Financial assessments

From the section: Paying for care

In this section:

Financial assessments

A financial assessment can help us to understand if you can pay towards the cost of your care and support.

To find out how much you may be expected to contribute towards your care, please complete our online contribution calculator.

This short video explains how we carry out a financial assessment.

If you want to get in touch with us about a financial assessment, please:

How we work out what you’ll pay

A financial assessment helps us to work out how much of your care that you can afford to pay for.

If your savings are:

  • less than £14,250, we won’t include them in your assessment
  • between £14,250 and £23,250 they will be included
  • more than £23,250, you will need to pay the full cost of your care.

We’ll ask you about any costs caused by your care and support needs or disabilities.

We’ll also tell you if there are ways to help fund the cost of your care, such as any benefits you could apply for.

What you need to provide

We can check most benefits and pensions, but before your assessment it would be helpful to prepare any:

  • benefit award letters
  • state pension details
  • housing benefit award letters
  • occupational / private pension details
  • rent / mortgage agreements
  • council tax details
  • bank / building society statements
  • savings accounts / PEP / ISA details
  • trust funds and income bonds
  • any other income details

You may also find it helps to have recent receipts and bills to hand, such as for:

  • fuel bills
  • disability equipment
  • care and support invoices for private care

Spending on your home

We’ll need to know what you spend on:

  • mortgage payments
  • rental payments (after any Housing Benefits has been applied)
  • council tax (after any Council Tax Reduction has been applied)

Knowing what you spend helps us work out your budget.

We will leave you with an amount of money that the Government says you must be left with to cover your living costs

Your income

We need to know about all the income you receive, including, but not limited to:

  • State Retirement Pension
  • Attendance Allowance
  • Disability Living Allowance Care Component
  • Personal Independence Payment Daily Living Component
  • Incapacity Benefit / Severe Disablement Allowance
  • Pension Credit Guarantee Credit / Income Support / Employment and Support Allowance
  • Universal Credit
  • Carers Allowance
  • Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit or equivalent benefits

We’ll also need to know if you receive a pension. This could be a:

  • workplace pension
  • private pension
  • pension annuity

Savings, investments and what you own

We’ll work out the total amount of your:

  • stocks and shares at 90 per cent of the market value
  • money held in bank or building society accounts - including National Savings Bank, Girobank and Trustee Savings Bank
  • Premium bonds
  • cash
  • property - including your home if you are moving into residential care
  • land
  • National Savings Certificates
  • unit trusts
  • trust funds
  • co-operatives share accounts