Financial Assessment for care in Northern Ireland

A person with dementia may not always need a financial assessment. This may not be needed because:

• The person needs a homecare service that isn’t charged for.
• Their care comes under healthcare that is not chargeable.

Financial assessments work in slightly different ways for care in England and for care in Wales.

What happens during a financial assessment? 

The person with dementia will be asked to complete some forms about their finances. Someone from the responsible Health and Social Care (HSC) trust may be able to visit to help the person fill in the forms.

In Northern Ireland, the person with dementia will have to report on two things in these forms:

• Income – this refers to any money the person receives regularly. For example, this could be a pension. It can also include benefits such as Universal credit or the Guarantee credit element of Pension credit. It doesn’t include any money the person earns if they are working.
• Capital – this refers to any other assets the person has. This includes savings and investments, such as stocks and shares. In some cases, it includes the value of the person’s home (for example, when paying for care home fees). It does not include personal possessions, such as jewellery.

The person may lack the mental capacity to take part in this process. 

The HSC trust will then need to find out if there is anyone who has the appropriate authority to be involved in the person’s financial affairs. This could be an attorney under an Enduring power of attorney, or a controller. If there is no such person, then a family member or the trust may need to apply to become the person’s controller.

It can feel like an invasion of privacy when the trust look into a person’s finances. However, it is important to make sure that the person is charged the right amount for their care. 

The person could be charged the full amount if they refuse to answer the financial questions.

If they lack the mental capacity to take part, they should not be penalised for that. The trust should be working with an attorney or controller instead.

Based on the information in these forms, the trust will decide what to include in the person’s financial assessment. For each type of capital and source of income the person has, the trust will either:

• Fully take it into account (known as ‘available’ capital or income).
• Partially take it into account.
• Ignore it completely (known as ‘fully disregarding’ it).

For example, some benefits like the Personal independence payment (PIP) mobility component will be fully disregarded and not expected to contribute to care costs. Whereas other benefits can be fully or partially taken into account and expected to contribute to care costs.

Once the assessment has been completed, the trust must provide clear, written information about how much a person will pay for their care. This should show clearly what has been taken into account. Regular statements from the trust should follow.

Paying for homecare 

HSC trusts can choose when to charge for care and support provided at home.

Usually, trusts don’t charge for services provided in a person’s home. This may change in the future. 

A trust may have a policy of not charging for most homecare services, but will make an exception for services such as:

• Home help (where available).
•  ‘Meals on wheels’ – this is where a meal is brought to a person’s home.

Paying for residential care 

A person may have to contribute towards the cost of their care if they need care provided in a residential or nursing home.

This will depend on their available capital and income.

In Northern Ireland, the 2024 capital limits are:

• upper capital limit – £23,250
• lower capital limit – £14,250

The trust will compare the person’s available capital to the capital limits. This will show how much the person with dementia will pay for their care from their capital.

The trust must follow regulations that are explained in the Charging for Residential Accommodation Guide (CRAG).

Can you keep any of your income? 

The person will always be allowed to keep a certain amount of protected income. This is income that can’t be used to pay for care costs.

If a person is contributing to their care home fees, they must be left with a minimum amount of money for themselves each week. This is called the Personal expenses allowance (PEA).

Benefits

The trust will expect people to claim benefits they may be entitled to. They may offer support to help the person do this.

The financial assessment will include most benefits, such as those often claimed by people living with dementia – for example:

• Pension credit
• Employment and support allowance
• Universal credit.

Some benefits must not be taken into account in the financial assessment for care. This includes the mobility part of both Disability living allowance and Personal independence payment. 

Some other benefits, for example, the War widow’s pension, should only be partially counted.

Report any changes of circumstances to the relevant department that looks after the benefit. Their contact details should be on any letters sent from them. This can avoid any overpayments. 

Changes can include moving into a care home, inheriting money, increasing care needs and stays in hospital.

Are benefits counted in the financial assessment? 

If the person is receiving care at home and gets funding for homecare fees, this will not impact their eligibility for benefits.

If the person is receiving care in a care home, their benefits may be affected. This will depend on who is paying the care home fees.