Moving from a care home to live-in care

For one person, live-in care on PrimeCarers is from £1,050 a week, typically £1,120, and typically £1,340 for complex needs, with our fee included. Care home places vary from about £1,100 to £1,600 a week or more, depending on the home and the area, and the fee your parent's home charges is the figure to compare with. On top of the carer, budget for the carer's food at about £5–£10 a day, and for the heating, council tax and upkeep of the house. If your parent needs somebody awake at night, a waking-night carer alongside a live-in carer is about £148 a night more.

For a couple, the comparison changes. Two residential places at the England average cost £2,320 a week, and one live-in carer looking after both is about £1,350 a week on PrimeCarers, where one carer can safely support both of them. Is live-in care cheaper than a care home? has a calculator for your own figures, including the house, pensions and savings.

Ask the care home staff what a day and a night are like for your parent now. They see things the family does not, such as how often your parent wakes, how they manage the toilet, and how they eat. If your parent's needs have grown beyond what one carer at home can meet, when home care stops being enough sets out the signs. If there is a question about whether your parent can make this decision, how mental capacity is assessed explains the test and who decides.

1. 1

   Find the contract and read the notice clause

   Before anything else

   Look for the notice a resident gives to leave, whether fees run until the end of it, and what happens to any deposit. If you cannot find the contract, ask the home for a copy.
2. 2

   If the council arranged the place, talk to the social worker

   Council-funded places

   Ask who gives notice to the home, and how the council's arrangement with the home ends. Do this alongside asking for a review of your parent's care.
3. 3

   Set the leaving date once the carer is arranged

   So there is no gap

   Agree the carer's start date first, then work back to the day notice must be given. Check whether fees are payable for the whole notice period, so you can plan for any overlap.
4. 4

   Give notice in writing and ask for confirmation

   Keep a copy

   Ask the home to confirm the leaving date, the final invoice, and the return of any deposit, in writing.

The Competition and Markets Authority's guidance on care home residents' consumer rights says that if you pay for your care, a home should give you its standard terms before you sign, and lists terms that may be unfair, such as requiring upfront payments beyond a fair deposit or an advance on the fees. If a term in your parent's contract looks unfair, the guidance explains where to get advice.

The upper limit in the England means test is £23,250. The review and the means test rules above come from England's care and support statutory guidance, chapters 8, 9, 12 and 13 and Annex B, and the NHS position from the NHS continuing healthcare page. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own funding rules. Direct payments explains how a council payment can pay a self-employed carer, deferred payment agreements covers the agreement in more detail, and how can I fund live-in care? covers the other routes.

The right equipment to aid the elderly covers rails, frames and bed equipment, and where live-in carers sleep covers what the carer's room needs.

Before a carer can appear on PrimeCarers we check their identity, their right to work in the UK and an enhanced DBS (adult workforce, kept on the Update Service), and they record an online interview. We do not check qualifications, training certificates or references: what a carer says about their skills and experience is their own statement. Ask them about it, ask for evidence if it matters to you, and decide for yourself. How do I hire a live-in carer? goes through choosing and agreeing terms.

If your parent is living with dementia, live-in care for dementia covers keeping the routine familiar, which can matter more after a move.