Charges for social care at home (England)

This factsheet only applies to people living in England. If you live in Wales, Northern Ireland or Scotland different rules apply. Contact our Helpline on 0303 123 9999 if you would like more information on receiving social care in these countries.

Introduction

If you receive social care services at home arranged by your local authority (such as through direct payments or an agency), you may be asked to make a contribution towards the cost of this care and support. This factsheetoutlines the rules about when you may need to contribute and if so, how much.

For more information about getting help from social services please see our “Help from social services”, “Guide to being assessed by social services assessments” and “Preparing for a social care assessment” factsheets.

Will I be charged for all types of social care at home?

Some types of help you can receive from social services should always be free of charge. This includes:

  • Rehabilitation for the first six weeks
  • Specialist aids, equipment and minor adaptations costing £1,000 each or less
  • NHS care and services

For more information on these types of help, read our factsheet “Staying independent – rehabilitation, equipment and support when leaving hospital”.

However, most other types of care and support in the home will usually incur a charge, depending on your financial circumstances.If you have capital or savings over £23,250 you will automatically have to pay the full cost of your care and support. However, if you have less than £23,250 then a financial assessment will calculate whether you will be required to contribute:

  • None of the cost of your care
  • Some of the cost of your care
  • All of the cost of your care

You should be given a written record of any charging decision by your local authority, which includes a calculation of yourfinancial contribution and how often this will need to be made.

How does the financial assessment work?

The financial assessment looks at your income,capital and certainexpenses to generate anotional weekly figure.Thisnotionalweekly figure is then compared against a figure set by the government called the “Minimum Income Guarantee”(MIG), which is supposed to reflect what the government consider someone in your circumstances needs to live on per week. If your notional weekly figure is more than the MIG, then you will need to contribute the difference towards the cost of your care.If your notional weekly figure is less than or equal to the MIG, then you will not have to contribute towards your care and support.

Calculating the notional weekly figure

There are three steps to calculating the notional weekly figure:

  1. Your weekly income is added up

Most types of income are taken into account (such as benefits and occupational pensions) but there are some exceptions. Some examples of income that is not taken into account include:

  • Earnings from employment
  • The mobility component of Disability Living Allowance (DLA) or Personal Independence Payment (PIP)
  • The savings credit element of Pension Credit
  • Child Support Maintenance Payments and Child Benefit (except where the accommodation is arranged under the Care Act in which the adult and child both live)
  • Child Tax Credit
  • Council tax reduction
  • Housing Benefit
  1. £1 is added to your weekly income for every £250 (or part of) over £14,250 you have in capital.

“Capital” most commonly refers to savings that you have as an individual (this includes your personal share in any shared savings). It does not include the value of your house if you are living in it. However, second homes and other financial products can count as capital. If your capital is over £23,250 then you automatically contribute towards the full cost of your care. Any capital less than £14,250 is totally disregarded and ignored for the financial assessment.

  1. After stages (1) and (2) are added together to form a weekly income figure, certain expenses are subtractedto generate thenotional weekly figure.

The following expenses are deducted:

  • Any rent you pay not covered by Housing Benefit
  • Any council tax you pay not covered by council tax reduction schemes
  • Home insurance
  • Water charges
  • Loan repayments for essential repairs
  • Disability Related Expenditure (DRE): if you receive the daily living component of PIP, the care component of DLA, or Attendance Allowance and the council count this as income as part of stage 1 of the financial assessment , then they must consider whether you have DRE that should be deducted from the notional weekly figure. See our section below on ‘How do I prepare for my financial assessment?’ for more information on DRE.

The Minimum Income Guarantee (MIG)

TheMIG is the minimum amount of money that you must be left with after being charged for social care at home. This amount is set by the government and is designed to leave you with enough money to live on per week after you have contributed towards your care charges. The current amountsare based on the means tested benefit rates of 2015 plus a buffer of 25%.

If your notional weekly figure is greater than the MIG then your care cost will be equivalent to the difference. However, if your weekly figure is equal to or less than the Minimum Income Guarantee then you should not be charged.

Example1: where local authority can charge.

Adam is a single 25 year oldin receipt of income-related Employment and Support Allowance(Work Related Activity Group) and Personal Independence Payment at the standard rate for both daily living and mobility components. He has £14,501 in savings but pays no rent or council tax and has £10 Disability Related Expenditure per week.

Stage 1: Income

ESA: £73.10

PIP (daily living)£57.30

PIP (mobility)£22.65

Adam’s ESA and daily living component of PIP are added together creating a total weekly income of £130.40 (£73.10 + £57.30). The mobility component of PIP must be disregarded as income and so does not feature in this calculation.

Stage 2: Capital

Adam has £14,501 in savings. This is £251 more than the lower capital threshold of £14,250 and therefore Adam will be treated as having an extra £2 per week in income, which will need to be added to the weekly figure reached in stage 1. This means that Adam’s weekly income figure is £132.40 (£130.40 plus £2).

Stage 3: Expenditure

Adam has £10 of Disability Related Expenditure per week, which has to be deducted from his weekly income because the daily living component of his Personal Independence Payment has been counted as income in stage 1. Therefore, the total weekly notional figure is £122.40 (£132.40 - £10)

Comparison of notional weekly figure against the Minimum Income Guarantee (MIG):

Adam’s weekly charge is equivalent to his weekly notional figure (£122.40) minus the 2018 MIG figure for someone in Adam’s situation ( £91.40). Therefore, Adam’s weekly charge is £31 per week (£122.40 – £91.40).

Example 2: where a charge cannot be made by the local authority.

Assuming all of Adam’s circumstances from Example (1), if he could demonstrate extra valid expenditure that is equal to or greater than his weekly charge of £31, then the local authority cannot charge him for his care and support. For example, this could include:

-Additional weekly DRE

-Payable rent

-Payable council tax

You should never be left with weekly income below the MIG. If this happens to you, then you can challenge this decision - see our section later in this factsheet on ‘How do I challenge my social care charge?’ for more information.

How do I prepare for my financial assessment?

We mentioned earlier that councils can treat most types of benefits as income. This includes:

  • The care component of DLA
  • The daily living component of PIP
  • Attendance Allowance

However, if your council includes these benefits in your income test, they must make an assessment of any Disability Related Expenditure (DRE) you have, and allow you to keep enough of the benefits to meet any needs that are not being met by the council.

DRE is the extra amount you have to spend on certain things because you have a disability. You may have absorbed the extra costs into your household budget without recognising them as over and above what you would spend if you did not have a disability.

One of the best ways you can prepare for your financial assessment is to make a full list of your DRE and collect any receipts or invoices you have of this to show the financial assessment officer. If possible, try to work out how much you spend on each item each week, month or year. Try to break everything down to a weekly figure if possible.

Everyone’s circumstances vary, so you should use the checklist below only as a guide. The list is not exhaustive, and not all items will apply to you, but generally speaking the council should normally take into account expenditure for items which are necessary for you to maintain your independence.

Checklist:
Help at home

You currently pay for help with the following:

  • private domestic help
  • or personal care
  • or respite care
  • odd jobs
  • basic garden maintenance
  • decorating
  • a community alarm system.
Fuel costs

Your heating may be on most of the time because you are unable to get around, and you feel the cold.

Washing

You spend extra on washing your clothing and other items, or you use dry cleaners because you do not have a washing machine and cannot use a laundrette.

Transport

You pay for taxis because you cannot use public transport, or you pay someone to drive you to appointments or social activities.

Communication
  • You rely on the telephone because you cannot write letters
  • For safety you need a mobile phone when you are outdoors
  • You need internet access as you receive accessible bills this way or shop online
Equipment

You need to budget for items of equipment which are essential because you have a disability. For example:

  • computer equipment and software
  • brailling equipment
  • desktop video magnifiers (CCTV)
  • specially designed or adapted domestic items.

How do I challenge the charge for social care?

You should never be charged more than is ‘reasonably practicable’ for you to pay. If you cannot afford the cost of your charge then it may be that the local authority has done one of the following things:

  • not calculated your Minimum Income Guarantee properly
  • not calculated your income properly
  • not calculated your expenses properly (including Disability Related Expenditure)

The council should tell you in writing what the charges are and how they have been worked out. You have the right to a review of your charges, and to information about asking for a review if you think you are unable to pay.

After your financial assessment, you should:

  • ask for a copy of the council’s charging policy, and their appeals procedure
  • ask for a breakdown of how your charge has been assessed
  • check that they have the correct information about your circumstances
  • make sure that they have worked out the charge correctly
  • make sure that all your expenditure has been taken into account.

If you are still not satisfied with the response, you can use the council’s complaints procedure to challenge their decision.If you feel you need some independent support in getting your views across, or in challenging a decision, you should ask to be put in touch with an advocacy scheme.

Further support

In this factsheet we have covered how your local council will work out the charges you might have to pay for any care and support you receive from them. If you would like any more information on this, or any other aspect of getting care and support from your local council, please get in touch. We can also help you to find out what’s available in your area and beyond, both from RNIB and other organisations.

Whether you want to know more about your eye condition, buy a product from our shop, join our library, find out about possible benefit entitlements, be put in touch with a trained counsellor, or make a general enquiry about living with sight loss, we’re only a call away.

Tel: 0303 123 9999

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We are ready to answer your call Monday to Friday 8am to 8pm and Saturday 9am to 1pm.

The factsheet is not an authoritative statement of the law, and is for general guidance only.

RNIB Legal Rights Service

March 2018

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