You don’t have to go through the local council’s assessment process if you can afford to pay for a place in a home yourself, and you are able to make all your own arrangements. You can approach the home you would like to live in directly and sort out the financial arrangements yourself.

However, you may wish to consider seeking advice from your local council before going ahead. There may come a point when you can’t afford to pay the fees (when your savings fall to the upper savings limit or less) and you need to seek financial help from your local council. The local council’s assessment procedures would then be applied. If you haven’t already had a community care assessment, you will need to ask your local council to organise this for you. Its assessment of your needs might not include paying for your chosen home. You may want to find out how the local council looks on such cases before making a decision on arranging and paying for your care home.

If your care home costs more than the local council would normally pay, the local council may say that:

•  you will have to move to a care home that costs no more than they would normally pay; or
• a third party: for example, a relative or friend, will have to provide a top-up payment to make up the extra cost of your care home.

However, your local council should take into account your specific needs. You can ask it to reassess your needs, taking into account any special reasons why you may need to remain in the home you are currently in. If there are reasons why your needs are better met remaining where you are, the local council should meet the extra cost. When your needs are being assessed, remember to make clear any reasons why you think your needs are best met by staying in your current home.

If you are self-funding and move to another area, and begin to need help with funding, you will need to apply to the local council for the area that you have moved to. It will assess your needs against its own eligibility criteria.