Health and social care rights
Explains your rights to health and social care for your mental health. Includes information on eligibility for social care and how local authorities may meet your needs.
What's a financial assessment?
Unlike healthcare services provided by the NHS, social care isn't always free. If the local authority provides you with support, it must assess your financial circumstances. This is so it can decide whether you need to pay for some of the cost. If you do, the local authority will give you a copy of the assessment and explain how the decision was made.
Your financial assessment will generally be carried out at the same time as your needs assessment.
What does the financial assessment consider?
The assessment will look at your income and your capital. What the local authority takes into account will depend on whether you're supported in a care home or not. Different local authorities may charge differently. You can ask for a copy of their charging policy.
What is income?
Income is usually regular payments that you receive. Most types of income will be taken into account, but some aren't.
Income doesn't include:
- Earnings from employment
- The mobility part of Disability Living Allowance or Personal Independence Payments (PIP)
- Child Tax Credit
If you have income as part of a couple, only your share will be taken into account. The assessment cannot consider the income of your partner or family members.
What is capital?
Capital is the money or other assets that you own, for example:
- Savings
- Property
- Stocks and shares
The assessment will add up all of your capital.
If you own a share in an asset (for example, if you own a house as a couple or have savings in a joint account), the value of your share will be taken into account. The assessment cannot count assets that you don't own (for example, your partner's savings).
If you own a home, the value of your home will not be taken into account if:
- You live in your home.
- You live in a care home, and one of the following people are living in your home:
- Your partner
- A relative under 18 or over 60
- A relative who is incapacitated
If the total value of your capital is:
- Less than £14,250: you won't pay a contribution from your capital, but you may still be asked to pay something from your income
- Between £14,250 to £23,250: you'll pay on a sliding scale.
- More than £23,250: you'll likely be asked to pay the full cost of your care
How much you need to contribute depends on whether or not you live in a care home.
If you live in a care home
If the total value of your capital is:
- Less than £50,000: you won't pay a contribution from your capital, but you may still be asked to pay something from your income
- More than £50,000: you may have to pay the full cost of your care
If you live anywhere other than a care home
If the total value of your capital is:
- Less than £24,000: you won't pay a contribution from your capital, but you may still be asked to pay something from your income
- More than £24,000: you may have to make a contribution from your capital, but it won't be more than £100 per week
Example
Maude gets support from carers twice a day, helping her clean her home and prepare meals. She lives at home with her partner, Arun, in a house valued at £350,000. There's no mortgage. Maude also has a joint bank account with Arun worth £20,000.
The local authority assesses Maude's finances. The value of her home isn't taken into account because she's living there. 50% of the joint savings will be taken into account, so Maude's total capital will be £10,000.
Changes to capital limits and cap on care costs (England only
The Government has set out plans to:
- Increase the lower value at which you are asked to contribute to the costs of from care from £14,250 to £20,000
- Increase the upper value at which you are asked to pay the full cost of your care from £23,500 to £100,00
- Introduce a cap of £86,000 on the total amount you will have to spend on your care
These measures haven't taken effect yet. But you can find updates on when they will come into force on the UK Government’s page about health and social care reforms.
In England
If you're in a care home, the minimum amount is £24.90 per week. If you're not in a care home, the minimum amount will depend on:
- Your age
- Whether you're single or part of a couple
- Whether you have children
You must not be left with less than £155.60 per week for an individual, or £237.55 if you’re in a couple.
In Wales
If you're in a care home, the minimum amount is £33.00 per week. If you're not in a care home, the minimum amount will depend on:
- Your age
- Whether you're single or part of a couple
- Whether you have children
You shouldn't be charged more than £100 per week.
Do I need to have a financial assessment?
In some circumstances, you may not need a full assessment. This might be because it's clear that:
- You cannot pay anything towards your care (for example, because of your benefit entitlement)
- Your capital is above the limit
- The cost of the support you receive is very small
Are any services free?
Some social care cannot be charged for, for example:
- Equipment or minor adaptations to the home
- A limited period of support to allow someone to regain the ability to live at home
- Aftercare services under section 117 of the Mental Health Act. If you receive support after a period in hospital under section, your local authority must be clear what support is provided under section 117
- Transport to a day centre (Wales only)
This information was published in February 2023. We will revise it in 2026.
References are available on request. If you would like to reproduce any of this information, see our page on permissions and licensing.
