AAA Display options

The new force combining Age Concern logo & Help the Aged logo

Paying for care & support at home

Woman reading

Paying for care and support at home can be a tricky topic for many of us. We help explain what assistance may be available to help you meet the cost of any care needed to enable you to stay in your own home.

Age UK has produced a factsheet for the over 60s that covers the Government’s guidance on means tested charging for non-residential services by local authorities. There is different guidance for charging for residential and non-residential services and your eligibility for welfare benefits is also different.

The aim of Government guidance is to protect basic levels of income of service users and their carers within a discretionary system of charging. As a result the guidance emphasises rights to request a review of any charging decision and that issues such as disability related expenditure must be taken into account in the means test.

Reference is also made to the developing system of personalisation of adult social care services, which includes wider choice on funding arrangements through the introduction of personal budgets. 

The information in this factsheet is correct for the period April 2010 – March 2011. Benefit rates and other figures are expected to increase again in April 2011 but rules and figures sometimes change during the year.

opens link in new window Download the Paying for care and support at home factsheet (PDF 231 KB)

We are grateful for the generous support of Dr Naim Dangoor CBE
and the Exilarch Foundation

Your Age UK

Set your location to see what Age UK offers in your local area.

Age UK Advice:
0800 169 6565
Hands typing on a computer

Email update

Sign up for our free email newsletter.

Useful information to download

  • This factsheet, Paying for care and support at home, explains the financial help available to pay for care to enable you to stay in your own home.

  • View all downloadsHelp with downloads

    Downloads

    What is a download?

    A download is a document (like a research report, a leaflet, or an application form) that can be transferred from our website to your computer. You can download a file, view it on your screen, print it, or save it to your computer.

    What is a PDF?

    PDF stands for ‘portable document format’.

    Most downloads on this website are PDFs. We use this format to ensure that the document looks the same on everyone’s computer (website pages, by contrast, appear differently depending on how people have set their computer up).

    How do I download a PDF?

    Computers use a program called Adobe Acrobat Reader to download PDFs. If you try clicking on a link to download a PDF and it doesn’t work, you will need to install Adobe Acrobat Reader onto your computer.

    How do I install Adobe Acrobat Reader?

    The process is quite straightforward and is free.

    1. Go to opens link in new window http://get.adobe.com/uk/reader/
    2. Click ‘Download’.
    3. Wait for the window to offer you the option to ‘Run’, then choose this option.
    4. Click ‘Next’.
    5. Click ‘Install’
    6. Wait for the window to offer you the option to ‘Finish’, then choose this option.

    How do I change a download?

    PDFs cannot be changed. If you need to be able to type into a downloaded document (for example, if we are offering a letter template that you need to put your name on) we will provide it as a Microsoft Word document rather than a PDF. You can then download it, type into it and save it to your computer.

    How do I print or save a download?

    Downloads will open on your computer in a new browser window.

    Inside this window (below all your web browser menus), there will be a toolbar with options for you to print or save the document.

    Close the browser window to return to the Age UK website.

    Can my screen reader read PDF downloads?

    We have made every effort to make our PDFs accessible to screen readers. Here is an overview of your accessibility options available in Acrobat Reader. Please ensure that you have downloaded the latest version of Acrobat Reader from the Adobe Reader website to ensure that they are included in your version of the programme.

    You can use Adobe Reader to read a PDF out loud with the following shortcut keys:

    • Read the document: Shift +Ctrl+Y
    • Read the open page only: Shift +Ctrl+V
    • Read to the end of the document: Shift+Ctrl+B
    • Pause: Shift+Ctrl+C
    • Stop Shift+Ctrl+E

    You can also convert a PDF into a web page by following these steps:

    • Copy the URL (web address) of the document (right-click on the link and select ‘Save target as’ or ‘Copy link’).
    • Open the Adobe online conversion tool in your browser and paste the URL into the URL box.
    • Tick the HTML box on the Format option and click ‘Convert’.

    You can convert a PDF document into a text file for use with other software and hardware such as Braille printers by opening the PDF and choosing ‘Save as text’ from the File menu.

Close window
Display options

Set the appearance of this website so you can read it more easily

Text size

Background/foreground


To see information relating to Northern Ireland, Scotland or Wales set your preference below: