Teign Angels

Financing care

People living in the UK are not necessarily entitled to free social care by default. There tends to be four main ways that your care is funded:

Funding your care yourself

You may wish to fund your care yourself on a privately-arranged basis. This can provide you with more direct control over the care you receive, as you arrange it directly with your care provider.

The financial implications of paying for your care are important to consider. We’re upfront about our fees, and if we identify an alternative funding source that might help people we support, we speak to them about this.

You may also be able to access certain benefits or services to help with money. We have provided some links below that you may find useful:

Paying through a direct payment

Direct payments are a way that you can arrange your own care, and ask the local authority for help towards the costs. Some people may have a managed account, which means a third organisation manages your budget and makes payments from it on your behalf.

Having a direct payment can help you make your care and support right for you. The amount in your budget is agreed between you and your social care assessor, as well as what the budget can be used for. We have provided a link to Devon County Council’s information on direct payments to explain it in more detail:

Support from the local authority

You may be eligible for some support from the local authority, to help with paying for care. If you have capital, savings, and/or investments that total over £23,250, you will need to pay the full cost of your care. If they total less than £23,250, they will have a tariff applied; and if they total less than £14,250, then your financial contribution will be calculated on your income alone.

We have included a link to Devon County Council’s FAQs section about paying for care, to give you some more information:

Support from NHS Continuing Healthcare

NHS Continuing Healthcare (also known as ‘CHC’) may arrange and fund your care if you are found eligible of their services. There is no cost to this at the point of delivery. To decide if you are eligible or not, you will be assessed by a team of professionals. They will assess what your needs are, how complex they are, how intense they are or can be, and how unpredictable they might be.

We have provided links to further information that you might find useful:

If you’re living with a dementia, or are caring for someone who is, then you may find some useful information in Alzheimer’s Society’s guide ‘When does the NHS pay for care?’. Click the button below to find it on our resources page: