Introduction

This section is about paying for permanent care in a care home.

Benefits when you move into permanent care

We will notify the Department for Work and Pensions when you move into permanent care if you receive Personal Independence Payments, Disability Living Allowance and Attendance Allowance. 

These benefits stop after four weeks in care. This is why the charges for your care home for the first four weeks are different from the rest of your stay.

There are some things that you must do when you move into permanent care if you receive benefits:

• You must report your change in circumstances to the Department for Work and Pensions. They will tell you how your other benefits will be affected.  
• You must tell your local council if you receive housing benefit and council tax reductions. These stop after a four-week notice period when you move into permanent care. 

Your partner’s benefits or benefit entitlements may be affected when you move into care. Partners should talk to:

• the Department for Work and Pensions about benefits they may be entitled to
• their local council about a council tax reduction if they will be living alone when you move into care.

We will take your partner’s circumstances into account in your financial assessment so that they do not suffer hardship when you move into permanent care.

Personal expenses allowance

You are likely to have to pay most of your income towards the cost of your care if the council is helping to pay the costs.  

We will not leave you with less than the personal expenses allowance (PEA) set annually by the Government. This allowance is intended to cover personal costs that are not part of your care such as toiletries, clothes, hairdressing and presents.

If you own your own home 

If you own your home, we will include the value of your home in your financial assessment unless a property disregard applies. 

A property disregard means that the value of your property is not counted in your financial assessment either on an ongoing basis or for a period of time.