Assessment

Independent financial advice

The residential care system can be complicated and expensive. We strongly recommend that you seek independent financial advice if you're thinking of moving to a care home.

We'll complete a care needs assessment first to find out if you need residential or nursing home care. Once we've agreed you have care needs under the Care Act 2014, we'll ask you to complete a financial assessment. This is also known as a means test and tells us how much you can afford to pay towards your care.

The financial assessment works out:

  • how much you can afford to pay towards your care, and
  • if you're eligible for financial support from us to help pay for it

If your income and assets are:

  • less than £23,250; you'll receive financial support from us to help pay for your residential care, but you may need to pay something towards the cost of your care
  • more than £23,250; you'll have to pay the full cost of your residential care

More information