Money Matters
Is there a Charge For Local Authority Services?
If you live in Somerset and have been assessed to have care needs that qualify for help from the County Council, you may be asked to pay something towards the cost of on-going care. Your social worker will ask someone from the Financial Advice and Benefit (FAB) Team to contact you to do a financial assessment to find out how much you may have to pay. Somerset County Council has produced an Information Sheet called Fairer Charging for Care and Support at Home. Click here to see this information.
You may also find the Age Concern fact sheet Paying for Care and Support at Home useful. Click here for Age Concern's fact sheet 46 - "Paying for care and support at home".
Direct Payments
There are several ways to have care at home. People who qualify for free or subsidised care organised through their local authority can choose to have Direct Payments. Direct Payments are payments to people with assessed care needs so that they can choose and arrange their own care services.
Each local authority must offer a Direct Payments scheme. Under this scheme people are given money so that they can arrange the community care services that they have been assessed to need. Note that Direct Payments cannot be used to pay for some services, such as permanent placements in care homes; they can only be used to meet the assessed needs that have been agreed by the council.
You cannot be forced to use Direct Payments and you may prefer for the local authority to arrange your care for you. People who use Direct Payments in Somerset must want to use the scheme and be able to manage their care arrangements. You must keep information about how the money is used. Some people choose to have some of their care arranged by the County Council and some by Direct Payments.
Somerset County Council has produced an Information sheet about the Direct Payments Scheme. Please click here for details. If you would like a copy ask your social worker or contact Somerset Direct on 0845 345 9133.
Paying for Your Own Care
You may not meet the eligibility criteria (rules) for help with funding your care, or you may wish to receive extra services. In these circumstances, you may choose to fund all or part of your care. How much you are asked to pay for the help you need will depend on the type of help you want and where you live.
- A number of things affect the cost of your care and hourly rates vary from area to area.
- There may be extra charges for care provided in the evenings, at weekends, and on public holidays.
- The length of visits may affect how much you have to pay, and specialist care often costs more.
- Any extra charges will be included in your fees (unless your care is funded by the local authority), so check your contract thoroughly.
- Some services are subject to VAT, although domiciliary care is generally exempt, so check this too.
If you are thinking about paying for your own care, contact more than one provider and ask for:
- A list of charges
- A service user guide
- An example of the contract they use with customers.
Click here for a suggested list of questions to ask.
