Payment Options

Understanding Funding Options

We accept a range of payment options to cover the cost of your home care and support. The main ones include Direct Payments, Self-Funding and Social Services.

Direct Payments

Direct payments are when your local council assesses your needs and determines that you need care and support in your home and allows you to arrange and pay for your own care. This option allows the person requiring care to choose their own care provider and pay them direct from the payments you will receive into your bank account from your local council and therefore gives you more control and choice.

Self-Funding

Self-funding is when you or a relative covers the cost of your care from your or their own finances. If you are earning above a certain amount or have savings in your bank, you may not qualify for local authority funding and therefore need to cover the cost of your own home care. Similar to Direct Payments, you get to choose your care provider and with this option you have total control over how much you pay, who you use and for how long.

Social Services

The same as Direct Payments, your local council’s social services department will need to assess your care needs and requirements and assuming you meet their criteria, they can cover up to the whole cost of your care, only with this option they’ll pay the care provider direct which saves you the hassle of doing so.
When the council assesses your care needs, they will also assess your financial situation to see if you can afford to contribute towards the cost of your care. The amount that social service departments pay depends on your local council, but all councils have a duty to meet your care needs under the national eligibility criteria and the assessment will determine how much contribution you are entitled too.