Can we help with the cost of care?

When someone needs some support with living independently or with more intensive care, the cost of this support can be a barrier to getting the needed help. 

While there is no escaping the fact that care is costly, sometimes the cost of not getting that care can be even more costly both in terms of money and also in quality time both for the person needing the care and their careers.

To that end the local authority are able to assist in covering some of the cost of care, subject to a person's financial status. 

How can I find out what financial help I could receive?

In order to get a true figure you would need to undertake a financial assessment with our customer finance team. This would normally be done as part of a wider social care assessment of your needs which can be requested through making contact with contact cares.

For an indication of the ability for the local authority to help with the cost of your care you can use the Online Financial Assessment Portal.

What is the online financial assessment portal (OFA)?

The OFA gives citizens a tool that will indicate the level of financial help you might receive should you approach the authority for a full assessment.

The OFA should give you a indicative scenario of the amount of support you might receive, as their are additional factors that would come into play in a full assessment, but it will give a good indication of the help you could receive.

How does the OFA Work out the contribution?

The OFA asks for detailed information about your savings, assets, income and benefits and uses these to work out what level of assistance you might be able to receive. Further to this OFA uses certain assumptions about your situation in its calculation of indicative maximum contribution. In most cases your actual situation would include additional considerations that would impact this figure in a positive way meaning you can receive additional support from the LA. A key assumption that is made is your living situation, as everyone using the OFA will be assumed to be doing so as a single person. If you actual living arrangements are as part of a couple you may find that a formal Financial Assessment could result in you receiving less assistance than indicated in the OFA.