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 at 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
• Carers 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). 

Care at home (or non-residential care) refers to a variety of social care services provided to individuals who are not permanently living in a residential setting. These services can include:

• personal care and support
• day care
• community activities
• respite
• care and accommodation in educational colleges.

If you are eligible for funding support towards your non-residential care, we will ask you about expenditure related to your disability. For example, do you buy special equipment, food or clothing relating to your disability? We will also need to collect details of your mortgage or rent payments, including council tax.

Only 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
• 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, you may ask us to carry out a light-touch financial assessment if you do not wish to provide full details of your finances.

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 Customer Financial Management 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. If the actual cost of the care is lower than this you only pay the lower amount.

This could mean:

• 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 contribution will go up, or down, in the future when your care package changes. We will only ask you to contribute to the cost of the chargeable care you actually receive each week. The amount of care you receive may vary some weeks.

For Residential or Nursing Care

This will be your assessed charge based on the funding agreed by your social worker. You will be invoiced an interim amount towards your care until your charges are calculated.

Once the charge is finalised, you will be asked to pay this amount from the date your care package started.

Each year in the lead up to benefit changes we will complete an annual review of your financial assessment and notify you of the revised weekly amount.

It is important that you let us know promptly of any changes to your financial circumstances during the year.

If you have email, please contact the team at [email protected] for all non-residential financial assessment queries or [email protected] if you have any residential financial assessment queries.

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

Please have your National Insurance number available for the financial assessment. You will find this on any benefit or tax letters, payslips or as the benefit reference on your bank statement.

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. 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
• Premium Bonds
• Stocks and shares certificates
• 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 Allowance (Care component)
• Income Support
• Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit or equivalent benefits
• Jobseeker’s Allowance
• Maternity Allowance
• Pension Credit
• Personal Independence Payment (Daily Living component)
• 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
• Trust Funds
• Compensation payments

Your expenditure (what you spend)

• Rent
• Mortgage
• Council tax
• Disability-related expenses (money relating to your disability that you would not be spending if you did not have the disability)