Money Matters (Adults)

Paying for care

Unlike NHS care, social care services are not usually free. How much you pay for your care depends on your income and savings.

If you have investments and/or savings of more than £23,250 you will pay for your own care. This is called 'self funding'.

If you have investments and/or savings below £23,250 but more than £14,250 you may have to pay for your care. The council may make a contribution towards the cost. This is subject to a means tested financial assessment.

If you have savings of less than £14,250, this amount will not be included in your financial assessment. The council will pay for your care, however you may still need to make a financial contribution which will be based on your income

In this section you can also find advice about welfare benefits.

Arranging and paying for your own care - self funders

We provide services in a way that promotes independence, ensuring that people who need care are able to live at home for as long as possible.

Some people arrange their own social care services for different reasons.

If you are arranging and paying the full costs of your care, you are known as a ‘self-funder’. This means that either:

you have chosen not to approach adult social care for help, or
you have been assessed but you are not currently eligible for social care services, or
you have approached adult social care and, although your needs show that you are eligible for services, your savings are above £23,250. If you move to a care home and you owned your own home, the value of your property may be included in this figure

If you are leaving hospital as a self funder, you can find some useful information in the leaflet on this page called 'Paying for your own care and support when you leave hospital'.

Power of Attorney and making a will

Someone else managing your money

If you are having difficulty managing your own money, you can choose to have someone else do this for you, such as a friend or relative. There are a number of ways to achieve this, including:

providing authority to your bank or building society for someone to act on your behalf, known as a 'third party mandate'
drawing up a legal document known as an Ordinary Power of Attorney – to allow someone to manage your finances by acting on your behalf
drawing up a legal document known as a Lasting Power of Attorney – to allow someone to manage your finances by acting on your behalf, even if you lose mental capacity in the future
choosing someone to act as an appointee for you, who can receive and manage your social security benefits. In some circumstances, the council can do this for you.

Managing someone else's money

If you care for someone and they lose their mental capacity to manage their own finances, you can manage these on their behalf in one of three ways:

by using the authority given to you by a Lasting Power of Attorney
apply to the Court of Protection to become a Deputy to manage their financial and property affairs
apply to the Department for Work and Pensions to become an appointee to receive and manage their social security benefits.

Making a will

Your will lets you decide what happens to your money, property and possessions after your death.

If you make a will you can also make sure you don’t pay more Inheritance Tax than you need to.

You can write your will yourself, but you should get advice if your will isn’t straightforward.

You need to get your will formally witnessed and signed to make it legally valid.

If you want to update your will, you need to make an official alteration (called a ‘codicil’) or make a new will.

If you die without a will, the law says who gets what.

The Government website 'making a will' is a good source of infomation

Independent Financial Advice

As you get older, it’s important to think about planning for your later life, including any care and support that you may need. Independent financial advice can help you to:

make balanced and reasoned decisions
ensure you get the best from your money and investments that will help you to meet any long term care costs
provide some certainty and security.

It can be difficult making life changing decisions by yourself, so an independent financial adviser can provide specialist knowledge tailored to your own circumstances to help and support you.

You can find independent financial advice yourself by visiting the Money Advice Service website or you may search for independent financial advisers for the category list on this page.

Welfare Benefits

You can find out what benefits you may be entitled to by visiting the Benefits Calculator.

There is lots more useful information on our Welfare Benefits page.

Attendance Allowance

Attendance Allowance is a payment available to people aged over 65 who, due to an illness or disability, would benefit from help with washing, dressing or eating, during the day or overnight.

Attendance Allowance is one of a number of benefits for older people. It isn't means tested and is available to anyone needing care at home or in a care home, as long as they meet the eligibility criteria. It’s intended for:

people of pension age who meet the eligibility criteria (by the end of 2018 the state pension age for women had been raised to 65 years, to match the age for men; from 2019 the age will gradually increase for both men and women)
people who have a physical disability (including a sensory disability, such as blindness), a mental disability (including dementia and learning difficulties), or both. It isn’t necessary for the person to be receiving any assistance or supervision. As long as they’re considered to be in a position where they would benefit from such support, they will meet this criteria
people with a disability severe enough to need help caring for themselves, or need someone to supervise them, for their own or someone else’s safety
those who have needed the required level of ‘care and supervision’ for the previous six months before becoming entitled to claim Attendance Allowance (unless claiming under the special rules for the terminally ill). Those six months can include the period before reaching pension age.

There is lots of useful information about Attendance Allowance on the Which? page.

You can also find out more on the gov.uk website.

Find out about other benefits on our Welfare Benefits page.

Do I qualify for council support?

Before you can consider funding, you will need a formal social care assessment to find out what level of care you need. You can find out more about this on the Help to live at home page.

You will have to pay the full cost of your care if you have more than £23,250 in savings. Unless you're going into a care home, this amount does not include the value of your property.

If your savings are less than £23,250 but more than £14,250 then Peterborough City Council will pay for your care, but you will have to contribute £1 to the fees for every £250 of savings you have.

If you have less than £14,250 in savings, your care can usually be funded by the council but you may have to pay a contribution towards this from your income - and the size of your contribution will largely depend on the level of your income. If your income is very high, then you may need to meet all the costs of your care yourself, but your charge will always be based on what you can afford.

Paying for your care and support

Paying for your care at home

Social care and support, unlike health care provided by the NHS, is not usually free of charge. If you have been assessed by us as needing ongoing care and support, you will be offered a financial assessment to work out how much you may need to pay towards the care you receive, and to provide advice about welfare benefits. No-one is asked to pay more towards their care than they can afford. You can find out more on the Paying for your care at home page.

Paying for your care in a care home

A financial assessment calculates how much you need to pay towards the cost of your care in a care home by looking at your income, savings and capital and will also provide advice on welfare benefits which you may be entitled to. You can find out more on our Paying for your care in a care home page.

NHS Continuing Healthcare

Some people with long-term complex health needs qualify for free social care arranged and funded solely by the NHS. This is known as NHS continuing healthcare.

NHS continuing healthcare can be provided in a variety of settings outside hospital, such as in your own home or in a care home.

Am I eligible for NHS continuing healthcare?

To be eligible for NHS continuing healthcare, you must be assessed by a team of healthcare professionals (a multidisciplinary team). The team will look at all your care needs and relate them to:

what help you need
how complex your needs are
how intense your needs can be
how unpredictable they are, including any risks to your health if the right care isn't provided at the right time

Your eligibility for NHS continuing healthcare depends on your assessed needs, and not on any particular diagnosis or condition. If your needs change then your eligibility for NHS continuing healthcare may change.

Personal Budgets and Direct Payments

Personal budgets

Personal budgets can help to give you more choice and control over how you receive the support you need to help you to live independently. You will find more details on our Personal budgets and direct payments website page.

Paying an Adult Social Care invoice from the council

If you have an invoice from Peterborough City Council to pay for care, you can do it on this page:

Paying an Adult Social Care invoice

Why Council Tax has had to rise in Peterborough