Later life care

In England, if you have savings of less than £23,250, you may be able to get financial help from your local authority. They’ll assess your income and assets, looking at the value of any:

• Savings, including ISAs
• Stocks and shares
• Second homes or buy-to-let properties
• Investments with a ‘cash-in’ value
• Your property if you’re moving to a care home and the home isn’t occupied by a spouse/partner, or a relative who’s over 60 or disabled

If you do have more than £23,250 in assets, you’ll be considered a ‘self-funder’ and you’ll need to cover the full cost of your care.

If the NHS agrees you have a ‘primary health need’ Continuing Healthcare funding will meet your care costs. It covers long-term, complex health needs that demand more than basic personal care. It could pay care home fees or the cost of care in your own home.

Your eligibility isn’t based on you having a particular type of medical condition. It’s about whether a major part of your care is to support your health needs or prevent them from getting worse. Being frail, for example, isn’t enough on its own to qualify for Continuing Healthcare.

If you aren’t eligible for Continuing Healthcare but do need to live in a nursing home, the NHS will make a payment directly to help cover the cost of your nursing care. It’s called an NHS Funded Nursing Payment.

If you aren’t eligible for support from your local authority or the NHS, then you’ll probably need to meet the cost of your care yourself. But you may be entitled to Attendance Allowance. It’s a non means-tested benefit paid by the Department for Work and Pensions. It’s for those of retirement age who have care and support needs. Note that if you’re already receiving a disability benefit, you may not be able to claim Attendance Allowance.

You could also talk with a care fees specialist Independent Financial Adviser (IFA). They can discuss financial products that could help cover your care costs. To see if you might benefit from a conversation with an IFA, you can use our Care Costs Calculator, accessible below.

People sometimes think about giving away some of their savings, income or property to reduce the amount they’ll need to pay towards their care. But a local authority can refuse to pay for your care or ask you to repay care costs if they think you’ve done this.

To make sure you’re eligible for financial help, your local council will check you haven’t intentionally reduced your assets by looking at two things:

• Motive - When you gave away or moved your asset, was avoiding paying for care the reason, or a significant factor in your decision?
• Timing - At the time, were you fit and healthy, with no way to see a future need for care?

Examples of depriving yourself of assets might include selling an asset for less than it’s worth (your home, for example), giving money away as gifts or buying something expensive and unnecessary.

If the local authority feel you have deprived yourself of an asset they might treat you as though you still own it or may attempt to recover the assets from the person it was given to.

Deprivation of Assets is treated on a case by case basis by local authorities. The above are only examples of how a deprivation may be treated. If you want to discuss your own finances in greater detail, we’d suggest seeking specialist financial or legal advice