If you are waiting for a decision to be made about a benefit that you have applied for, please contact us as soon as you know the outcome. This will help us to confirm you are paying the correct contribution towards your care.

    Pensions

    You must tell us about all pension-related income, however not everything will be taken into account when we calculate your contribution.

    Some examples of what we take into account:

    • state pension
    • occupational pension or private pension
    • guarantee credit (pension credit).

    We do not take the following into account (but you must still tell us if you receive it):

    • savings credit (pension credit)

    You must provide us with any of the following documents that apply to you:

    • latest benefit entitlement or award letter from the Department for Work and Pensions for the current financial year (April to March)
    • verification of a private pension
    • paperwork relating to a deferred pension or annuity.

    Other income

    You must tell us about any other income you receive, however not everything will be taken into account when we calculate your contribution.

    Some examples of what we take into account:

    • rental income from property or land
    • student finance
    • any other income you receive.

    We do not take the following into account (but you must still tell us about it):

    • earnings from a job.

    You must provide us with all of the following documents that apply to you:

    • evidence of rental income
    • proof of student loan
    • current bank account statements detailing other income.

    Savings and investments

    We need to know about any savings and capital you have. This means:

    • cash
    • money in a bank or building society
    • shares.

    You must provide us with all of the following documents that apply to you:

    • bank account statements
    • savings account statements
    • bond certificates
    • life assurance bond certificates that show whose lives are assured - plus any income you have received to date
    • share certificates
    • national savings certificates
    • investment or trust documents.

    Property or land that you own

    We need to know about any property or land that you own or have a beneficial interest in. You have a beneficial interest if you are entitled to a share of the proceeds of its sale.

    You must provide us with all of the following documents that apply to you:

    • latest mortgage statement
    • documents relating to extra property
    • equity release documents
    • proof of joint ownership
    • proof of property previously owned in the last 2 years.

    The 12-week property disregard

    The value of a property that you own, and live in as your main or only home, is not taken into account for the first 12 weeks after you move into a residential care home. This is to give you time to sell your property or arrange other options, such as a deferred payment agreement.

    During the 12 weeks, we may be able to help you to arrange and pay for your care in a care home. You may still have to contribute towards your care costs.

    After the 12 weeks, we will review your finances. The value of your home could then be included in the financial assessment so you'll need a plan for when this disregard ends.

    When other people live in your home

    After the 12-week property disregard, your beneficial interest in your existing main or only home is usually taken into account. However it will not be taken into account if it is still occupied, in part or whole, as their main or only home by:

    • your spouse, civil partner or partner (who you have lived with as though you are married)
    • a relative, such as a son, daughter, niece or nephew, who is aged 60 or over
    • a relative who is aged 17 or under, and who you legally support
    • a relative who is disabled.

    They must have been occupying this property before you went into the care home. This disregard lasts until the situation changes, such as if your spouse also moves into a care home, at which time it may be included in the financial assessment.

    Joint ownership of property or land

    If you own property or land with someone else, we will only consider the value of your share of the property in the financial assessment. We'll calculate the value of your property, based on a number of factors, including:

    • your share in the property or land
    • the sale value of your property
    • how much someone would pay to become a joint owner instead of you.

    Personal expenses allowance

    Someone who lives in a care home has all their day-to-day expenses covered within their residential or nursing home fee. This means the minimum income guarantee used in the financial assessment calculations for someone living at home does not apply to care home residents.

    Instead, each year the government sets an minimum income amount that you should have after paying for, or contributing to, the cost of your care home. This is as follows:

    • 6 April 2026 to 4 April 2027: £31.80 per week.

    Please note: you have more than this amount left if you receive an income that is disregarded in the financial assessment, such as the mobility component of disability living allowance (DLA) or personal independent payment (PIP).

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