Care Homes
7. Arranging and paying for your own care
If you can afford to pay for a place in a home yourself, you don't have to go through the local council. You can approach the home you would like to live in directly and sort out the financial arrangements yourself.
However, if there is any chance at all that you might need help with fees in the future, we strongly recommend that you have your care needs assessed by your local council before you make any private arrangements.
This is because a time may come when you can't afford to pay the fees yourself. If you then ask the local council to assess you, their assessment of your needs might not include paying for the home of your choice.
If you do decide to make your own arrangements, Relatives and Residents Association produces a useful 'framework contract' for people arranging their own care.
If you have some capital you may want advice on the best way of investing it to pay for care. The Care Fees Advice service, run by Help the Aged, is designed to help you plan your finances so that you can meet any future care costs, or you may want to talk to your own solicitor or financial adviser.
