Paying towards your social care support (care charging)

Social care support is different from healthcare which you can get for free through the NHS. Depending on your circumstances, you may have to pay some of your own money towards the cost of your care and support.

If you are eligible for social care support though your council, you will be given a support budget after you have had an assessment.

This budget is how much your council thinks it will cost to provide the support you need.

You can find out more about this in the article: Your support budget

It is likely your council will pay for most of the support budget. But, you might have to put some of your own money into the budget too, to help pay for your support.

Whether you have to pay, and how much, depends on where you live and how much money you have.

This article explains when your council can ask you to pay towards your support.

What types of support might I have to pay towards?

There are certain types of support you cannot be asked to pay towards. These are:

• Personal and nursing care, which is free for adults in Scotland who need it. Find out more about this here: Free personal and nursing care
• Support for unpaid carers
• Support for people who are terminally ill
• Support for children, unless in very rare circumstances.

For other types of support, your council may ask you to pay towards it.

How much will I have to pay?

How much you may have to pay depends on where you live and how much money you have.

Your council will do a financial assessment.

A financial assessment is where your council ask you to provide bank statements and other financial records so they can find out:

• How much you earn in wages
• How much you get paid in certain benefits
• How much you get from a pension
• How much you have in your savings.

If you are moving into a care home, your council will also look at the value of your home if you own your own home.

Each council area has different rules for how much they will ask you to pay towards your support.

All councils should have a copy of their charging policy on their website, or you can ask them for a copy.

Once your council has done the financial assessment they should give you a copy of it. This should set out clearly how much you will be asked to pay and how they have worked this out.

Disability related expenses

When working out how much you may be asked to pay towards your support, your council has to make sure you have enough money to live on.

If you are disabled or have a health condition, you may have extra costs involved in managing this. These are called disability related expenses and are things like:

• Medication and healthcare items like creams and incontinence pads
• Accessible vehicle costs
• Online shopping delivery fees – if you cannot go to the shops because of a disability
• Taxis if public transport is inaccessible
• Paying for an internet connection at home – if you need this for wellbeing or using disability aids
• Specially adapted clothing
• Extra laundry costs because of a disability or health condition
• Extra heating costs because of a disability or health condition.

If you have extra costs like these, your council should take them into account when it is deciding how much you can afford to pay towards your support.

If you can explain to your council about any disability related expenses you have, it may reduce the amount you have to pay towards your support.

You can find out more about disability related expenses in the link in the Resources section at the bottom of this page.

What if I do not want to have a financial assessment?

If you refuse to have a financial assessment, your council can ask you to pay for all your social care support.

You may find it hard to talk about money with your council.

You can ask for a friend or family member to help you with your financial assessment.

You can ask for an advocate to support you with the process as well.

It is important that you try to give honest and open information about your finances to your council. This will help you get as much help as possible to make sure you do not pay more than you can afford towards your social care support.

Where can I get help with this?

An Independent Support Organisation can help you prepare for a financial assessment.

They can help you understand what you might have to pay towards your support and anything you can do to reduce the amount you have to pay.

You can find your local Independent Support Organisation using the Find Help search tool.

It is also a good idea to check you are getting all the benefits you are entitled to. You can:

• use the online benefits calculator called Turn2Us
• ask your council if they have a team that can help you with benefits
• ask for help from the Citizens Advice Bureau

Next steps

Take a look at the Resources section below or get in touch with your local Independent Support Organisation for more help and advice.