Guide to paying for adult social care

Paying for care in your home

Social care services are not usually provided free of charge. You may need to pay some, or all, of the cost of the care services you need.

People with more than £23,250 in savings and assets (capital) will pay the full cost for their care and support. We will charge a tariff income of £1 per week for every £250 will apply for people who have capital between £14,250 and £23,250.

If your capital is less than £23,250, you will need to complete a financial assessment for us to calculate what you may need to contribute towards the cost of your care. It may be that you have more income than the amounts above and will still not have to pay. This is because there are some types of income that are not considered.

You may have extra costs due to your disability. We will help you identify any extra costs that you may have. We know that some people may not want to discuss this and so we automatically allow at least £20 per week. If you do not want to discuss these costs you do not have to.

If you feel that your disability-related costs are more than £20 per week, we may ask you to provide proof of these. The following list will give you an idea of the types of costs we can consider:

  • extra heating
  • community alarm system
  • extra laundry costs
  • extra costs for clothing or bedding
  • special clothing or footwear
  • special dietary requirements
  • private payments for cleaning and domestic help
  • disability-related equipment
  • transport costs

For more on this see How to pay for your long-term care at home on MoneyHelper.


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