Charging for social care Under the Care Act 2014 If you need social care services, the local authority may ask you to pay towards the cost. This factsheet looks at when social services may charge you for non-residential care services and services you get in the community The local authority has a choice whether or not to charge you for non-residential social care services. The Care Act 2014 has set out a standard way to charge for care. Community care charges are different around the country. This factsheet gives an overview of the charging system. You will get free aftercare services if you are under section 117 of the Mental Health Act 1983. If you are not happy with the amount your local authority is charging, then you should ask for a review of your circumstances. This factsheet covers: 1. What are non-residential social care services? 2. When can I be charged for non-residential social care services? 3. What about my personal budget? 4. Will I have to pay if I get services under Section 117 aftercare? 5. I am a carer; will the local authority charge me? 6. What if I cannot afford the charges? 7. How can I deal with problems about charges? 1
1. What are non-residential social care services? A non-residential service is a service you get to meet your social care needs in the community. These services are to help you improve your wellbeing and help you live independently. These services may be: help at home, getting meals, activities such as going on trips, help with education, and going to a day centre. This does not include supported or residential accommodation. Charging for residential care services is different to community services. You can find more information about: Charging for Residential Care Social Care Assessment and Eligibility Social Care Needs and support planning on www.rethink.org. Or call 0121 522 7007 and ask for a copy to be sent to you. 2. When can the local authority charge me for non-residential services? This section covers: Which services can the local authority charge me for? How much can the local authority charge me? How will the local authority treat my income and savings? How will I find out about charges? What services can the local authority charge me for? The local authority can charge you for most non-residential services, except: advice about social care services, a social care assessment, services you get under section 117 of the Mental Health Act, the cost of community equipment, such as cushions and tools to help you pick things up or dress yourself, changes to your home that cost less than 1000, such as installing rails or widening doorways 1, or 2
Intermediate care, including re-ablement, for up to 6 weeks with the local authority providing discretionary help after 6 weeks. You may get help from the Disability Facilities Grant for costs over 1000 Intermediate care and re-ablement are services the LA or NHS give people when they have been in hospital. They are to help people to live more independently in their own homes. The LA and NHS will arrange this care after an injury or long-term health condition. The local authority can charge you for meals at home or in day care, domestic help, personal home care, day services, and other types of help from social services. How much can the local authority charge me? There is no standard charge for social care services in England. Local authority have their own way of doing financial assessments. They have to make sure the way they do the financial assessment is: 2 clear, done in a reasonable time, and enough to pay for your needs. They should not charge anyone more than they can afford to pay. 3 The local authority needs to make sure that everyone should have a minimum amount you need to live on. The minimum amount should be the standard rate of Income Support or Guarantee Pension Credit plus a minimum buffer of 25%. 4 In 2016-2017, the standard rate of income support is 73.10 if you are 25 and over or 57.90 if you are under 25. If you have a disability or are a carer your minimum amount may be higher. 5 What is a financial assessment? Where a local authority decides to charge you for social care, they must carry out a financial assessment. This will work out how much you can afford to pay. This is known as a financial assessment, which is a meanstest assessment. This will work out how much you may have to pay towards the cost of your care. They will assess you as an individual and will not take your partner s income into account. 6 You will need to give the local authority information about your income and capital. The local authority should think about extra costs you have because of your disability. This is known as disability-related expenditure (DRE). The local authority should ignore any Income you use to meet these costs 7. DRE should not just be what you need for care and support. This could include: transport costs to attend a day centre (when it is more than the mobility component of PIP/DLA), day or night care which is not being arranged by the local authority, personal assistance costs, extra heating costs, or extra costs for equipment, clothing, or bedding. 8 3
How are my income and savings treated? Income The local authority will look at your income to decide if you have to pay. If you are paid by an employer or are self-employed, the local authority will not include this. 9 Local authorities will take into account all the benefits you receive and but will disregard the benefits listed below. 10 Direct Payments Guaranteed Income Payments for veterans from the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme The mobility component of Disability Living Allowance and Personal Independence Payments The DWP may reduce your benefit payments because of sanctions or because you have been overpaid. The local authority will assess you based on how much the benefit is and not what money you actually get. There are incomes the local authority will not include, these are listed below. Child Support Maintenance payments Child Benefit Child Tax Credit The local authority should not include your carer s or relatives income. They should never ask them to pay for your services unless they are looking after your money for you. 11 Notional income Notional income is the money that you may not be getting but the local authority include in the financial assessment 12. Notional income might be: income you would be entitled to but have to apply for, like a pension, income that is due to you but you don t have yet, income you got rid of on purpose to reduce how much you have to pay, this is called deprivation of assets. 13 Examples of deprivation of assets can include: 14 giving money away as a gift, going on expensive holidays, or spending a lot of money on your lifestyle like going out a lot more than usual or shopping a lot to spend extra money. 4
Savings and capital The local authority will look at any savings and capital you have as well as your income. This does not include the value of the home you live in most of the time. 15 If your capital and savings are less than 14,250, you should not have to pay anything. However, depending on how much disposable income you have, the local authority may ask you to pay something for your care costs. You should ask your local authority about this, as they will have their own policy about this. 16 If your capital and savings are more than 23,250 then you will have to pay all of the cost of your social care. 17 The local authority will work out how much you have to pay if your savings and capital is between 14,250 and 23,250. How they calculate it is that for every 250 over 14,250 you own, they will consider you to have extra weekly income of 1. This is called tariff income. 18 Your savings and capital may be slightly above the 23,250 upper limit. In this case, the local authority needs to consider when your payments will take you below the upper limit when working out your charges. 19 How will I find out about any charges? The local authority will tell you your personal budget when they finish your care and support plan. Your personal budget will show if you have to pay anything. You and the local authority will agree these charges at the end of the care and support planning process. Your personal budget should be enough to meet your needs in the care and support plan. You, your carer, or your advocate can challenge the final amounts at the planning or final stages of your personal budget. 20 If you are not happy about the way the local authority handled your case, you may wish to complain. (See section 6) 3. What about my personal budget? When you have a care and support plan, you will get a personal budget. This is money from social services to spend on services that you want. Your personal budget will explain how much: 21 your care costs, you will have to pay for your care, and the local authority (LA) will pay for your care. The rules on the local authority giving you money for your personal budget are the same as the rules on charging. Once they have assessed your needs and decided your personal they will decide if you need to pay anything (see section 2). The local authority should review your plan six to eight weeks after you have signed it off and then every 12 months. 22 5
You can find out more about how personal budgets work in our Social Care, Care and Support Planning factsheet. You can download this for free from www.rethink.org or call 0121 522 7007 and ask for a copy to be sent to you. 4. Will I have to pay if I get services under section 117 aftercare? You may be on a section 117(S117) if you have been discharged from certain sections of the Mental Health Act 1983 (MHA). If you are on S117, you will get free aftercare services. The local authority or clinical commissioning group where you are an ordinary resident will be responsible for your aftercare. If you did not have ordinary residence before you went into hospital, the local authority where the hospital is will be responsible. You can find more information about Section 117 at www.rethink.org. Or call 0121 522 7007 and ask for a copy to be sent to you. 5. I am a carer; will the local authority charge me? The local authority now has a duty to arrange support to meet your needs. Sometimes they may charge you for this. They will decide how much and when they charge. If they charge you it should be fair, affordable and should never affect your health, wellbeing, and ability to provide care. The local authority should never charge you for care and support you give to the person you care for. You may have a financial assessment to make sure any charges are affordable. 23 6. What if I cannot afford the charges? You should tell the local authority if you feel you cannot afford the amount they are charging you. You can tell the person who did the assessment with you and ask them to review it. The local authority must not charge you more than you can afford. 24 You could use a budgeting form to show that you cannot afford to pay the charges. These are available from debt advice charities. 7. How can I deal with problems about charges? You may have problems around the local authority or clinical commissioning group charging you. You can deal with problems informally or formally. They should make sure you know how to appeal their decisions or complain if you want to. 6
Informal options It is best to try and deal with the problem informally first. You can talk about your concerns with the professional who is in charge of your care plan. If you do not have a care plan, you should contact the person who did the assessment. You can ask them to explain their decision or discuss your concerns. If you speak to someone, keep a note of: who you spoke to, when you spoke to them, and what you discussed. If you are under the Care Programme Approach (CPA), discuss any problems with your care coordinator or key worker. Formal options Complaints If you want to complain, you have to use the local authority s (LA) complaints procedure. You can find out more information about Complaints at www.rethink.org. Or contact 0121 522 7007 and ask for the information to be sent to you. Legal action You should be able to deal with most problems informally or through the complaints procedure. However, if you feel that they are not following the law, you could get legal advice. You would need to speak to a community care solicitor. You may get advice and representation depending on your situation. You may be entitled to legal aid but there are rules around this. Civil Legal Advice will tell you if you qualify for legal aid. They can give you information about local solicitors who accept legal aid. You can contact them on 0845 345 4 345. You can search for a solicitor online at: http://find-legal-advice.justice.gov.uk/ You can find more information about Legal Advice at www.rethink.org. Or call 0121 522 7007 and ask for the information to be sent to you. The information in this factsheet is correct at the time of writing. You can find more information in the most recent version of the Care and Support Statutory Guidance 24 March 2016, which is available via the www.gov.uk website. Local Authorities also have a duty to provide information and advice. 1 Department of Health. Care and Support Statutory Guidance Issued under the Care Act 2014. para 8.14 2 As note 1, para 11.24 7
3 As note 1, para 8.2 4 As note 1, para 8.42 5 Reg 7, The Care and Support (Charging and Assessment of Resources) Regulations 2014. SI 014/2672. London: TSO; 2006. 6 As note 1,para 8.8 7 As note 1, Annex C para 39 8 As note 1 Annex C, para 40 9 As note 1, Annex C para 8 10 As note 1, Annex c, para 15 11 As note 1, para 8.49 12 As noted 1 Annex C para 34 13 As note 1, Annex D para 6 14 As note 1, Annex E, para 9 15 As note 1, para 8.43 16 As note 1, para 8.43 17 As note, para 8.13 18 As note 1, Annex B, para 27 19 As note 1, Annex B, para 25 20 As note 1, para 11.24.pg 192 21 s.26(1) Care Act 2014, c23 22 As note 1, para 10.42 23 As note 1. para 8.53 24 As note 1, para 8.2. 8
Rethink Mental Illness 2014 Last updated April 2016 Next update April 2018 Version number 4 This factsheet is available in large print. 9