Cost of long-term care and support

Following an assessment, if you are eligible for long-term care and support, we will work out how much it will cost to meet your needs. This is called your personal budget. You can use your personal budget to get a range on non-residential care and support to meet your needs, such as home care, day care and respite care.

Adult social care services are not free. Depending on your financial circumstances, you may have to contribute to the costs of your care package. The amount you will pay is worked out through a financial assessment by the council's Client Financial Service. 

The financial assessment will look at your income, savings, investments and the value of any assets you own such as your home, land or business. We need this information to prevent you, where applicable, being charged the full cost of your long-term care and support services.

If you choose not to have a financial assessment you must pay the full cost of your long-term care.

After the financial assessment, we will tell you:

• how much you will need to pay
• when you will need to start paying

Charging for your care and support starts from the first day your long-term service begins. A bill will be sent every 4 weeks. The first one will include backdated charges from the start date of your long-term care.

The threshold before you need to pay towards your care costs and the fees are subject to change every year. 

How we work out your contribution if care is provided in a care home

If your long-term care is going to be provided in a care home, and you have assets worth more than £23,250, you may have to pay the full cost of care. 

If you own a home, but have less than £23,250 in other assets (not including the value of your home), you may be able to choose a deferred payment agreement. This is a legal agreement between you and the council that allows you to use the value of your home to help pay your care costs. 

If you are eligible for a deferred payment agreement, the council will pay your care home bills on your behalf, then you will repay this amount to us later. You can delay repaying us until you sell your home, or until after you have passed away. 

In addition to the cost of the care, you will also be charged:

• a one-off fee for setting up the deferred payment agreement
• a small amount of interest on the amount owned

The arrangement fee amount is updated every year. the interest rate is review every January and July. This will only cover our costs. We will not make a profit. 

If you want to choose your own care provider

If you would prefer to have control over your personal budget and arrange your own provider, you can choose Direct Payments. The council will make payments directly to you so that you can buy the care and support you need yourself, rather than us arranging it for you. 

This would be managed by either yourself, or on your behalf by an authorised person, a nominated person, or by a support services provider. Your social worker will tell you more about this. 

Fin out more about Direct Payments

How to find care providers yourself

If you are paying for your care, or would like to arrange your care yourself, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) website can help you find quality checked home care providers. CQC is an independent regulator of health and social care services in England.

Get more information about costs

We advise that you read the full details about financial assessments, rates, charges and payments. 

The following leaflets about paying for care are available to download, or you can request a paper copy from us

• Your Care and Support - how much will you have to pay
• Rates and Charges
• Paying for Care - deferred payments and property ownership
• Paying for Care - choice of home and top-up payments
• Paying for Care - self-funders
• Your Care and Support - direct payments

If you would like an estimate of how much your contribution is likely to be, use our care estimator calculator. This is anonymous and only gives an indication.

You can find information about paying for care and other financial support that may be available to you in the Money and Legal section of Connect to Support.