Charges for social care services for adults living at home

What services do I have to pay for?

If you get any of the following types of care, you may have to pay towards the cost of the service:

• Home Care
• Day Care Services
• Supported Living Schemes or Dispersed Housing Schemes
• Direct Payments

We will carry out a financial assessment to work out if you will be required to make a financial contribution towards your care.

If you have meals at home or in a day centre, you pay for them separately to the agency or day centre that provides your meal.

How will I be financially assessed?

The Income & Assessment Team will telephone to make an appointment for a Financial Assessor to visit you at your home. He or she will:

• work out how much you have to pay towards the cost of your services
• make sure you are getting all the benefits you are entitled to, and help you claim if need be

If you have more than £21,000 in savings, or if you don’t wish to complete a financial assessment, you will have to pay the maximum charge. In this case, you only need to give details of your finances if you want benefits advice.

You will have to pay:

• £10 per hour for home care
• £5 per day for day care up to a maximum of £15 per week.
• If you have less than £21,000 in savings, we will carry out a full financial assessment, taking into account your income, savings, household costs and disability expenses.

What information will the assessor need?

In preparation for the Assessment, please can you gather as many receipts as possible for your disability and household expenses. You will also need to show evidence (e.g. benefit notifications, bank statements/books, utility bills and evidence of any other household costs) of your income, savings, household costs and any expenses you have because of your disability.

It is important that this information is ready for when the assessor calls to carry out the Financial Assessment.

Types of income you may have:

Pensions i.e:

• Pension credit
• Retirement pension
• Works/Private Pensions
• Annuities
• Charitable payments

Other benefits i.e:

• Income support
• Attendance allowance
• Disability living allowance
• Incapacity benefit
• Severe disablement allowance
• War pension

Types of savings you may have:

• Savings in a bank or building society
• Post Office savings/National Savings
• Premium bonds
• Stocks and shares, unit trusts
• Trust funds
• ISAs

Types of expenses you may have:

Types of household costs you may incur:

• Mortgage payments
• Insurance premiums
• Rent
• Council tax
• Water charges
• Boiler or water pipes policy

Types of disability expenses you may incur:

• Community alarm
• Privately arranged domestic help
• Private home care
• Help with cleaning etc
• Special diet
• Extra laundry
• Extra bedding
• Special clothing
• Extra heating fuel
• Help in the garden
• Transport costs i.e. taxi fares, bus fares
• Special equipment i.e. mobility scooter, stair lifts, wheelchairs, etc

How much will I have to pay?

This is how we work out how much to charge you for your care services:

1. We work out your weekly income.
2. We add together:
   • household costs
   • disability expenses
   • basic income support or pension credit, plus a 25% living allowance.
3. Your weekly income, less the total of these three things, leaves an amount called your ‘NET DISPOSABLE INCOME’.
4. You will have to pay us 60% of your ‘NET DISPOSABLE INCOME’ as a charge for your care services.

View example care charge

What happens if I am married or live with a partner?

If you hold savings jointly between you and your partner, we divide this equally between you both. We will then work out two financial assessments: one for a single person and one for a couple. We will use the assessment with the lower charge. If you choose not to give details of your partner’s income and savings, we will only make one assessment of you as a single person.

How will I be told how much I should pay?

The assessor will tell you what you need to pay when he or she visits. You will be given a summary of how your charge has been worked out including the date your charge will commence.

How will I pay my charge?

Payments are due every four weeks. You can pay the bill:

• by direct debit
• at any post office
• at a bank/building society
• by cheque
• by debit/credit card

We recommend that you pay by direct debit. If you do this, payments are collected automatically from your bank account, so you don’t need to worry about paying on time, writing cheques or making special trips to the post office. If your service stops for a while and you overpay, we will refund you without you having to do anything.

The assessor will also hand you a schedule of when direct debits will be taken from your bank account or when you are due to receive a bill.

If you get Direct Payments for your care, you will need to pay your charge in to your Direct Payments bank account.

What can I do if I don’t agree with my charge?

If the assessor has included everything he or she can accept and you still think your charge has not been worked out properly, you can appeal against it. You should appeal in writing to the Assessment Manager.

You would need to say why you disagree with the charge and provide supporting evidence.

If my finances change after my assessment, what should I do?

You must contact the Income & Assessment Team, so they can arrange to reassess you. This is particularly important if your savings fall below £21,000 and you are currently paying the maximum charge.

Who can I contact for more information?

The financial assessor who visits you will be able to answer your questions. If you still want more information you can write to:

The Income and Assessment Team
Lancashire County Council Adults Social Services
East Cliff County Offices
Preston PR1 3EA

Alternatively you can ring one of these numbers for the area you live in