Paying for care

Finding out if you qualify

Before you can consider funding, you will need a formal social care assessment to find out what level of care you need. You can find out more about this on the Adult Social Care Assessment page.

You will have to pay the full cost of your care if you have more than £23,250 in savings. Unless you're going into a care home, this amount does not include the value of your property.

If your savings are less than £23,250 but more than £14,250 then Peterborough City Council will pay for your care, but you will have to contribute £1 to the fees for every £250 of savings you have.

If you have less than £14,250 in savings, your care can usually be funded by the council but you may have to pay a contribution towards this from your income - and the size of your contribution will largely depend on the level of your income. If your income is very high, then you may need to meet all the costs of your care yourself, but your charge will always be based on what you can afford.

We understand that due to the current cost of living crisis things may be very difficult at the moment and nobody should consider having to cancel their care because they cannot afford it.

If you are considering doing this, please contact the council’s Financial Assessment Team for a discussion to see if they can help in any way.

Tel. 01733 454446

Email at faoteam@peterborough.gov.uk

The team can look at ways to help you to afford your care. They can check that you are claiming all relevant disability related expenditure and that you are receiving all the benefits that you are entitled to.

Making sure you live at home for as long as possible

We provide services in a way that promotes independence, ensuring that people who need care are able to live at home for as long as possible.

Some people arrange their own social care services for different reasons.

If you are arranging and paying the full costs of your care, you are known as a ‘self-funder’. This means that either:

• you have chosen not to approach adult social care for help, or
• you have been assessed but you are not currently eligible for social care services, or
• you have approached adult social care and, although your needs show that you are eligible for services, your savings are above £23,250. If you move to a care home and you owned your own home, the value of your property may be included in this figure

If you are leaving hospital as a self funder, you can find some useful information in the information sheet on this page called 'Paying for your own care and support when you leave hospital'.

Controlling how you receive the support you need

Personal budgets can help to give you more choice and control over how you receive the support you need to help you to live independently. You will find more details on our Personal budgets and direct payments website page.

The Care Act 2014 enables local authorities to decide for themselves whether or not to charge people for care and support services that are arranged and funded by them – and in common with the vast majority of councils, Peterborough City Council has decided to charge for care. Income received from care charges helps the council to meet its statutory funding commitments and set a balanced budget, but crucially also helps to protect, develop and extend care and support services, and ensure that high quality services are available in the right form to meet the needs of adults with care and support needs in the local authority’s area.

The Peterborough City Council Adult Social Care Charging Policy 2024-25 explains how the council does this.

Planning for later life

As you get older, it’s important to think about planning for your later life, including any care and support that you may need. Independent financial advice can help you to:

• make balanced and reasoned decisions

• ensure you get the best from your money and investments that will help you to meet any long term care costs

• provide some certainty and security.

It can be difficult making life changing decisions by yourself, so an independent financial adviser can provide specialist knowledge tailored to your own circumstances to help and support you.

NHS Continuing Healthcare

NHS Continuing Healthcare

Some people with long-term complex health needs qualify for free social care arranged and funded solely by the NHS. This is known as NHS continuing healthcare.

NHS continuing healthcare can be provided in a variety of settings outside hospital, such as in your own home or in a care home.

Am I eligible for NHS continuing healthcare?

To be eligible for NHS continuing healthcare, you must be assessed by a team of healthcare professionals (a multidisciplinary team). The team will look at all your care needs and relate them to:

• what help you need
• how complex your needs are
• how intense your needs can be
• how unpredictable they are, including any risks to your health if the right care isn't provided at the right time

Your eligibility for NHS continuing healthcare depends on your assessed needs, and not on any particular diagnosis or condition. If your needs change then your eligibility for NHS continuing healthcare may change.

What is a personal health budget?

A personal health budget is an amount of money to support your health and wellbeing needs, which is planned and agreed between you (or someone who represents you), and your local NHS team. You can find out more about personal health budgets on NHS.Uk website.

Support and advice regarding debt

You can find a list of debt advisors here.

The rising cost of living have left lots of people with new money worries. Whether you’ve been caught off guard by higher bills and payments, uncertain income or the loss of a job, MoneyHelper can help you find your way forward and take the first step towards getting on top of things.

Find your way forward with MoneyHelper

MoneyHelper is a free service provided by the Money and Pensions Service. Here to cut through the jargon and complexity, explain what you need to do and how you can do it. Here to put you in control, with free, impartial help that’s quick to find, easy to use and backed by government.

A crisis can occur for lots of different reasons – benefit delays, losing a job, an unexpected bill or gradually things getting more difficult until no longer you feel you can cope. If you don’t have enough money to feed, clothe or keep warm there is help available. There is no need to struggle alone.

If you are worried about debts and bills support is available at Making Money Count.

Visit the Making Money Count website.

Debt Respite Scheme

Breathing Space, officially called the Debt Respite Scheme, is a government scheme which could help relieve some of the pressure and stress caused by being in debt.

Breathing Space aims to help relieve some of the pressure of dealing with your creditors, so you can focus on getting debt advice and setting up your debt solution without worrying about being chased for payment or incurring extra charges.

It is a free scheme, launched by the Government on 4 May 2021.

Breathing Space is not a payment holiday, so you'll have to continue paying your debts during 

You can find information about Breathing Space (government Debt Respite Scheme) here.