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How the financial assessment is completed

When your adult social care assessment is completed and if you qualify to receive help from us, we may offer you a personal budget. You will then be asked to complete a means-tested financial assessment to calculate what you will be required to pay towards the cost of your care.

If you do not wish to have a financial assessment, we will determine that you are willing to pay for the full cost of your care and support.

How the financial assessment is completed

Step 1: Someone from our social care team will contact you. We will talk to you about your needs and find out what services will best help you to live a more independent life.

Step 2: You can estimate the amount you might have to pay each week using our online financial assessment calculator.

Step 3: The easiest way to complete and submit your financial assessment is online. If you are unable to do it this way, we can arrange a telephone assessment or in-person visit. Our dedicated web page explains more about completing an online financial assessment.

Step 4: Your financial assessment is then completed by a member of our Financial Assessment and Benefits Team. We will write to tell you the amount you will need to pay towards your care.

Step 5: The easiest way to pay is through a monthly direct debit, however all payment options will be available on your invoice.

What we take into account

We will ask you to provide proof of your financial situation, for example, bank statements and evidence of your costs. If you do not supply this within four weeks, we may determine that you are willing to pay for the full cost of your care and support until you supply the information we need. 

Our Financial Assessment and Benefits Team will also check that you are getting all the benefits you are entitled to. We will explain how to claim any that you haven’t applied for.

Financial assessments differ slightly depending on the type of care and support that you need. The information in this section applies to all financial assessments. Please also read the following pages if they apply to you:

The financial assessment is only about your capital and your income. We won’t include income or capital that belongs to your partner or anyone else in your household. If you have joint income or joint capital, we will only count your share.

Your capital includes assets and savings such as:

  • cash, bank, building society and savings accounts
  • investments, stocks and shares
  • savings certificates or bonds
  • property, buildings or land that you own or have a share in.  

We don’t include the value of personal possessions such as furniture or jewellery.

Your income includes:

  • state and private pensions
  • dividends and interest as well as funds you receive from other sources such as trusts or benefits
  • state benefits such as Pension Credit, Income Support, Attendance Allowance (AA), Disability Living Allowance (DLA) and Personal Independence Payments (PIP). We count entitlement in your assessment even if you don’t claim, as this income is available to you on application
  • rent from property or land. 

We don’t take into account earnings from work or the mobility element of Personal Independence Payments or Disability Living Allowance.

If the value of your capital is between £14,250 and £23,250 (not including your home), we apply a formula to calculate a weekly figure for charging purposes. This is called ‘tariff income’ and is included as income in your assessment.  

We also consider some of your costs before we decide how much you can afford to pay for your care, such as:

  • mortgage payments
  • rent payments that are not met by housing benefit
  • council tax that is not met by council tax benefit
  • home and buildings insurance
  • disability related expenditure not met from other sources (see below). 

Disability related expenditure (DRE) is the additional costs that someone with a disability or long-term health condition may incur due to their disability or condition.

In general, disability related expenses are considered when:

  • the extra cost is needed to meet your specific need due to a medical condition or disability, as identified in your adult social care assessment
  • the cost is reasonable and can be verified
  • it is not reasonable for a lower cost or free alternative item or service to be used. 

They can include, but are not limited to, chiropody, cleaning, deputyship fees, equipment, gardening, laundry, Lifelink alarms, linen, medical aids, powered beds, reclining chairs, shopping, specialised mattresses, stairlifts, and wheelchairs.

We won’t consider costs for general items or services required for daily living and used by the general population.

You will need to provide us with receipts to evidence your disability related expenditure during your financial assessment.

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