Paying for adult social care
If your needs assessment shows that you have eligible social care needs, we’ll work out a personal budget for the support you need.
We’ll also carry out a financial assessment in line with government guidelines to see whether you need to pay something towards your care and support. The amount you pay will depend on your capital, assets, income, savings and benefits.
You can find out more in:
- Our charging policy
- Our guide to preparing for your financial assessment
What’s a financial assessment?
A financial assessment looks at the money you have coming in and going out to see whether you need to pay something towards your care. If you’re receiving care at home, we will meet with you so that we can support you with the process.
We’ll ask you to tell us about your income, savings and assets. We will also ask you about the money you spend on rent, mortgage and council tax, and any money you spend because of your disability or illness.
If you think you would be able to pay for your care yourself, or you don’t want to have a full financial assessment, you can ask for a light touch assessment instead. You will need to pay the full cost of your care if you do this. You can still ask for a full financial assessment later on.
We’ll let you know if you need to pay towards your care and how much this will be. We’ll send you a copy of the financial assessment and tell you how to pay your contribution.
How to pay your financial contribution
If you receive care at home from an agency, or if you attend a day centre, your service provider will invoice you for your contribution and tell you how to pay them. If you receive more than one service, you may receive invoices from one or more of your providers, but the total weekly amount won’t be more than your assessed weekly charge.
If you have a direct cash payment, the payment you receive from us will be reduced by the amount of your assessed contribution. This means that you need to pay your assessed contribution into your direct payment account.
If you move to a care home, the home will invoice you for your assessed contribution and may tell you how to set up a regular payment such as a direct debit. With effect from 8 April 2019, you will need to pay any assessed contribution for a care home placement directly to the Council. The safest and most convenient way to do this is via Direct Debit. See our Information on Paying for Residential Care leaflet or contact the Charging Income Team on 01209 614266 or email adultcarebilling@cornwall.gov.uk.
Deferred payment agreements
If you need to move into permanent residential care, you may be eligible for a deferred payment agreement. This means that you should not have to sell your home in your lifetime to pay for your care.
A deferred payment agreement is an arrangement with the Council that lets you use the value of your home to pay for your residential care. If you are eligible, you can receive a deferred payment in 2 ways. Either the Council can pay your care home bills on your behalf to the home or you can receive a direct loan payment to enable you to pay the home direct. You can delay repaying us until you choose to sell your home or until after your death – or at an earlier time if you wish. See our Deferred Payment Leaflet for further information.
We’ll charge a small amount of interest on the amount owed to us. There will be a fee for setting up this arrangement and some ongoing administrative charges. See our deferred payments policy and deferred fees and charges for details.
Paying for transport to day services
If you need help to get to a service, we’ll discuss this with you. We use our transport policy and eligibility criteria to look at the different ways you might access services. Please also be aware of the cancellation of transport and payment of contributions procedure.
If your needs assessment shows that you have eligible social care needs, we’ll work out a personal budget for the support you need.
We’ll also carry out a financial assessment in line with government guidelines to see whether you need to pay something towards your care and support. The amount you pay will depend on your capital, assets, income, savings and benefits.
Continue readingYou can find out more in:
- Our charging policy
- Our guide to preparing for your financial assessment
A financial assessment looks at the money you have coming in and going out to see whether you need to pay something towards your care. If you’re receiving care at home, we will meet with you so that we can support you with the process.
We’ll ask you to tell us about your income, savings and assets. We will also ask you about the money you spend on rent, mortgage and council tax, and any money you spend because of your disability or illness.
If you think you would be able to pay for your care yourself, or you don’t want to have a full financial assessment, you can ask for a light touch assessment instead. You will need to pay the full cost of your care if you do this. You can still ask for a full financial assessment later on.
We’ll let you know if you need to pay towards your care and how much this will be. We’ll send you a copy of the financial assessment and tell you how to pay your contribution.
If you receive care at home from an agency, or if you attend a day centre, your service provider will invoice you for your contribution and tell you how to pay them. If you receive more than one service, you may receive invoices from one or more of your providers, but the total weekly amount won’t be more than your assessed weekly charge.
If you have a direct cash payment, the payment you receive from us will be reduced by the amount of your assessed contribution. This means that you need to pay your assessed contribution into your direct payment account.
If you move to a care home, the home will invoice you for your assessed contribution and may tell you how to set up a regular payment such as a direct debit. With effect from 8 April 2019, you will need to pay any assessed contribution for a care home placement directly to the Council. The safest and most convenient way to do this is via Direct Debit. See our Information on Paying for Residential Care leaflet or contact the Charging Income Team on 01209 614266 or email adultcarebilling@cornwall.gov.uk.
If you need to move into permanent residential care, you may be eligible for a deferred payment agreement. This means that you should not have to sell your home in your lifetime to pay for your care.
A deferred payment agreement is an arrangement with the Council that lets you use the value of your home to pay for your residential care. If you are eligible, you can receive a deferred payment in 2 ways. Either the Council can pay your care home bills on your behalf to the home or you can receive a direct loan payment to enable you to pay the home direct. You can delay repaying us until you choose to sell your home or until after your death – or at an earlier time if you wish. See our Deferred Payment Leaflet for further information.
We’ll charge a small amount of interest on the amount owed to us. There will be a fee for setting up this arrangement and some ongoing administrative charges. See our deferred payments policy and deferred fees and charges for details.
If you need help to get to a service, we’ll discuss this with you. We use our transport policy and eligibility criteria to look at the different ways you might access services. Please also be aware of the cancellation of transport and payment of contributions procedure.