STATE FUNDED

On the basis of your answers to the CareAware care funding flow chart, you would be deemed as State Funded in terms of your capital position and as such you would be entitled to support from the State. However, at this stage we have not taken into consideration your income position and depending on the level, this could limit your entitlement to financial help.

Your care funding will be the responsibility of the local authority and they will obtain any state benefits to which you may be entitled, however any entitlement to Attendance Allowance will cease after 28 days.

You should initially contact the Social Services Department of your local authority, who will undertake a need assessment in order to determine a care package which is appropriate for your circumstances. It is important to note that the local authority will establish any contract with the care provider and therefore you should not organise the move until all issues have been resolved with Social Services.

The support provided by the local authority will effectively up-lift your income to their contract or tariff rate, which is the price they have determined as being appropriate for your care need in the area. This may be somewhat lower than the rates charged by some of the care providers who may require a top-up payment.

Your income, including pensions, annuities and all state benefits will be taken into consideration and the local authority will only provide funding for the difference up to the contract rate. In England and Northern Ireland, you will be allowed to retain £21.90 per week of your income for personal expenses but if you have savings above £14,000 and below £23,000 you will be required to make a tariff income contribution of £1 per week for every £250 of savings between these values. This system assumes that you are earning a return on your capital of over 20% and it is therefore important to understand this process. For Wales and Scotland, see our Benefit rates section for more details.

For those with an acute, nursing or specialist need, additional funding support may be available.

This provides a brief introduction to State Funding support and CareAware produces a bulletin on the subject to provide more information.

It should also be appreciated that there are a number of additional and associated factors to take into consideration

	Additional help for nursing or specialist care Extra financial help for more acute needs
	Top-up payments Who can make them and who cannot
	Tariff income Calculating the level of contribution and how to fund it
	Associated issues Issues related to State Funding support for care
	State Funding Support Bulletin Obtaining a copy of the CareAware information bulletin
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