If you own a property or have savings

If you own a property and have savings and investments of less than £35,000 what you will pay?

If the value of your savings and investments is less than £35,000 and you own a property, you will be responsible for the full cost of your care home fees, less any assessed entitlement to Free Personal Care or Free Personal Nursing Care payments, because your property is capital you own.

We may decide not to include the value of your home if there is someone still living in your home, and this could include:

your husband, wife or partner
a relative over 60
a relative under 16 whom you support financially
a relative who is disabled
a divorced or estranged partner who is a single parent with a dependent child

Selling your own home

If you need to sell your home and have savings of less than £35,000 the Local Authority can contribute towards the cost of your fees for up to 12 weeks or until you sell your home, whichever is sooner. Your property will be disregarded during this time, and you will not have to repay the fees paid by the Local Authority during this period.

After the 12-week period you will be due to pay the full cost of your care home placement, even if your home has not been sold. You will continue to receive your Free Personal and/or Nursing Care Payment.

12-Week Interim Funding

If you have been unable to sell your home in the 12-week period and your savings fall below £6,000, you may be able to apply for Interim Funding. This short-term loan from the Local Authority funds part of your care costs until your property is sold.

To be considered for Interim Funding, your property must be on the market for sale, you must be the legal owner, and the Local Authority must be satisfied that the property is suitable for lending purposes.

We will also place a Charging Order on the property as security for the loan, and you will be responsible for the legal costs associated with this.

During Interim Funding, you will pay your assessed contribution towards your care based on your income and savings. The Local Authority will pay the balance of the fees up to our standard rate. If the care home charges more than our standard rate, you must make your arrangement with the care home to meet the extra costs.

The Interim Funding loan will be repaid from the sale of your property or your estate.

Deferred Pay Agreement

If you do not wish to sell your property immediately and your savings are below the applicable amount, you may be able to apply for a loan from the Local Authority to fund of your care costs. This is a Deferred Payment Agreement, and you must get your solicitor to set up a legal agreement with us. Please request further information if you want to consider this.

Depriving Yourself of Capital

It is common to want to pass on savings and other capital, such as your home, to your children or others. However, before deciding to transfer your home or capital, you should consider that moving an asset out of your name does not mean you will receive financial help from the local authority.

Before providing financial help we:

Will look at whether you have ever owned property
Will look at your spending levels and any extravagant purchases
Will undertake checks on transfers and consider the timing of these
May ask the people who received it to pay for your care
May consider any transfer as "notional" capital and still require you to fund your care fees until it falls below a certain level

We consider each case individually and on its merit.

We will decide if paying care fees was a significant factor in your decision to transfer capital and if it was your intention to deliberately deprive yourself of the capital to get help with care fees.
We will also consider the timing of any transfers of capital and the circumstances leading up to the transfer, including looking at:
How healthy you were at the time of the transfer, and any medical evidence
Whether the need for care or the move to a care home is foreseeable at the time of the transfer of the capital
What explanation can you give for transferring the capital other than depriving yourself of available capital to pay for care intentionally?