Care home costs
Find out everything you need to know about care home costs and the different funding options that might be available to you.
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Paying for a care home
If you’re trying to find out about paying for care, or how much a care home costs, we’re here to help. It all comes down to the value of the assets and/or savings you already have.
Paying for care support varies, depending on the value of your personal assets. If the value of your assets is higher than the maximum allowed (the ‘threshold’), this usually means that you’re classed as a self-funder, so you’ll be responsible for paying the full care home costs. If you live in an owned house, its value normally counts as part of your savings.
However, if your savings fall beneath the maximum allowed, your local authority will calculate how much financial support you’re eligible for. This could cover the full cost of care, or part of it – then a friend or family member could contribute the rest, if necessary.
Alternatively, browse by region to discover available care homes within a specific area.
What’s the care home savings threshold?
The care home savings threshold is an amount of money, or ‘cap’, that determines whether or not you can get financial help from your local authority. If your savings total more than the threshold, you’ll have to contribute at least some or all of the cost towards living in a care home.
The savings threshold varies across the UK and currently stands as follows: England – £23,250 Scotland – £28,750 Wales – £50,000 Northern Ireland – £23,250
What financial support is available for care?
If the total value of your assets is less than your country’s savings threshold, this usually means you’ll be eligible for financial support from your local authority. They can help you to pay at least some of the cost of living in a care home.
Your local authority can arrange a financial assessment for you, to work out how much funding you could get. Sometimes this will cover the full cost of your care, or it might only cover part of it. In that case, you’d have to top up the funding from another source.
What about specialist care home fees?
You or your loved one may need a care home that caters for a specific health condition. Nursing care, dementia care, palliative care and respite care are all classed as specialist types of care.
In that case, we can provide nursing support to ensure that all needs are met, along with any personal or domestic care tasks.
If there are specialist care needs like this, then the cost to stay at one of our nursing homes will be higher.
How do you pay for a care home?
Once you’ve found out whether your savings are above or below the savings threshold, you’ll know whether you’re responsible for paying for your care or if your local authority will be able to support you with your care costs.
If you’re paying for care by yourself, you can pay an up-front amount to ensure a guaranteed regular income towards the cost of your home’s fees. This is known as a care annuity, or a deferred annuity.
Another way to pay for care is to use a type of equity release called a lifetime mortgage. A financial adviser can help you to explore possible care payment plans.
Rosie’s story
It’s hard to know what’s involved when looking for care. We follow Rosie’s journey and how she helped her mum into a care home. This story is fictional with realistic examples that help to demonstrate how the process works.
Help when you need it
Choosing a care home can be stressful, especially if you've never done it before. Where do you start? Well, right here. Our helpful, understanding care advisers offer free advice on anything from funding to finding just the right home.
Call a customer care adviser on 0345 600 4622^
Ask us to assess your situation and talk to you about paying for care, and how funding works.
Find care homes that might be right for you, and book one or more visits.
^ Lines are open 8am to 6.30pm Monday to Friday, 9am to 12.30pm Saturday. Closed Sundays and bank holidays. Calls are charged at no more than local rate and count towards any inclusive minutes from mobiles. We may record or monitor our calls.
