What happens in a financial assessment?
A financial assessment looks at the money you have coming in and going out. This is to see whether you are eligible for help with the costs of care. It will also see how much you will need to pay towards your overall care costs.
You can complete your financial assessment online and in your own time.
If you want to complete and submit your online assessment for checking you will need:
- your Mosaic identification number
- your NHS number
- your National Insurance Number
If you want only an indication of the amount you may have to pay, you do not need a Mosaic ID number. You will not be able to submit your form for checking and we will not be able to view any of your details.
Our Financial Assessment Officers will be on hand to support you through this process if you need it. If you are unable to complete your assessment online a Financial Assessment Officer can arrange a phone call with you.
We will ask you to tell us about:
- your income
- your savings
- other assets (such as property)
We will also ask you about the money you spend on:
- rent or mortgage
- council tax
- any money you spend because of your disability or illness (this is called Disability Related Expenditure)
When you have completed the online financial assessment, you will be given an indication of what you will be expected to pay towards care that is agreed as part of your Care Plan. You will also be asked to provide evidence documents to support the information you have given within 1 month. We will contact you to ask for further information or to confirm how much you will have to pay.
The short video below gives more information about what you can expect.
Complete an Online Financial AssessmentYou can ask for a light touch assessment instead if:
- you think you would be able to pay for your care yourself
- you don’t want to have a full financial assessment
If you choose this option, you will need to pay the full cost of your care. You can ask for a full financial assessment at a later date if you change your mind.
If you want to find out what support may be available, please make a request for help.
Visit our request help for an adult page
You can find out more about paying for care, and options including deferred payment for care home costs, on our Paying for Care page
If you disagree with a decision on your financial assessment
If you disagree with how your financial assessment has been calculated, you can do one of the following:
You can ask for an explanation of our decision.
You should make this request within one month of the date of the letter telling you about our decision. This should be made in writing by email or by phone to the Charging Assessment Team. Details of this are included in the confirmed charge letter you will have received.
You can appeal against the decision if you feel it is not correct.
You should make the appeal within one month of receiving the outcome of your application for financial assistance. Details of this are included in the confirmed charge letter you will have received.
Your entire assessment will be reviewed, which could result in your assessed contribution going up or down. You will receive a letter to confirm the results of your appeal within one month.
If you are still unhappy, you can ask the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (the Ombudsman) to review your complaint. You have up to 12 months to do this, starting from the date you first knew about the matter you complained about.
You can find full details about what the Ombudsman can and cannot investigate, and what correspondence you need to provide on the website.
The Ombudsman Service is free to use.