Charging and financial assessment
Care Act – Staff Conference – 10.11.2014
Introduction
 The local authority may charge people for care and support services,
and for arranging them, but some services must be free of charge
 The local authority must carry out a financial assessment if it is going to
charge for services, but a ‘light touch’ financial assessment may be
appropriate in some circumstances
 Charges are subject to limits, which depend on whether someone is
receiving care in a care home, their own home, or another setting
 Top-up fees can be charged if a person chooses a more expensive
residential care option
 Debts may continue to be recovered under the new legal framework
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Financial assessment
 In a financial assessment, both capital and income must be assessed,
which will be either disregarded, partially disregarded or included
 Some capital and income must be disregarded and local authorities
have discretion to disregard assets in some other circumstances. For
example:
 the value of a person’s main or only home must be disregarded
where they are receiving care in a setting that is not a care home
 to help encourage people to remain in or take up employment
earnings from current employment must be disregarded
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‘Light-touch’ financial
assessments
 A local authority may choose a ‘light touch financial assessment’ for
instance where:
a) The person has significant financial resources, and does not wish
to undergo a full financial assessment for personal reasons
b) There is a small or nominal charge for a particular service, and
carrying out a financial assessment would be disproportionate
c) An individual is in receipt of certain benefits
 If the authority chooses to do so the person must be informed that they
have the right to request a full financial assessment should they so wish
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Information and advice
 Accessible information and advice, including:
 Independent financial information and advice
 Top-ups
 Deferred payment agreements
 Complaints
 The person must be given a written record of the financial assessment
which includes an explanation of how it has been carried out and what
the charge will be (if any)
 The local authority must establish whether the person has the capacity
to take part in the care plan and the information disclosure involved in
financial assessment
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What charges can be made?
 How much a person can be charged will depend on whether a person is
in a care home or receiving care and support in another setting
 Local authorities may charge a carer for support, but they must not
charge for ‘replacement’ care and support provided directly to the
person the carer supports
 Charges should be reasonable and not leave people with less than a
specified amount of income
 A person can choose a more expensive residential care setting,
through a ‘top-up’ from a third party or the resident
 A local authority must not charge more than the cost that it incurs in
meeting the assessed needs of the person
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Recovery of debts
 The existing powers under S22 of HASSASSA 1983 will no longer
apply from 1 April 2015
 From then on local authorities must use the provisions under S69 of the
Care Act:
 Must offer a DPA whenever possible
 Ultimately an authority has powers to recover money through the
county court
 Principles of the approach to debt recovery:
 Court action should be the last resort
 The local authority should act reasonably
 Affordable repayments
 Debts and repayments discussed with the person
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How will people experience the
new system in 2016/17?
If you have care and support needs, you could be supported by…
Assessment of the care
and support you need, and
eligibility for state support
Information and advice
on local services and
how much they cost
Reablement,
rehabilitation and
other free services
How much you might pay for your
care and support depends on your
financial situation
Support from
family, networks
community…
You have a financial
assessment to see
what you have to pay
Every year the local authority
• Reviews your care needs and financial
situation
• Keeps a record, from April 2016, called a care
account, of how much eligible care you have
needed in total
Costs are capped
There is a cap on expenditure
on eligible care from April
2016