How is respite care paid for in Northern Ireland?

Arranging respite care through the HSC trust 

Your HSC trust is responsible for helping you to find different types of respite care. The trust will assess the person’s financial situation to decide if they should pay, and if so, how much. This is called a ‘financial assessment’.

Financial assessment 

The local authority will assess the person’s financial situation to decide if they should pay, and if so, how much. This is called a ‘financial assessment’. 

The person with dementia (or their carer or relative) will be asked to complete some forms about their finances. Someone from the local authority may visit to help the person fill in the forms.

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

• Income – this refers to any money the person receives regularly. For example, this could be a pension or certain benefits (such as Universal credit or the Guarantee credit element of Pension credit)
• Capital – this refers to any other assets the person has. This includes savings and investments. It does not include the person’s main home.

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

Care at home 
Currently, trusts don’t usually charge for services provided in a person’s home. This may change in the future. If they do decide to charge, the means test for home help is complicated. Home help may include respite sitting services. 

Ask the trust for details if they provide and charge for this locally.

Any charges are based on a person’s ability to pay. If a trust decides a person must contribute, they will take into account:

• Savings over £6,000 if a person is over 60 years old.
• Savings over £3,000 if a person is under 60 years old.
• Weekly income.
• Any outgoings a person has.

Anyone who is over 75 or claiming a means-tested benefit, such as Pension credit guarantee credit, cannot be charged.

Residential respite in care homes 

Most people entering respite in a care home are classed as short-term residents. This is because their care should be no longer than eight weeks. Charges for short-term residents, who are eligible for trust funding, depend on the trust. The trust has the power to charge, but it may not choose to. Therefore, a financial assessment may not take place to assess a person’s ability to pay. 

The trust can either decide to:

• Charge, based on the financial assessment (see ‘Capital limits’). This is dependent on a person’s available income and 
  capital. This may mean they pay the full amount.
• Charge an amount it feels reasonable for the resident to pay. For example, they may charge for the ‘hotel costs’ of the stay 
  such as meals, but not the care costs.
• Decide not to charge for stays up to eight weeks. It cannot do this for longer stays.

You should ask for your trust’s policy on this. If the trust does decide to charge and carry out a financial assessment, it will consider the person’s capital and income.

Capital limits

In Northern Ireland, the 2024 capital limits are:

• Upper capital limit – £23,250
• Lower capital limit – £14,250.

If the person’s capital is:

• Above the upper capital limit: the trust will compare their available capital to the capital limits. The person can be expected to pay all their own residential respite costs.
• Between the upper and lower capital limits: they will pay a means-tested contribution from their capital.
• Below the lower capital limit: they won’t have to pay any contribution from their capital. This means that they can keep any savings below £14,250 to use as they wish. However, they will still pay what they can afford from their income.

The person will always be allowed to keep a certain amount of protected income for living costs. This is income that can’t be used to pay for care costs, including respite. This is called the Personal expenses allowance (PEA). 

In Northern Ireland, the 2024 Personal expenses allowance rate is £30.44 weekly. The person may be able to keep more than this. The trust must ignore any means-tested benefits provided for home commitments. 

Extra costs might include:

• A fixed heating charge.
• Mortgage payments, rent or service charges not met by Income support/Pension credit and Housing benefit.
• Housing support charges.
• Insurance premiums.

If someone is arranging and funding their own care, they should agree a rate with the care home in advance. In some cases, a short-term stay may become a permanent one. Care homes should therefore also provide key information on charges if that were to happen. 

Other types of funding

You, or the person you care for, may be able to get help with respite care funding. This could be from a charity, grant-making trust or benevolent fund. This includes ex-service organisations that support people who have been in certain jobs or industries. 

Your local carers’ centre can advise on what is available in your area. To find your local carers’ centre, you can visit our Dementia Directory at alzheimers.org.uk/find-support-near-you. There may also be national organisations that can help. Turn2Us can give you more information on this.