"I need more information about funding my own care."
We know it’s important to keep your independence and stay living in your own home for as long as possible.
We’ve put together some great advice, along with details of many services and support groups that can help you with this.
If you have capital (savings and assets) worth £23,250 or over, or a weekly income high enough to pay for care home fees, you will not qualify for funding from us. Instead you will need to pay for your own care. This is called ‘self-funding’.
Here are some other options for you to raise the money that you need to pay for your care:
Check what benefits you qualify for
Make sure you check that you are claiming all the benefits that you’re entitled to. Some benefits, like attendance allowance and personal independence payment (PIP) are not means tested - this means they do not check your income or capital. You can use them to pay towards your care.
You can find out more about the benefits you can get on the NHS website:
Downsizing
If your home is larger than you need, you could consider selling your home and buying a smaller one. This would free up some of the value in your home, which you can use to pay for your care costs.
It could also give you the opportunity to live somewhere that might cater better for your current and future needs, such as:
Before you decide to downsize, we recommend you consider the advantages and disadvantages. You can read more about downsizing on the Money Helper website.
Rent out your home
You could investigate whether renting out your property would give you enough income to cover the full cost of your care. There are advantages to this such as:
But there are disadvantages too, such as:
Deferred payment agreement
If you cannot afford to pay your care costs due to your capital being tied up in your property, you could ask us for a deferred payment agreement.
This is a type of loan where we pay the part of your residential care bills that you can not afford and charge you interest on that amount.
You’ll repay us this money when your house is sold - this does not need to be in your lifetime.
Releasing money from your home (equity release)
Equity release products provide you with a way to access the money that is tied up in your home. There are 2 equity release options:
lifetime mortgage - this means taking a loan out against the equity in your home. You will maintain ownership of your property.
home reversion scheme - this involves selling all or part of your home to a reversion provider. This means you will no longer own all of your home.
Both options give you a tax-free sum to spend, and in both cases you get to stay in your home until you die or go into a long-term care home.
We recommend that you take financial advice to check how it will affect your future choices and your financial situation later in life.
More information about equity release products in available on the Money Helper website.
Other options to pay for your care
Here are some other ways you could pay for your care:
Your local telephone directory or an internet search may also provide other organisations that can help.
If your savings are getting low, make sure you contact us around 3 months before you expect them to fall below £23,250. We’ll then reassess your finances and let you know if you will qualify for help with your care costs.
Please note: we will only provide funding (if you qualify) from the date you made contact with us - even if your savings dropped to £23,250 before that date.
You can get in touch by either of the following methods and leave your contact details: