Funding Options Financing a place in a care home can be complex and is largely dependent upon personal circumstances. There are a number of options available and we’ve provided an overview to help you with your planning and decision-making.
Whatever your circumstances may be, it’s important to request a needs assessment from your local authority. It will help ensure easier access to funding, benefits and allowances to which you may be entitled. And even if you don’t qualify for financial assistance right now, the assessment may help in the future in the event that your circumstances change.
Your local authority will carry out a means-tested assessment, taking into account your assets, such as your home, and your income. Based on the value of your total assets and how it relates to the upper and lower limits of the government’s Capital Threshold, you may receive a contribution to your care costs. If this does not fully meet the fees of your preferred home, it may be possible to ‘top-up’ the Local Authority contribution via a third party, usually from family or friends.
If you are choosing a nursing home the NHS will normally contribute towards your nursing fees, i.e. the care provided by a Registered Nurse. This contribution – also known as Free Nursing Care – is given whether your fees are self-funded or Local Authority funded. Again, it is based on an assessment and this will be arranged with the NHS by the home (subject to your consent) following admission. Payment is normally backdated to the date of admission or the date of application as applicable.
Anyone who needs full-time NHS healthcare due to disability, accident or illness is normally eligible. it is awarded following a full needs assessment by an NHS Assessor and can be awarded prior to admission to the home or following admission as needs dictate. It covers care and basic living costs, and is intended to replicate what a care home resident would otherwise receive in a NHS setting such as a hospital. It may or may not fully cover the home’s normal weekly fees and those awarded CHC funding are not also eligible for FNC funding.
Residents whose capital assets exceed the upper capital threshold limit are expected to pay their own fees. Some residents will need to sell property in order to pay care home fees and, depending on capital assets, the Local Authority will normally contribute for the first 12 weeks of residence. This is called the 12 Weeks Property disregard and may still require top-up payments or payment of the difference once the property is sold.
There is also a “Deferred Payment” Agreement offered by Local Authorities depending on circumstances, which avoids a residents home having to be sold during their lifetime. The local authority will provide funding that is treated as an interest-free loan and secured against the value of the property.
In certain circumstances, Forest Care will accommodate residents who do not have a Deferred Payment Agreement and we will instead defer fee payments ourselves until the property is sold subject to certain conditions being met.
At Forest Care we are committed to transparency and fairness in our funding arrangements with residents. We accept residents whose care is funded through the above sources, or combination of sources, in line with our Fees & Funding Policy 2023. The policy also includes further details about funding options and how residents are assessed.
Need more help or advice? Please call the home that is of interest for an informal chat.
