Who pays for your care

Care services that local authorities, including Camden Council, provide are not free for everyone. Many people will need to pay the cost of their care.  The amount you pay, called a contribution, depends on your financial situation. For example, if you have capital and savings of £23,250 or more you will be asked to pay the full cost of your care.

Here are the types of care services that are not free for everyone:

• Direct payment
• Housework and shopping
• Personal care in the home
• Respite care
• Day centres and clubs
• Live-in workers
• Extra care sheltered housing
• Careline Telecare
• Support worker / key worker services
• Supported housing
• Supported living
• Shared Lives housing
• Residential and nursing care

There are situations where you do not need to pay and they are:

• if you are getting an aftercare service following a compulsory stay in a mental health hospital (usually called Section 117 aftercare)
• if you are getting services from Continuing Health Care (CHC) funding
• if we have assessed your financial situation and decided you are eligible to receive social care and support free of charge.

Will I have to pay to receive care?

People who are assessed as being eligible to receive social care and support will be required to complete a financial assessment form. The financial assessment will be used to work out what you will have to pay towards the cost of your care.  

We will ask you for details of your income, savings and assets and some types of expenditure. We will then carry out a calculation to see if you can afford to make a financial contribution.

If you have capital including savings and investments over £23,250 you will be required to pay the full cost of your services, however, you may be able to get help arranging your care.

If you are unable to complete the form yourself and have no one who can help you, please contact the Awards and Contributions Team on 020 7974 1607, or email [email protected] and we will arrange for someone to assist you.  

Personal budget

Following a financial assessment, you are eligible for support for your care needs, we will calculate the amount of money that is needed to meet your care needs.  This is called a personal budget.  You will have as much choice and control as possible over how your personal budget is spent on services to meet your needs. 

Paying for your own care and support (self-funder)A self-funder is responsible for paying the full costs of their care and support.

You are a self-funder if you:

• have savings, capital, assets or income of more than £23,250
• have not been assessed as eligible for care and support and want to arrange care privately
• don’t want to tell us about your finances and may want to make private arrangements

If you are a self-funder who lives at home and are receiving care and support arranged by us, we will charge an administration fee for setting up and arranging these services.

If you own a property and are assessed as eligible to stay in a residential or nursing home, the Deferred Payment Scheme may help you with the care costs.  

Deferred Payment Scheme

You may be assessed as having to pay the full cost of your residential care because you own a property.  If you cannot afford to pay the full weekly charge because most of your savings or capital is tied up in the property, you may be eligible for a deferred payment.

The scheme offers you a loan from Camden Council and it uses the value of your home to help pay care home costs.  It doesn’t work in the same way as a conventional loan.  We do not give you a fixed sum of money when you join the scheme, but we pay an agreed part of your weekly care and support costs for as long as is necessary.

Financial assessment process and how we work out amount you need to payWhen Camden arranges care and support to meet your needs, we complete a financial assessment and you may have to pay towards your support. The only exception to this is where Camden is providing support that is not within the framework for assessing a charge or where the support is a type that is not charged for.

We have produced a downloadable PDF document, 'Paying for non-residential care in Camden' that explains the financial assessment process in Camden which determines how much contribution you pay towards the cost of your care. The document also explains how the amount you must pay is worked out and includes information on how you make the payments.

Download Paying for non-residential care in Camden.