Financial assessment

We will ask you about capital, including money in or from the following:

• Bank, savings, bonds and investment accounts 
• Stocks and shares
• Property or land that you own (excluding your main home that you live in if you are receiving care in your own home)
• Rental income from other properties (after tax).

We’ll need to know if these are yours or shared with someone else, as only your share is taken into account.

We will ask you about your income, including benefits to which you are entitled even if you have not claimed them. These include:

• Attendance Allowance, including Constant Attendance Allowance and Exceptionally Severe Disablement Allowance
• Bereavement Allowance, previously known as Widow’s Pension
• Carer's Allowance
• Disability Living Allowance (care component)
• Employment and Support Allowance or the benefits this replaces, such as Severe Disablement Allowance and Incapacity Benefit
• Income Support
• Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit or equivalent benefits
• Jobseeker’s Allowance
• Maternity Allowance
• Pension Credit
• Personal Independence Payment (daily living component)
• State Pension
• Universal Credit
• Working Tax Credit
• Private pensions, including occupational pensions

We won’t take into account money you earn from working. Earnings are not counted towards the costs of your care and support. Nor do we count the following, although these still need to be disclosed: 

• Direct Payments
• Guaranteed Income Payments (GIPs) made to veterans under the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme
• The mobility component of Disability Living Allowance
• The mobility component of Personal Independence Payments
• Your partner’s income or capital (unless, for care at home, you may wish to disclose this in order to see whether additional allowance can be made). 

If you are eligible for financial support towards your non-residential care, we will ask you about expenditure related to your disability. These are known as 'disability related expenses'. We will also need to collect details of your mortgage or rent payments, including council tax.

If you are going to stay in a care home or nursing home on a permanent or long-term basis, we will also ask you about:

• Whether you rent or own your home
• If you own your home, we also ask whether the home is jointly owned with anyone else and how much your home is worth and any outstanding mortgages
• Who lives with you.

If you can afford to pay the full cost of your care or do not wish to provide full details of your finances, you may request a light-touch financial assessment. If a light-touch financial assessment is requested you will be required to pay the full cost of any care and support services commissioned by the County Council plus, in the case of care in your own home, any brokerage/administration fees due.

If your care in a care home is being funded or partly funded by Adult Health and Care and you are concerned about having to sell your home to pay for your care, ask your social care practitioner or the Financial Assessments Residential Team about a Deferred Payment Agreement.

After your financial assessment, we will write to let you know the weekly amount you need to pay.

For Care at Home

As care costs may vary we work out the maximum that you are assessed to pay. This is called your Maximum Weekly Contribution (MWC). If the actual cost of the care received between a Monday and Sunday is lower than this, you only pay the lower amount.

Please note that your contribution is a maximum weekly amount, which cannot be pro-rated/divided into a daily contribution.

Your assessment may establish:

• You will not have to pay anything towards the costs of your care
• You will have to pay something and we will make up the rest
• You will have to pay the full cost of your care, plus any brokerage/administration fees due

Here are some examples of how this works:

The amount we ask you to pay may go up, or down, when your care package changes. We will only ask you to contribute to the cost of the chargeable care you receive. The amount of care you receive may vary some weeks.

You will be asked to pay your assessed charge from the date your care package began. If your financial assessment is not finalised until after care has started, this may mean you will receive an invoice that includes backdated charges.

Please note that you must advise us if your financial circumstances change. This should include any changes to welfare benefits. It is important that you tell us promptly if this occurs to avoid your contribution being backdated.

For Residential or Nursing Care

You will be asked to pay your assessed charge from the date your care placement began. If your financial assessment is not finalised until after care has started, this may mean you will receive an invoice that includes backdated charges.

The amount you have to pay will be your assessed charge based on the funding agreed by your social worker.

Whilst we finalise your financial assessment you will be billed at an interim amount. If we already hold information relating to your financial circumstances, the interim assessment will be based on those details. If we do not hold any financial details, the interim assessment will be based on the minimum amount as set by the Department for Work and Pensions. Invoices will be raised based on those interim charges until the full financial assessment has been finalised.

Once the full financial assessment has been finalised the Financial Assessments Residential Team will write to you or your legal financial representative to inform you of the actual amount you will need to pay towards your care. If the actual amount is different to the interim charge which has been paid, adjustment invoices will be raised to apply the finalised assessment from the first date of chargeable care.

Each year in the lead up to benefit changes an annual review of your financial assessment will be conducted and you will be notified of any revised contributions.

It is important that you inform us promptly of any changes to your financial circumstances to avoid backdated charges.

Your financial assessment will be carried out by the Financial Assessments Team. It will be different depending on whether you are paying for care at home or paying for care in a care home.

If you are the Power of Attorney, you are not liable to pay the fees from your own personal money. If you are undertaking a financial assessment under the capacity of a Power of Attorney, Hampshire County Council will need to see copies of your Power of Attorney documents.

Please have your National Insurance number (which is available on any benefit or tax letters, payslips or as the benefit reference on your bank statement) and supporting documents for capital, income and expenses available for the financial assessment.

Below is a handy checklist of capital, income and expenses. If any of these apply to you, the supporting documents and paperwork will need to be available before the financial assessment, and copies will need to be sent to us to verify the information provided. Please note, not all of these will be applicable to you.

Your capital (savings and property you own)

• Statements for all your bank and savings accounts
• National Savings books and certificates
• ISAs and trust funds (capital or income)
• Premium Bonds
• Stocks and shares certificates
• Compensation payments (capital or income)
• Investments, including bonds, insurance and funeral plans
• Property or land that you own (other than the one you live in if you are receiving care at home)
• Rental income from other properties (after tax)
• Information regarding any capital or property you previously held

We will need to know if these are yours or shared with someone else, as only your share is taken into account.

Your income (money you receive)

We will ask you about your income, including benefits to which you are entitled even if you have not claimed them. These include:

• Attendance Allowance, including Constant Attendance Allowance and Exceptionally Severe Disablement Allowance
• Bereavement Allowance, previously known as Widow’s Pension
• Carer’s Allowance
• Disability Living Allowances
• Income Support
• Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit or equivalent benefits
• Jobseeker’s Allowance
• Maternity Allowance
• Pension Credit
• Personal Independence Payment
• Employment and Support Allowance
• Universal Credit
• Working Tax Credit
• Pensions you get from the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP)
• Statements or notification of any private pensions
• Notification of any occupational pension rates
• Annuities

Your expenditure (what you spend)

• Rent
• Mortgage
• Service charges
• Ground rent
• Council tax
• Utility bills
• Disability related expenses (money relating to your disability that you would not be spending if you did not have the disability)

If you pass away before we finalise your financial assessment and raise the care invoices, your estate will be responsible for settling any debt due to the County Council.

Settling debts from the estate

Before any inheritance is distributed to beneficiaries, any debts, including care charges, must be paid from the estate. The executor or administrator of the estate is responsible for ensuring that all outstanding debts are settled. This process involves:

• Identifying and valuing your assets
• Paying any outstanding debts and taxes
• Distributing the remaining assets to the beneficiaries as per your will or intestacy laws

The executor of your estate must contact the County Council to confirm the final assessment and the amounts to be paid.

Impact on beneficiaries

Beneficiaries should be aware that the inheritance they receive may be reduced by the need to pay off any outstanding care charges. It's important for executors to communicate clearly with your beneficiaries about the status of the estate and any debts that need to be settled. If the estate is dispersed before the County Council's care charges are paid, the estate executor is responsible for making the payment.

Please refer to the Bereavement support page on the Connect to Support Hampshire website for more information.

The County Council has a Debt recovery process that it follows in cases where debt has occurred.