How much does home care cost?

How much you need to pay for care at home depends on a number of factors including how much care you require, your savings and your income.

The first thing you should do, is arrange a Care Needs Assessment through your local council. The Care Needs Assessment works out what help you would require, to stay in your own home independently and safely.

You can arrange this yourself or with your permission; your GP or district nurse can refer you for an assessment on your behalf. If you are being discharged from hospital, then the hospital will assess what adaptions may be needed to your home and what care you will require, a social worker should then be appointed and they will help arrange your future care and support.

Who will fund my home care?

Funding for care is complicated and is means assessed by your local council following strict criteria.

Will I be eligible to council funded home care?

Once your local council has carried out your care needs assessment and has agreed to what care and support you require, they will then do a means test.

This will take into account your financial situation and you will have to show them your savings and income. Some types of income won’t be counted such as certain disability benefits and/or certain pensions and if you require care, to stay in your own home, then the means test won’t include the value of your home unlike if you were to move into a care home permanently.

Once the local council have carried out the means test, they will write to you to tell you about how much your care will cost, the amount you will be expected to contribute and you will be offered a personal budget.

Personal Budget

You can choose how to use your personal budget. You can either:

  • Receive a direct payment into your bank account each month and arrange your home care yourself
  • Ask the council to organise your home care for you and you will be invoiced regularly if after the means test, you are required to pay towards the cost of your care.

The council must regularly reassess your finances to see if you are eligible for more funding – this is usually done once a year.

Self-funded home care

If you don't qualify for council help with costs towards your care, you'll be expected to pay the full cost of your care yourself from your income or savings.

Is there any other financial support available to help with my home care costs?

You may still be able to claim financial support that will help meet some of the cost of home care.

You may be eligible for either:

What happens if my care needs assessment shows that I don’t need help?

Even if your care needs assessment shows that you aren’t eligible for help but you still feel like you could do with some support at home, you can arrange your own home care. That may be help with personal care or help with domestic duties such as housework or cooking.

  

Looking for Home Care

If you are looking for home care for yourself or your loved one, either funded or self-funded, then please call our friendly team for a chat today.

We are committed to supporting people in their own homes so they can maintain their independence and quality of life. We understand that everyone is different and everyone has different needs so we pride ourselves on delivering tailor made home care with dignity, compassion and respect.

We offer personal care, waking nights, live in care and a range of further services such as companionship, cooking, cleaning, help with shopping, social activities and access to the community including medical appointments. Our wellbeing teams provide high quality, person-centred care in the community, focussing on what matters most to you!