Whatever care you require – and whether or not you can afford to pay for it – your local authority has an obligation to conduct an assessment (known as a Section 47 care assessment) to determine your needs and the most appropriate place for it. This will usually involve a home visit and it’s good to have a family member or friend present to share what’s discussed. All further discussions with the local authority will be based on these ‘assessed needs’.
If care in a home is recommended, then the local authority also has a duty to help ensure suitable care is made available.
Local authority means-testing will look to include most capital and savings held in your name, including:
- Bank and building society accounts;
- National Savings and Premium Bonds;
- Stocks, shares and investment products;
- Income from state, personal and occupational pensions;
- Property and land (less any mortgage).
Jointly-held savings and assets will be usually divided by two to calculate your share.
Some assets are disregarded by the means test, including:
- Surrender value of life policies;
- Some compensation payments held in trust or by the courts;
- Some investment bonds with a life assurance element (check with provider);
- Property that continues to be inhabited by a partner, dependant or certain other parties.
Some forms of income will also be disregarded from the means test including War Widows special payments, the mobility component of the Disability Living Allowance and – within certain limits – spouse/partner payments from a private or occupational pension.
The local authority will assume that income from benefits such as the Pension Credit is being fully claimed, so it is important that all relevant benefits are taken up.
Authorities may also want to look at recent transactions to check that you haven’t deliberately deprived yourself of capital to qualify for care funding – for example transferring a property into the name of a family member, or investing capital in an investment bond at very short notice.