How will the council decide what you have to pay? continued
of your home if you are moving into a care home or care home with nursing, depending on your circumstances. Some capital is ignored, such as some types of bond and personal belongings; these will be explained as part of the financial assessment. The value of your house is not taken into account
if you are to remain living there (i.e you are receiving home care services or support within the community). The financial assessment officer will explain this process in more detail.
Self-funding your care Paying for care can be an expensive and long-term commitment, so it is strongly recommended that you seek specialist information and advice before entering into any arrangements. It is important that you seek specialist advice from appropriately qualified and regulated financial advisers.
If you are receiving care at home and receive certain disability-related benefits, such as Attendance Allowance, Disability Living Allowance Care Component or Personal Independence Payment Daily Living, you may also be able to keep an amount to cover any significant extra costs you have.
Staffordshire County Council is working with an independent organisation called The Care Advice Line, which provides independent financial information and advice to its community. The Care Advice Line is a free service helping adults, carers and their families to make informed decisions about their care and support and how they pay for it. To contact this service, please call 01785 339511 or complete the online referral form at www.thecareadviceline. org/referral-form/ Stoke-on-Trent residents who have enquiries can contact 0800 561 0015.
Will I have to sell my home to pay for my care? If you are receiving home care, the value of your house is not taken into account, unless you own a share of more than one property.
Will I have any money left for day-to-day expenses and personal items? If you are in residential care, you can keep a weekly personal allowance out of your income. This is for your day-to-day needs or to save to buy items such as clothing and toiletries. This is currently £24.90 per week but may change over the life of this Directory. If you are receiving respite care or home care services, the amount you pay for the service will be reduced to cover the costs of certain outgoings, such as rent (where not covered by Housing Benefit), Council Tax, and mortgage payments. These outgoings can be taken into consideration for nonresidential charging and don’t necessarily reduce the cost of the service. In Stoke-on-Trent, respite is charged at a set rate and therefore the charge is not reduced by taking into account any household expenditure.
If you own your home and are moving into residential care, one of the biggest worries that people have is ‘what will happen to my home?’. The information below should help with these concerns: • If your husband, wife or partner continues to live in your family home, its value will not be included in your financial assessment. • If this does not apply, for the first 12 weeks of residential care the value of your home will be ignored in your financial assessment. This is called a 12-week property disregard. However, from the 13th week onwards, the council will treat the value of your home as capital in your financial assessment. Deferred payment agreements The Deferred Payments Scheme is designed to help you if you have been assessed as having to pay the full cost of your residential care but cannot afford to pay the full weekly charge because most of your capital is tied up in your home. If you are eligible for a deferred payment agreement, you will be required to pay a weekly contribution towards your care. The amount of this contribution will be based on your
Visit www.carechoices.co.uk for further assistance with your search for care
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