How YOU can get your care covered without running out of savings or selling your home as costs rise to £15,000 a year

AS you get older, it’s only natural to start worrying about how you will cover the cost of your care without running into your savings. Depending on your health, you may need to have help at home or move int residential care – but this can come at a huge price. You can get the cost of your care covered without having to sell your home Credit: Getty Depending on your level of savings you could get help with care costs Credit: Getty Low-income couples who don’t own a home and have little in savings typically pay around £9,000 a year towards residential care — and that can rise to £15,000 depending on their savings, according to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation analysis of figures from the Care Policy and Evaluation Centre at the London School of Economics and Political Science. But there are ways that you can get your care covered without running down your savings or selling your home. Sign up for the Money newsletter Thank you! If you are on a low income you could be entitled to support from the council to lessen the financial load. The first step in getting help is to ask the local authority for a needs assessment. This council only has a duty to help with care fees where they have done a needs assessment and agree that the person has care needs that meet nationally set eligibility criteria. It is free to get a needs assessment and you need to apply for one through your local council. You can find out more by visiting, http://www.gov.uk/apply-needs-assessment-social-services. If the assessment decides that you need to enter into a care home then the council will carry out a free financial assessment. Most read in Money This establishes what you will have to pay towards the cost of your care, if anything. How much support can you receive? In England and Northern Ireland, anyone with more than £23,250 will normally have to pay the full cost of their care Credit: Getty The amount of help you can get depends on where you live and how much capital — such as savings, investments and, in some cases, property — you have. There is no single average amount of financial help because local councils don’t pay a flat rate or standard allowance. In England and Northern Ireland, anyone with more than £23,250 will normally have to pay the full cost of their care. Those with between £14,250 and £23,250 may receive council help but must contribute from both their capital and income. If you have less than £14,250, your savings will not be used to calculate how much you have to pay. However, you will usually still have to put most of your pension and benefits towards the bill. In England, care-home residents receiving council support must be left with a Personal Expenses Allowance of at least £31.80 a week. The limits are different elsewhere, including in Scotland where the upper limit is £36,750 and in Wales it is £50,000. But falling below these limits does not automatically make care free — residents may still have to contribute from their income. Can I choose where I live and will it be affordable? If your partner lives in your home then it is not included in financial assessments for the cost of care Credit: Getty If you need to live in a care home, you have the right to choose where you live. The council must give you at least one affordable choice. Some councils have a list of homes they recommend, according to the NHS. If your desired care home costs more than what your local council is willing to pay then you can have someone else pay the difference. This is known as a third party top up fee. This are be paid by someone else who is not living in the care home or the council, such as a friend or family member. But if circumstances change and the third party stops paying the fees, you would have to move home. You should not have to pay the top-up fee if you moved to the more expensive care home out of need rather than choice. Those who are being assessed by the council – with a living partner – should also know that it cannot include any capital or income belonging just to your husband or wife during your assessment. But if you jointly receive income then this will be taken into consideration during your assessment, with the assumption that you split the money 50/50. The value of your home is also disregarded in your assessment as long as your partner remains living there. Are there any other ways to get free care? Payment notification. Serious unhappy elderly woman sitting together with her husband and looking at the document while holding it Credit: Getty If you have a long-term health need then you may be able to qualify for free health and social care funded by the NHS. The NHS continuing healthcare scheme can be provided in several locations, including in your own home or a care home. The scheme isn’t means tested, so you can still get it if you own your own home. To be eligible you need to be assessed by a team of healthcare professionals, who will look at the help you need, how complex and predictable they are. Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK, previously told The Sun: “To be eligible, you must be assessed as having a ‘primary health need’ that requires a package of care, either in your own home or a care home or any other suitable setting. “Recipients typically fall into three categories: people at or near end of life; frail older people with complex physical or psychological needs; and people aged 18 and above with long-term healthcare needs.” You’ll usually get a decision within 28 days of an initial assessment or request for a full assessment. But just 17% of people who apply were found eligible in 2025/26, down from 31% in 2017/18, according to NHS England. Meanwhile, the number of eligible people varies widely depending on where you live. For example, just 7.3% of people in Gloucestershire were found eligible between January 1 and March 31, 2024, according to Nuffield Trust. In comparison, 42.5% of people were eligible in Leicester and Rutland Comment now