Financial Assessment

The amount you have to pay towards the cost of your care and support depends on:

• the type of care and support you need, as identified in your Adult Social Care Assessment.
• your personal finances, including your income, capital and any allowances that can be made.

Following assessment, some care and support services remain free, such as some equipment, minor adaptations (i.e. costing less than £1000), advice and information. Reablement may be free but only up to a maximum period of six weeks.

What is a financial assessment?

For services arranged through Adult Social Care, we carry out a financial assessment to work out how much you can afford to contribute towards the cost of your care and support. This looks at your income and your capital including:

• pensions
• benefits
• wages
• rent from properties and land
• annuities
• savings
• stocks and shares
• property

In line with our policy we will also consider if any deprivation of assets has occurred. The policy document below explains this.

Do I have to tell you about my financial circumstances?

If you would rather not tell us about your financial circumstances then you do not have to. However, if you decide to do this you will be responsible for the full cost of your care and support as a self-funding client. In this situation we strongly recommend that you seek specialist information and advice before you make any commitments – see our factsheets below.

You need to know the range of services and support available to you to allow you to select the best care for you. Further details can be found on our help at home and care homes pages.

You can also find out about a wide range of support offered across the borough on our Community Information Directory. Many of the services in the directory include links to their Care Quality Commission (CQC) rating.

The Care Quality Commission's inspection reports can form part of your decision-making process.  All reports are available on the CQC website and provide the regulator's judgement on whether a care home is meeting government standards of quality and safety. The CQC regulates all care homes, and agencies throughout England that provide care in the home (domiciliary care) including; NHS and private health services in hospitals or dentists.

Wherever and whenever you receive care it should meet government standards of quality and safety. It is the CQC's job as a regulator to check this.

What you should expect when a service is meeting government standards

• To be involved and told what's happening at every stage of your care - staff should always respect your privacy and dignity.
• Care, support and treatment that meets your needs - this includes help with eating and drinking if you need it.
• To be protected from the risk of abuse or neglect, given medicines safely and be looked after in a clean and hygienic environment.
• To know how to make a complaint, and if you do, that it is investigated fully by the service.

If you have experienced poor care, or are aware of it being provided somewhere you can anonymously report it to the CQC.

Our Welfare Benefits Officers provide information and support about welfare benefits and payment of contributions to people who have had a social care assessment. 

You can also call the Adult Access Team: 0300 555 0055