Funding care
Who pays for care at home, and how to claim it
Most families assume they will pay for everything themselves, and most are wrong about at least one part of it. This page sets out five routes, what each one pays, who qualifies, and the first phone call to make.
Benefit figures are 2025/26 rates, rounded. Check gov.uk for this year’s exact amounts. Care prices are what carers on PrimeCarers charge, with our fee included.
Attendance Allowance
Not means-testedabout £73 or £110 a week
Over State Pension age and needing help with personal care or supervision for six months or more.
Council (local authority) funding
Means-testeda contribution, sometimes the whole cost
Anyone with eligible care needs and savings under £23,250 in England. The home is ignored while you live in it.
NHS Continuing Healthcare
Not means-testedthe full cost of the care package
Anyone whose main need is health rather than daily living, because the care they need is complex, unpredictable and intense. It is not means-tested.
Attendance Allowance alone is worth about £5,700 a year at the higher rate, and it is not means-tested.
Who pays
Four questions, and the routes that apply to you
The rules are simpler than the forms make them look. What matters is age, savings, the kind of need, and whether someone in the family is already doing the caring.
These are England’s thresholds. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland differ: the routes are the same, but the numbers are not.
Your routes
Answer the four questions
We will list the routes that apply to your situation, what each pays, and the first step for each. It takes about twenty seconds.
- Is the person needing care over State Pension age?
- Savings and investments, not counting the home they live in
- What is the main need?
- Is a family member caring for 35 hours or more a week?
The routes, side by side
Six ways care at home gets paid for
Most families end up using two or three of these together.
| Route | Who | Means-tested | Worth | Pays for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Attendance Allowance | Over State Pension age and needing help with personal care or supervision for six months or more. | No | about £73 or £110 a week | Cash to spend on anything, including a carer. |
| Council (local authority) funding | Anyone with eligible care needs and savings under £23,250 in England. The home is ignored while you live in it. | Yes | a contribution, sometimes the whole cost | Care at home through the council, or as a direct payment you spend on your own carer. |
| NHS Continuing Healthcare | Anyone whose main need is health rather than daily living, because the care they need is complex, unpredictable and intense. It is not means-tested. | No | the full cost of the care package | Everything, including live-in care at home, if you qualify. |
| Direct payments | Anyone the council has agreed to fund who would rather choose their own carer. | Yes | the council’s contribution, paid to you | Your chosen carer, through a platform like this one or directly. |
| Carer’s Allowance | The family member doing 35 hours or more a week of caring, earning under about £196 a week after deductions. | No | about £83 a week | The carer, not the person cared for. It can reduce some other benefits. |
| Paying yourself | Most families, for some or all of the cost, at least at first. | No | from about £20 an hour | A carer you choose, with the bill scaling to the hours you book. |
2025/26 figures, rounded. Check gov.uk for the current year. Thresholds shown are for England.
The assessment
What a care-needs assessment involves
Everything from the council starts here, and you are entitled to one whatever your savings. It is a conversation at the kitchen table, not an exam.
1Who does it
A social worker or assessor from adult social care, at home, usually within a few weeks of asking. Bring someone with you.
2What they ask
How the person manages washing, dressing, meals, medication, getting about, keeping safe, and staying in touch with people. Answer for a bad day, not a good one.
3What counts
Needs must meet the national eligibility criteria: unable to do two or more everyday things, with a significant effect on wellbeing.
4Then the money
A separate financial assessment looks at income and savings. Over £23,250 in England and you pay in full; under £14,250 and savings are ignored. The house does not count while they live in it.
5What you get
A written care and support plan with a personal budget, delivered by the council or as a direct payment. Ask for the direct payment if you want to choose the carer.
6For the family carer
A carer’s assessment of your own needs, done separately. It can lead to respite funding and support in its own right.
Safety first
Someone coming into their home? We take that seriously.
Letting a carer into the home of someone you love takes trust. We've built every layer of protection so that trust is earned, not assumed.
Vetting that never stops
Enhanced DBS, ID and right-to-work checks and an online interview before a carer appears, then continuous DBS monitoring for as long as they work. We check that a carer is caring; their skills and training are for you to check with them.
Insured and above board
Every visit is insured, contracted and paid securely online after care happens. There is no cash and no informal arrangement to manage.
A real person who knows you
Your own account manager and a UK support team who know you, your carer and your situation, not a call centre script.
Help when plans change
If your carer is unwell or away, our team will always do their best to find you vetted cover at short notice.
What clients say
Our Latest Carer Reviews
Margaret N
"Excellent - Lovely lady. My mother is so pleased with the work she does in helping her."
Read the full review
Julia S
"Julia is a highly skilled and companionate carer who is able to give so much of herself and adapt to any situation."
Read the full review
Andres Felipe C
"My son who he is caring for automatically welcomed Andres and can be heard laughing & having fun with Andres."
Read the full reviewQuestions families ask
Funding care, answered
Usually, yes, from at least one of: Attendance Allowance (not means-tested, about £73 or £110 a week), council funding after an assessment if savings are under £23,250, NHS Continuing Healthcare if the main need is health, and Carer’s Allowance for a family carer. Find out which apply to you.
No. It depends only on age and how much help is needed, not on income or savings. Many people who are refused council funding still get it. It is paid in cash and can be spent on a carer. The different types of care funding.
If the needs assessment finds eligible needs and the financial assessment shows savings under £23,250 (England), yes, in part or in full. Between £14,250 and the upper limit you pay a tariff contribution. The home is not counted while the person lives in it. Local authority funding.
Full NHS funding for people whose main need is health rather than social care: complex, intense or unpredictable needs. It is not means-tested and can pay for live-in care at home. Late-stage dementia, advanced Parkinson’s and end-of-life care often qualify; early-stage needs usually do not. NHS Continuing Healthcare explained.
The council’s contribution paid to you rather than spent on your behalf, so you can choose your own carer. You can use it through a platform like PrimeCarers. Ask for it at the assessment. Publicly funded care explained.
Yes, and if she has Attendance Allowance you may be able to claim Carer’s Allowance as well. There are tax and benefit consequences to think through first. Can my mum pay me to care for her?
About £83 a week (2025/26) for someone caring 35 hours or more a week for a person who gets Attendance Allowance or a similar benefit, and earning under about £196 a week after deductions. It can reduce some other benefits. Carer’s Allowance: what it is and how to get it.
Not for care at home. The home is disregarded in the financial assessment while the person needing care lives in it. Selling comes up with care homes, not home care, which is one reason live-in care is worth comparing. Is live-in care cheaper than a care home?
That a public body pays the whole cost: the NHS through Continuing Healthcare, or the council for someone under the lower capital limit with no assessable income. Most families are partly funded rather than fully. What does fully funded care mean?
Whatever the routes above do not cover. On PrimeCarers hourly visits are about £20 an hour and live-in care from £1,050 a week, typically £1,120, with our fee included. The full cost guide and self-funding care.
Guides
Every funding guide we have
Thirteen guides on the routes, plus the cost and carer pages that go with them.
Other options
Once you know what you can claim, see what it pays for
Real carers near you, with their rates, so you can put a figure next to the funding.