Paying for care
There are more routes than most families realise.
Cost is usually the first question and the one people most often leave a website to go and answer somewhere else. This page sets out the routes honestly, without guessing at figures that change every year and that we could get wrong for you. Where a number matters (a savings threshold, a benefit rate), ask us or your council for the current one rather than trusting anything printed here as fixed.
Self-funded care
If you pay privately, you are not restricted by council eligibility rules or budgets: you agree a package directly with us and it starts as soon as you are ready. What it costs depends on visit length, how many visits a day, whether it is daytime or overnight, and whether one carer or two are needed for safe moving and handling. We set this out in writing at your free assessment, before you commit to anything.
Council-funded care
Under the Care Act 2014, anyone who appears to need care and support is entitled to a needs assessment from their local council, regardless of their finances. If the assessment finds you have eligible needs, the council then carries out a separate financial assessment (means test) against your savings and income to work out what, if anything, you contribute. Where you apply depends on where you live: Medway is a unitary authority, so Medway residents apply to their local council; Sittingbourne, Sheerness, Faversham and the rest of the Swale district sit under Kent County Council for adult social care, not Swale Borough Council. We hold contracts with local councils and can also be commissioned to deliver care arranged by Kent County Council.
Direct payments and personal budgets
If the council agrees to fund some or all of your care, you can usually ask for it as a direct payment: money paid to you (or someone with authority to manage it for you) so you choose your own provider, rather than the council arranging one on your behalf. It comes with some reporting requirements, but it is how most families who want us as their provider, rather than whoever the council would otherwise assign, actually get us.
NHS Continuing Healthcare
Where a person’s primary need is a health need rather than a social care need, the NHS can fund a full package of care, including at home, through NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC). It is assessed using a national framework: usually a screening checklist first, then a full multidisciplinary assessment if that checklist suggests you may qualify. It is a stricter test than most families expect, and most homecare in practice is funded through the council route above rather than CHC. Your GP, a hospital discharge team or a social worker can start this conversation.
Attendance Allowance
A benefit for people above State Pension age who need help because of an illness or disability, paid regardless of income or savings and regardless of whether anyone is actually providing that help yet. It is not means-tested and is not restricted to spending on care; some families use it to help cover a self-funded package, others simply as extra income. Rates change every tax year, so check the current figure on GOV.UK or ask your council’s welfare rights team rather than us; we are not benefits advisers.
General guidance only. Funding rules, thresholds and benefit rates change and depend on individual circumstances. Your local council’s adult social care team can confirm what actually applies to you.
Where to start, by situation
- Paying privately, ready to start? Call us for a free assessment and a written cost.
- Not sure what you’re entitled to? Request a free needs assessment from your council.
- Just left hospital with ongoing health needs? Ask the discharge team about NHS Continuing Healthcare.
- Already have a personal budget or direct payment? Tell us: we can be your provider.
Talk it through first
A free home assessment with no obligation. We will tell you what we would recommend, what it would cost, and which of the routes above is realistic for your situation.
Common questions
Funding, in brief
Do I have to pay for homecare myself?
Not necessarily. Anyone who appears to need care is entitled to a free needs assessment from their council, whatever their savings or income. Whether the council then pays towards it depends on a separate financial assessment (means test); see below.
What is a direct payment?
Money the council pays to you (or someone acting for you) instead of arranging care itself, so you choose and manage your own provider, including us. It comes with reporting requirements, but it means you are not limited to whoever the council would otherwise assign.
Can homecare ever be fully funded by the NHS?
Yes, through NHS Continuing Healthcare, but only where an assessment finds your primary need is a health need rather than a social care need. It is a stricter test than most families expect, and most homecare is funded through the social care route above, not this one.
Will you tell me what a package actually costs?
Yes, in writing, at your free assessment, before you agree anything. We do not quote a headline hourly rate because it is almost never what a real package works out at once visit length, timing and frequency are set, and quoting one would be misleading.
Not sure what care you need? Start with a conversation.
A free, no-obligation home assessment with one of our care coordinators. We will talk through what is happening, what would help, and what it would cost, with no pressure to go ahead.
Already a client? Out of hours: 07860 931450