Means tested financial assessment
A financial assessment will be carried out for all care and support provided or arranged by the Council. The purpose of the financial assessment is to assess if a person can afford to pay towards the cost of their care or support; it is means tested.
The financial assessment looks at a person’s financial situation to work out how much they will need to pay for their support. It takes into consideration income, benefits, property, savings, pensions and funeral plans, stocks, shares, bonds and any other income.
The financial assessment calculates how much, if anything, a person can afford to pay towards the cost of their care on a weekly basis. This amount is referred to as the maximum weekly assessed charge. Charges for support are payable from the date services start; not the date the financial assessment is completed. The Council will not charge more than the cost incurred in providing or arranging any care and support which is subject to means tested charging.
The technical rules for the financial assessment differ between care and support provided in a residential care setting (care home) and care and support provided in all other settings (non-residential). Assessments will be carried out in accordance with the Care and Support Statutory Guidance Chapter 8.
All documentary evidence requested by the Council to complete the financial assessment must be provided within 30 days of the request. The Council will only ask for documentary evidence that is necessary to complete the financial assessment accurately and comprehensively.
Where evidence is requested but not provided the Council will pass on the full cost of the service. An assessment may also be based on notional income. This might include, for example, benefits that would be available on application which have not been applied for, income that is due but has not been received, or income that the person has deliberately deprived themselves of for the purpose of reducing the amount they are liable to pay for their care. People will be encouraged to use the Online Financial Assessment tool which will provide an indication of the amount they will contribute towards the cost of their care.
Financial assessments will be completed for people and as couples. Where capital is held and income is received on a joint basis, then it will be assumed that each party is entitled to 50% of that capital / income. The same is assumed for assets such as second properties. The Council will review on a case-by-case basis where an individual states they can demonstrate their share is more or less of the asset and amend the assessment appropriately. The financial assessment will make sure a person (or both people, in the case of a couple) has money left after charges are applied for themselves in line with statutory amounts, this is known as Personal Expenditure Allowance (PEA) for care in a care home and Minimum Income Guarantee (MIG) for care at home. These amounts are set and reviewed annually by the Department of Health.
The financial assessment process will normally include a welfare benefits check to ensure the person is claiming all the benefits they are entitled to claim, and the person (or their financial representatives) may be signposted to the Department for Work & Pensions (DWP).
Once the assessment has been completed, a written record will be provided to the person explaining how the assessment has been carried out, what the charge will be and how often it will be made. The Council will ensure that this is provided in a manner that the person can easily understand, in line with its duties on providing information and advice.
A review, or financial assessment may be requested by the person or their financial representative at any time. This may be where their circumstances have changed, or for people who are self-funding, if their total savings/capital has fallen to, or below the upper capital threshold, or where they have not previously had an assessment. The Council will also endeavour to carry out a full annual financial assessment review to help ensure that a person continues to be charged the correct amount for the services they receive.
At the start of each financial year, the assessment will automatically be updated for known changes in income, expenditure and allowances set annually by the Government This will include:
- Benefits
- State Pension
- Council Tax
- Disability-related expenses
- Changes in Minimum Income Guarantee or Personal Expense Allowances set by the Department of Health and Social Care.
The impact of these changes on assessed contributions will be clearly notified to customers in advance of new bills being issued.
Changes in circumstances
It is the responsibility of the person receiving care and support of their representative to inform the Coucil of changes in their financial circumstances which might affect their contribution and to do so within 30 days of the change ocurring.
Where a person fails to inform the local authority of changes, the Council reserves the right to apply any changes from the date of the charge in circumstances rather than the date of reassessment.