- Local authorities and other organisations can offer free or subsidised care services if you need care at home. Your local authority will also carry out an assessment of your care needs. We can help you find out what help may be available locally if appropriate. Generally though, care at home is not free unless you have little capital or income.
- If someone aged 16 or over cares for you at home for at least 35 hours a week, they may qualify to receive carer's allowance. In 2009/10, this is worth £53.10 a week.
- For older people, the NHS will pay for care while you are in hospital and for GP services and for other costs such as prescriptions and eye tests.
- The NHS is also responsible for continuing care, i.e. care provided after you leave hospital. But this applies only in strictly defined circumstances and, in broad terms, only if your primary need is for medical care rather than personal care. This is a complex area, so you should not rely on the NHS to fund care that may be needed in future.
- If you are in a care home, the government can help in four main ways (the situation for England is shown – it is different for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland):
- If you have little income and assets below £22,250 (from April 2008), your local authority may pay some or all of the fees. Even so, at best this will be up to a pre-set weekly limit only, so you or your family may be asked to top-up the cost if your care home charges more.
- If you need nursing care, the NHS will pay a weekly sum of £103.80 (from August 2008) towards nursing care.
- If you pay fees yourself, you are likely to qualify for attendance allowance. This has two rates and pays either £47.10 or £70.35 a week (2009/10).
- If you are age 60 or over, you may qualify for pension credit. This is means tested and has two elements – guarantee credit and savings credit. If you think you might qualify for local authority help, check whether pension credit might give you more financial help.
- For the first 12 weeks of care in a care home, the value of your property is ignored. After that, you may be required to sell your home to fund fees or your local authority may pay fees for you, collecting back its costs when you die. Local authorities may also agree to accept deferred payments – you still have to repay them, but only when your home is sold or from your estate after you die.
- Other state benefits may also be payable in some circumstances.
The rules relating to government and other help are complex. We can help you find out what you may be entitled to so that the cost of paying for care is reduced as far as possible.
You can also get information from organisations that represent older people or people who need care and may be able to get information from your local authority or NHS services too.
It is sometimes suggested that to get more help from the government, you should simply give away money or assets. ‘Deprivation of assets’ rules are designed to stop that, although in some cases it can make sense to pass over assets to beneficiaries well before the need for care ever arises.
