Paying for residential and nursing home care 

Sometimes it is no longer possible to stay living safely in your own home, and it has been identified in your care and support plan that your needs can only be met in a residential or nursing care setting. You may be expected to contribute to the cost of your care in these situations. 

As part of our conversation with you we will explore your personal resources, including finances, willing family, social networks and accessible service/activities available within your community before considering if your needs are eligible for managed care and support from Social Services.

If you want Information, Advice and Assistance about the services available to you to enable you to achieve your own wellbeing and help avoid your needs increasing, please contact the Denbighshire Single Point of Access Team or just call into one of our Talking Points.

How much will I have to pay?

To work out how much you can pay, we’ll carry out a financial assessment. The amount we ask you to contribute will depend on the capital, assets, income and savings that you have, and also the types of benefits you receive. This may include the value of your home.

We will not count the value of your home if: 

  • your husband, wife or partner continues to live there 
  • a relative aged 60 or over continues to live there 
  • a relative under 60 who receives certain disability allowances continues to live there 
  • a lone parent with a dependent child who is the person estranged or divorced partner continues to live there
  • a child under 18 for whom you are financially responsible continues to live there

However, if there are no special circumstances we do have to take into account the value of your home when deciding how much you should pay for your residential or nursing home care.

The financial assessment officer will need to see proof of your income and savings, so please have this information available, for example, saving account books, benefit books, bank statements and share certificates. You can have a relative, friend or other representative with you during the assessment.

We will write to you after the assessment and tell you how much you will be asked to pay. We will re-assess you each year to re-calculate the amount. If your circumstances change before the year is up, we may ask to make a re-assessment.

If we find that you have enough income, savings or assets to meet the full cost of your care, you’ll be asked to fund yourself and you will be known as a ‘self-funder’. 

More information on finding a suitable care home for you can be found on My Care My Home (external site).

If you want to find out more about how local care homes are performing please check the Care and Social Services Inspectorate Wales (external site).

How do I pay?

You will pay your charges directly to the home. The home administrator will be able to assist you with this.

If you are a home owner moving permanently into residential / nursing care it could be possible for you to consider a deferred payment scheme.

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