Working out your contributions
Social care, unlike health care, is not free, so following on from your Care Needs Assessment, which works out what support you need and how much it will cost to provide, we’ll offer to complete a financial assessment to work out how much of that cost Manchester City Council can cover, and how much you’ll need to pay for yourself.
Depending on the amount of income, savings or assets you have, you may have to contribute towards some or all of your social care and support services. There are Government guidelines on how much you can have in savings or assets before you will be asked to pay for your support. Like all Local Authorities, we are obliged to follow these rules.
Financial Advice
There are organisations that can give you independent financial advice.
How we’ll work out the costs
Our Charging Team will undertake a financial assessment to calculate how much support we can give you towards your care and support costs, and how much you will need to pay yourself. This is a calculation based on your income, savings, and expenditure.
This can usually be completed by accessing the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) records. We will have to ask you about any other income you may receive, your savings and any property you own. We will also ask if you have any housing costs or if you have to pay extra money for things because of a disability or illness
If you do not want to have a financial assessment, you will have to pay the full cost of your care.
How savings are treated
Savings are treated in the same way for both residential (care in a residential or nursing home) and non-residential (care within your own home, in a day centre or short break care services in a care home) care services. There is a lower capital threshold of £14,250 and an upper capital threshold of £23,250. Any savings between these capital thresholds will incur a capital tariff of £1 per week for every £250 or part £250 added to your contribution. If you have savings above £23,250 you will not qualify for financial support from the council and will be required to pay the full cost of your care.
Your capital includes savings, investments, and property, but we ignore the value of the home you live in.
Minimum Income Levels
If you have a weekly income (including tariff income calculated from your savings) of less than the minimum which the Government says you need to live on, you will not be required to contribute towards the cost of your care and support services. These levels depend on your age, whether you are in receipt of certain disability benefits and the type of care you are receiving.
Any assessable income you have above the minimum income levels will be treated as being available for you to contribute towards the cost of your care. However, further allowances could be made for any eligible costs you may have as a result of your disability or illness. These will be identified during your financial assessment and any evidence required for approval can be requested during the financial assessment process.
You will not be asked to contribute more than the actual cost of your planned care services.
Download our Charging, Top Up and Deferred Payments policies