select a county.. ---------England--------- Avon Bedfordshire Berkshire Birmingham Buckinghamshire Cambridgeshire Cheshire Cleveland Cornwall Cumbria Derbyshire Devon Dorset Durham East Sussex East Yorkshire English Isles Essex Gloucestershire Hampshire Hereford & Worcester Hertfordshire Kent Lancashire Leicestershire Lincolnshire London Manchester Merseyside Middlesex Norfolk North Yorkshire Northamptonshire Northumberland Nottinghamshire Oxfordshire Shropshire Somerset South Yorkshire Staffordshire Suffolk Surrey Tyne and Wear Warwickshire West Sussex West Yorkshire Wiltshire ---------Scotland--------- Aberdeenshire Ayrshire Dumfries Falkirk Fife Forth Valley Glasgow & Inverclyde Highlands Lanarkshire Lothian Perth & Kinross Scottish Borders Scottish-Isles Tayside -----------Wales----------- Clwyd Dyfed Gwent Gwynedd Powys Glamorgan ---------N.Ireland--------- Antrim Armagh County Down Derry Fermanagh Tyrone ---------Overseas---------- Spain

The following information is a summary of what is a complex set of rules and your own situation may well not be covered. The Care Directory can also arrange for you to receive free financial advice from an adviser specialising in care fees planning. Click Here for more details.

• Qualification for State Funding
• Self-Funded Care
• Twelve Week Property Disregard
• Self-Funded Care When Assets Are Close to Social Services Thresholds
• NHS Funding for Nursing Care within Care Homes with Nursing
• Attendance Allowance
• Carer's Allowance
• Pension Credit
• Mental Health Act 1983 – Section 117
• Continuing NHS Health Care

Qualification for State Funding

Generally, people are expected to pay privately for a care home or care home with nursing if they have more than £22,250 in England (£21,500 in Scotland, £22,000 in Wales and £22,250 in Northern Ireland) of savings and investments (the upper threshold), including the value of their home. There is a sliding scale of State contribution where savings are between the lower threshold of £13,500 in England (£13,000 in Scotland, £19,000 in Wales and £13,500 in Northern Ireland) and the upper threshold. People with savings below lower threshold will receive funding by the Social Services.

If an individual owns his or her house, the value of the property is normally included in the financial assessment. There are some exceptions to this, for example when the individual’s partner is continuing to live in the house, the value will not be included in the assessment.

Since April 1993, the major responsibility for paying for care for someone with savings below the lower threshold (or contributing to care costs for someone with savings between the lower and upper thresholds) has been with the Social Service Departments of Local Authorities.

If an older person needs financial help to move into a home, he or she needs to contact the local Social Services Department. The individual will then be assessed to see if they need care and also to assess their financial resources.

If the individual is assessed by Social Services as requiring care, the Social Services Department may, subject to the funds available, agree to pay for care. The amount it pays will depend on the type of care required and in what setting. The amount paid will tend to vary from one Local Authority to another, in accordance with their own budgetary constraints.

In most parts of the country, there are homes which will accept Social Services funding and older people who qualify for this can live in these homes without charge. A qualifying person is entitled to choose any home regardless of cost, provided that:

• It offers appropriate care
• If the fees are more than the Local Authority pays, any top up will be paid by a third party
• The home is willing to agree to the Local Authority’s standard terms of service

If the older person has an income, such as a pension, that income is taken into account when calculating the amount that the Local Authority contributes.

Before making any making any financial commitments you should take expert advice. The Care Directory can also arrange for you to receive free financial advice from an adviser specialising in care fees planning. Click Here for more details.

For a free, no obligation, chat with an Independent Care Adviser call 0800 137 669.

Self-Funded Care

If an older person does not qualify for state funding for care, they will still have access to funding for Nursing Care and still be entitled to Attendance Allowance.

Costs of care vary greatly depending on location and level of care chosen. As a very general guide, costs of care tend to fall within the following bands:

• Care Homes From £300 per week to £850 per week
• Care Homes with Nursing From £450 per week to over £1,000 per week
• Home Care Agencies From £10 per hour to £30 per hour

Care can be very expensive! What is more, care provision is an open marketplace, so prices for the same care services will differ from one care provider to another. Individuals are always strongly advised to discuss their care needs with an Independent Care Adviser to ensure that they receive the right care at the right price.

The Care Directory can also arrange for you to receive free financial advice from an adviser specialising in care fees planning. Click Here for more details.

For a free, no obligation, chat with an Independent Care Adviser call 0800 137 669.

Twelve Week Property Disregard

This is intended to give the older person twelve weeks between going into residential care and the sale of their house, either giving them time to consider returning home or time to sell the property to fund their care. For the first twelve weeks from admission into residential care, the value of the older person's home is disregarded from the means test. However it is important to recognise that this funding is dependent on social services assessing the individual as requiring residential care.

This funding, for the first twelve weeks, does not have to be repaid to the Local Authority. However, if the property has not sold after this time, the individual may be able to enter into a deferred payment scheme with the local authority, which is repaid out of the proceeds of the sale of the property in due course.

For a free, no obligation, chat with an Independent Care Adviser call 0800 137 669.

Self-Funded Care When Assets Are Close to Social Services Thresholds

Caution must be exercised by a self-funder where it can be reasonably predicted that his or her assets will shortly be reduced, due to paying care costs, to a level where the individual will qualify for State-funded care.

Many care providers charge fees that are higher than Social Services rates. The self-funder in this situation is advised to be careful when choosing a care provider such as a care home - if the care home charges fees in excess of State allowances, or if the care home provides care that Social Services have not assessed as being required, the individual may need to move when State-funding of care comes into effect.

For a free, no obligation, chat with an Independent Care Adviser call 0800 137 669.

NHS Funding for Nursing Care within Care Homes with Nursing

The The NHS funds registered nursing care for residents in care homes with nursing. An NHS Nurse assesses the level of nursing care a resident needs and the NHS pays for this nursing care in the home as per the table below, regardless of how and by whom the care is paid.

The level of funding available will vary throughout the UK. The current rates are:

For a free, no obligation, chat with an Independent Care Adviser call 0800 137 669.

Attendance Allowance

Attendance Allowance is a benefit paid by the Benefits Agency to people over the age of 65 years, who need help with personal care and/or supervision.

It is not taxable and is not subject to a financial means test.

The benefit is paid at two different rates. As from April 2008, the current rates are:

• Lower Rate = £44.85 per week
  If an older person needs help in either the day or the night but not both.
• Higher Rate = £67.00 per week
  If an older person needs help both day and night.

Attendance Allowance is still paid if an older person enters a private home where they are paying for their own care. However, it is withdrawn if an older person enters a Local Authority home or NHS hospital and their care is being paid for out of public funds.

For a free, no obligation, chat with an Independent Care Adviser call 0800 137 669.

Carer's Allowance

Carer's Allowance is paid to people who are caring for someone who receives the top or middle rate care part of Disabled Living Allowance (paid to people under 65) or Attendance Allowance (paid to people over 65). The weekly rate is £50.55. An individual must be caring for the person for at least 35 hours a week and not earning more than £95 per week (after the deduction of certain expenses).

For a free, no obligation, chat with an Independent Care Adviser call 0800 137 669.

Pension Credit

From October 2003 older people can claim Pension Credit. This replaces Minimum Income Guarantee (Income Support).

Pension Credit aims to:

• Provide people aged 60 and over with a minimum level of income. This is referred to as a "guarantee credit". A guarantee credit tops up an individual's income to an "appropriate amount". For a single person this amount is currently £124.05 per week and for a couple, £189.35 per week. The amount could be more if the person is disabled.

There will be an assessment of income and capital to establish whether a person is eligible for Pension Credit.

For further information about Pension Credit and how to make a claim, people will need to contact their local Pension Service or local advice agency.

For a free, no obligation, chat with an Independent Care Adviser call 0800 137 669.

Mental Health Act 1983 – Section 117

Section 117 of the Mental Health Act 1983 applies if a person has been detained (sectioned) in hospital under Section 3 of the Act.

(Section 3 gives authority for an individual to be detained in hospital for treatment for up to 6 months initially).

Section 117 states that the Health Authority should provide aftercare services where needed due to mental disorder until they are satisfied that the person in question is no longer in need of these aftercare services.

Whilst the Act states this duty to arrange aftercare services, there is no obligation for the person concerned to accept the services, which are offered to them.

If a person is detained under Section 2 of the Act they do not get the benefit of the Section 117 aftercare provisions.

(Section 2 gives authority for an individual to be detained in hospital for assessment for a period up to 28 days).

For a free, no obligation, chat with an Independent Care Adviser call 0800 137 669.

Continuing NHS Health Care

This is a care package, which is arranged and solely funded by the NHS. Continuing NHS Health Care is provided when an individual still needs a high level of nursing care but it is not necessary that this should be provided in an acute hospital setting. An individual's eligibility to receive NHS funded health care should depend on whether the patient's primary need is a health need rather than a social need.

Primary Care Trusts assess an individual's eligibility for fully funded NHS Care against NHS criteria. Patients are currently assessed according to the complexity, intensity, predictability and stability of their health care needs.

For a free, no obligation, chat with an Independent Care Adviser call 0800 137 669.

 
If you require further assistance or would like to speak to the Independent Care Adviser this site recommends please call 0800 137 669 or complete the e-mail enquiry form.