Charges for Care and Support
Your needs assessment will identify what care and support services you need. (This is also known as a community care assessment.) We’ll work out a personal budget for the support you need. Unlike health care, social care services are not free and you will need to pay for them.
If you have less than £23,250 in capital, you may be eligible for some help with care costs.
The amount you pay for care will vary depending on your individual situation and your financial circumstances.
You may have to pay for all of the costs, or you may be able to apply for financial assistance. If you apply there is a financial assessment process to determine how much you will have to pay.
The amount you pay will depend on your capital, assets, income, savings and benefits.
Eligibility
You can use our eligibility checker to see if you could receive financial assistance.
You can find out more in:
- Our current charging policy
- Our current charging policy easy read
- Help with paying for Adult Social Care
Where Adult Social Care arranges services, the total cost of the care services is usually within a set price range. These costs are detailed in the following schedule of charges.
Further information on when a charge will be applied for Adult Social Care can be found on our needs assessment page.
What happens in a financial assessment?
A financial assessment looks at the money you have coming in and going out. This is to see whether you are eligible for help with the costs of care. It will also see how much you will need to pay towards your overall care costs.
You can complete your financial assessment online and in your own time. The online financial assessment form can be accessed below.
You will need to have your Mosaic identification number, your NHS number and you National Insurance Number to submit the form. If you only want to get an indication of the amount you may have to pay you don't need a Mosaic ID number, but you won't be able to submit the form for checking. This means we won't be able to view the details that you submit.
Our Financial Assessment Officers will be on hand to support you through this process if you need it. If you are unable to complete your assessment online a Financial Assessment Officer can arrange a phone call with you.
We’ll ask you to tell us about your income, savings and other assets such as property. We will also ask you about the money you spend on rent, mortgage and council tax, and any money you spend because of your disability or illness. When you have completed the online financial assessment, you will be given an indication of what you will be expected to pay. You will also be asked to provide evidence documents to support the information you have given. We will contact you to ask for further information or to confirm how much you will have to pay.
You can ask for a light touch assessment instead if:
- you think you would be able to pay for your care yourself
- you don’t want to have a full financial assessment
You will need to pay the full cost of your care if you do this. You can still ask for a full financial assessment later on.
How to pay your financial contribution
If you receive care at home from an agency, or if you attend a day centre, your service provider will invoice you for your contribution. They will tell you how to pay them. If you receive more than one service, you may receive invoices from one or more of your providers.
The amount you have to pay won’t be more than your assessed weekly charge.
If you have a direct cash payment, the payment you receive from us will be reduced by the amount of your assessed contribution. This means that you need to pay your assessed contribution into your direct payment account.
If you move to a care home, you will need to pay any assessed contribution for your placement to the Council.
The safest and most convenient way to do this is via Direct Debit.
See our Paying for Residential Care information leaflet for more details. Or you can contact the Charging Income Team on 01872 324190 or e-mail adultcarebilling@cornwall.gov.uk
You will need to pay the home for sundry items such as newspapers, chiropody and hairdressing.
Deferred payment agreements
If you need to move into permanent residential care and you own your own home, you may be assessed to pay the full cost of your care. This is unless your home is occupied by:
- your spouse
- partner
- civil partner
- or a qualifying *relative
Where your property is not occupied by one of those people you will usually be assessed to meet the full cost of your care. This is either immediately or after the first 12 weeks. However, you may be eligible for a deferred payment agreement.
This means that you should not have to sell your home in your lifetime to pay for your care.
A deferred payment agreement is an arrangement with the Council that lets you use the value of your home to pay for your residential care. If you are eligible, the Council can pay your care home bills on your behalf to the home.
You can delay repaying us until you choose to sell your home or until after your death – or at an earlier time if you wish.
We’ll charge interest on the amount owed to us. There will be a fee for setting up this arrangement and some ongoing administrative charges.
See our:
- Deferred Payment Policy
- Deferred Payment Agreement factsheet
- Deferred Payment Agreement Schedule of Fees and Charges - 1 April 2024
You can find advice on picking a Financial Adviser and whether you need one on the Money Saving Expert website.
The Society of Later Life Advisers (SOLLA) can help you find a local Financial Adviser. They provide expert advice around paying for care and understanding the options available.
Paying for transport to day services
If you need help to get to a service, we’ll discuss this with you.
We use our transport policy and eligibility criteria to look at the different ways you might access services. Please also be aware of the cancellation of transport and payment of contributions procedure.
