Paying for care in your home or the community 

Care and support services that are provided within your home or the community are often referred to as ‘non-residential services’.

You'd be classed as living at home if you're:

• living in your own home or rented accommodation

• in a Shared Lives placement

• in the home of a family member or friend

• in supported living

There are lots of different types of non-residential services that you can use to support you to achieve your goals. These are:

• home care

• day opportunities

• support to access the community

• respite

• personal Assistants

• sitting services

• supported living

You can use a mixture of services, or one type of service.

How we work out what you need to pay

We'll use a financial assessment to work out whether you need to pay towards your care and support

The assessment looks at things such as your income, benefits, pensions, savings and certain household costs.

Once your financial assessment is complete, we'll agree a personal budget.

How your care and support payments can be arranged

There are different ways your care and support payments can be arranged. You can ask us to:

• manage your personal budget for you

• pay the money directly to you, or someone you choose – this is known as a direct payment

• have a mixture of both, where some support is arranged by us and some is managed through a direct payment

More information can be found on our page about personal budgets.

Paying your assessed contribution

If you need to pay towards your care, we'll write to you and tell you how much your assessed contribution is, when your payments will start and how to pay. If we manage your personal budget, you may receive an invoice for your assessed contribution.

If you receive a direct payment, you may need to pay your assessed contribution into your direct payment account. The contribution must be used with the direct payment to pay for the care and support agreed in your support plan. You can find out more about direct payments on the personal budget page.

If you're worried about paying your assessed contribution, please contact us as soon as possible so we can check your assessment and talk through your options.

Tell us about a change

You must tell us as soon as possible if:

• your income changes

• your benefits change

• your savings change

• your household costs change

• you move address

• your living arrangements change

• your care needs change

• you go into hospital

• you start or stop receiving direct payments

We may ask you to provide proof of the change, such as benefit letters, bank statements, rent letters, bills or other documents. We will then check your financial assessment and write to you if your assessed contribution changes.

If you don't tell us about a change, you may pay too much or too little. If you have paid too little, you may need to pay the money back.