Funding home care in London

It may pay some or all of it, and the only way to find out is to ask for a care needs assessment. In England the council pays towards care at home once savings are below £23,250, and ignores savings under £14,250 altogether. Between the two, every £250 counts as £1 a week of income. The house is not counted while your relative lives in it. Income is counted, but the council must leave someone single over State Pension age with at least £241.45 a week to live on before it charges anything. London is covered by 32 councils, and the one to ask is the council for the area your relative lives in, not the area you live in. The council decides what care is needed and how much it will pay; nobody can promise the outcome in advance. Local authority funding explained goes through the assessment and the sums.

It depends on the council. Bromley, Camden, Croydon, Greenwich, Haringey and Harrow and 5 more publish that a direct payment can pay a self-employed carer, often with checks. Carers on PrimeCarers are self-employed. The council decides what the money can pay for, so check with its direct payments team before anyone starts. The table on this page links to each council's page.

It depends where your relative lives: NHS West and North London Integrated Care Board for Barnet, Brent, Camden, Ealing, Enfield, Hammersmith and Fulham, Haringey, Harrow, Hillingdon, Hounslow, Islington, Kensington and Chelsea and Westminster, NHS North East London Integrated Care Board for Barking and Dagenham, Hackney, Havering, Newham, Redbridge, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest, NHS South East London Integrated Care Board for Bexley, Bromley, Greenwich, Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark and NHS South West London Integrated Care Board for Croydon, Kingston upon Thames, Merton, Richmond upon Thames, Sutton and Wandsworth. Continuing Healthcare is an NHS decision, made by the integrated care board rather than the council, and it is not means tested. It starts with a checklist that a GP, district nurse, social worker or hospital team can complete. NHS Continuing Healthcare in West and North London has the local figures and contacts.

£76.70 a week at the lower rate and £114.60 at the higher rate. It is paid by the Department for Work and Pensions to people over State Pension age who need help with personal care or supervision, whatever their savings or income, and it is tax free. At the typical rate in London the higher rate pays for about 5 hours of visits a week. Attendance Allowance covers who qualifies and how to fill in the form.

An hour every morning is 7 hours a week, about £140 at the typical rate of £20 an hour. An hour morning and evening is 14 hours, about £280. Attendance Allowance at the higher rate takes about £115 a week off either figure. The cost of home care in London prices other patterns of visits.

Not for care at home. While your relative lives in the house, its value is left out of the financial assessment altogether. Savings, investments and income are counted. The house only comes into it if someone moves permanently into a care home, and even then not while a husband, wife, partner or certain other relatives still live there. Deferred payment agreements explains how that works.

There is no fixed national deadline for the needs assessment, and it should be quicker when things are urgent, so say so if they are. The Ombudsman generally expects the financial assessment within 4 weeks of the needs assessment. If your relative is in hospital, the discharge team can arrange care and the assessment faster. You can start care privately in the meantime; ask whether the council will backdate its contribution to the date you asked.