Should your local council contribute to care home costs?

If your loved one is deemed ineligible for NHS Continuing Healthcare funding, then responsibility for their care home costs may fall to the local council. Unlike NHS Continuing Healthcare, the local authority can assess their financial situation to determine if they should contribute to care home costs.

Firstly, the local authority will determine whether your relative falls above or below the means tested threshold, based on any savings, investments, income from pensions, benefits and property owned.

The home will be excluded from the assessment if a spouse remains living in the property.

The savings threshold is £23,250 for England, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The rules are different in Wales. If your relative is above the threshold, and they are not eligible for NHS Continuing Healthcare funding, then they will have to pay for their own care.

Below the threshold the local authority will make a contribution to the costs of care until your relative’s savings fall below the final threshold of £14,000.

If your relative is above the threshold because of the value of their assets, but they have a low income, there is a possibility of the local authority paying your relative’s care home costs while you put their home on the market (i.e. a deferred payment). But if they suspect that you have deliberately reduced your relative’s capital, such as transferring ownership of a property, giving money away or spending it on non-essential items, to avoid paying care charges, then they have the power to recover any money that they are owed. Extenuating circumstances might exist in this case, if you can prove that such payments were made at a time when you or your relative were not aware of any potential care needs.

If your relative falls below the threshold, then the local authority will carry out a financial assessment, or means test, to establish how much they may contribute towards your care costs. The means test will determine that the local authority will do one of the following:

• Decide that you will fund the cost of care yourself
• Agree to contribute towards part of the cost, and you will have to pay the rest
• As soon as your relative’s savings fall below the actual threshold of £14,000, then the local authority should make the minimum contribution needed to fully cover your relative’s basic care needs.

If the local authority is contributing you will be given a personal budget. With the budget they can either provide your care directly through their own staff or an outsourced organisation, or you can request they set up direct payments which will enable you to organise and fund your relative’s care services yourself.

If you are assessed as needing certain care items, the local authority must provide these for free. These include:

• Community equipment: items intended to make daily life easier, i.e. communication aids
• Re-ablement: services designed to help you adapt to a recent change in your health or ability, helping you to become independent in your home
• Minor home adaptations: i.e. raised toilet seats and bath seats, grab rails for the bath.

If you need to go into a care or nursing home, the local authority must provide a personal expenses allowance (PEA). They have the discretion to allow a larger PEA under certain circumstances. If you are receiving care at home, they must ensure that other charges, such as rent and food, are also met after care costs. This is the minimum income guarantee (MIG).

Of course this is all irrelevant if you are eligible for NHS Continuing Healthcare funding. Continuing healthcare funding is never means tested. If you are eligible your care costs will be met in full, regardless of your financial situation. If the individuals’ needs are primarily health needs they will be eligible for continuing healthcare funding to meet the full cost of their care, wherever they are located.