main content Domiciliary and homecare charges

The government allows local councils providing domiciliary and home care services to charge for these services. The government assumes that all councils charge and this is reflected in the amount of money it gives to us. It is therefore essential that we charge to make sure that we can continue to provide essential services to all the people who need help to live safely at home. Bromley Council's charges for services provided for year 2008/2009 are detailed in the Bromley policy document. All clients receiving a service including Carelink and Carelink monitoring (except in special circumstances) will be financially assessed in accordance with the Department of Health fairer charging guidelines and Bromley's charging policy. The assessment will determine how much you can reasonably afford to pay, taking into account your financial and personal circumstances. This could mean there will be no charge at all.

The financial assessment

If a Care Manager arranges for you to get domiciliary care services, we must carry out a financial assessment to work out how much you can afford to pay. The care package information will be passed to the Fairer Charging  section and someone from the team will contact you to arrange for a Fairer Charging visiting officer to visit  you to collect information about your income and savings. You may have a member of your family or a friend present if you wish. Any information you give us will be treated in the strictest confidence. Please ask the Visiting Officer any questions you may have as they are there to help.

All our staff have been police checked and carry identification with them, and you should check this before allowing anyone into your home.

The Visiting Officer will go through the form with you (and/or your representative in your presence) and he or she will help to complete other welfare benefit forms if appropriate.

If you do not wish to disclose your financial information, we will ask you to sign a declaration agreeing to pay the full cost of your care.

 Savings over £22,250

If you have savings and investments of over £22,250 we won't carry out a financial assessment as you will need to pay the full cost of your care. Should your savings and investments fall below £22,250 you may ask for a financial review.

What will we need to see?

The Visiting Officer will want to see your:

• pension book/letters
• welfare benefit book/letters
• bank/building society/post office statements/books
• stocks/shares/bond certificates
• utility bills e.g. gas/electricity
• receipts for domestic/personal help
• receipts for disability-related purchases
• rent/council tax bills
• other documents about finances

The Visiting Officer will also need to know if the you get housing or council tax benefits.

We will ask the you to sign a form allowing us to make a benefit check with the Pension Service or the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

Calculating the charges

To work out your charges we will look at how much income and savings you have, and then make certain allowances and disregard certain things depending on your circumstances. From this we will work out how much you can afford to pay.

Income

This will include welfare benefits, occupational pensions, war pensions and war widows pensions. See the Department for Work and Pensions website.

Savings/capital

This includes bank/ building society accounts; National Saving Certificates; premium bonds stocks, shares and unit trusts; savings bonds; trust funds and any other savings you may may have. It does not include the value of your home.

Allowances/disregards

These include:

• personal allowances - based on the basic Income Support rate plus a 25% buffer to take into account ordinary day-to-day living expenses
• Mobility Allowance/Mobility Component of Disability Allowance - fully disregarded
• Attendance Allowance/Care Component of Disability Living Allowance (DLA-Care) – full details of 2008/09 benefit rates  are shown in the charging policy for domiciliary care and on the DWP site
• household expenses such as mortgage payments/rent, ground rent/service charge, Council Tax.

No allowances are made for:

• water rates
• house contents and life insurance

See the DWP site for Income Support and all other welfare benefit rates.

Disability-related expenditure

If a you feel you have to spend more because of your disability and you get Attendance Allowance or DLA-Care, then we may be able to make an allowance toward disability-related expenses. We will ask questions such as:

• do you have to have the heating on all day because you feel the cold?
• do you have problems getting out?
• is gardening a problem for you?
• do you have special dietary needs, such as a gluten-free diet, or food allergies?

Where possible the Visiting Officer will assess your charge at the end of the visit and tell you what it is and the date it will start.

You will receive a letter confirming the charge. If you have any queries about the amount you have been assessed to pay, you should get in touch with us. If you feel you are being asked to pay more than you can afford you can ask us to review the charge immediately. Full details of the appeals procedures are shown in the 'charging policy for domiciliary care' document.

Annual review

We will carry out a review each year to make sure that your financial assessment is up to date.

Change of circumstances

If you move home or your financial circumstances change (for example if you start getting welfare benefits or your investments and savings increase or decrease significantly), then you must let us know straight away as this could change your home care charge.

Supported living charges

If you live in extra-care housing, sheltered housing, or a supported living scheme, either the Council or the landlord will make a charge for the additional support services that are provided. 

In April 2003 the rules regarding support charges changed. If you are liable to pay the support charges, you may ask for an assessment of your finances to decide whether or not you should pay for this service, depending on your financial and personal circumstances.

We will carry out the financial assessment for the support charges in the same way as above and using the same formula. The rules are as described in Department of Health fairer charging guidelines and the 'charging policy for domiciliary care' document.

Method of payment

We will send you statements regularly. The charges will show in arrears, because we have to wait for the agency providing the care to let us know how many hours you have received each week before we can send out a bill. 

The date on the statement will show the period the charges are for. You can either:

• pay the amount showing on the statement in full or
• set up a standing order to make regular payments and this can be arranged by contacting the Liberata Income Section: 020 8315 1388.

Contacts and further information

Fairer Charging/Visiting Officers:
Office telephone: 020 8461 7900 or 020 8313 4614
Office mobile: 07960 049625
Fax: 020 8313 4716 
Email: visiting.officers@bromley.gov.uk

Address:
London Borough of Bromley
Resources Directorate
Room  S316, 3rd floor, Civic Centre
Stockwell Close
Bromley BR1 3UH

The Income section/Liberata:
Exchequer House
Widmore Road
Bromley BR1 3WW
Telephone: 020 8315 1388

Please also see the charging policy for domiciliary care document. Note that the values on this document will be changed in April each year.