STEP 2 OF 5 – Will I have to pay for care home charges?

Commission for Social Care Inspection -
'A Fair Contract For Older People.'

'People who are expected to pay for their own care are particularly disadvantaged by a lack of information, support and advice at every stage in making a decision about going into a care home.'

If you need to move into a care home, your local authority will assess whether you have to make a contribution towards the fees. They will make their decision based on your income and savings. For example, if you have more than £23,000 ,(subject to change) in savings (this may include the value of your home - see below) then you will usually have to pay the care home fees in full.

Will I have to sell my home to pay for care home charges?

If you own your own home and you move into a residential care home permanently, the local authority will ignore the value of your home for the first 12 weeks of your stay. After that, they will usually include the value of your home when working out whether you have to pay care home fees. This means that you will be expected to sell your home to pay the fees.

In certain situations, the local authority will not include the value of your home when working out whether you have to pay fees. They will ignore the value of your home if any of the following people are living in it:

• your partner or your former partner
  
• a relative who is aged over 60
  
• a relative who is incapacitated, for example, someone with a disability
  
• a relative who is responsible for a child aged under 16.
  

The local authority can also choose to ignore the value of your home if they think it is reasonable to do so, for example, if you have another relative living at home who does not fit into any of the above categories.

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