Home Care Service

Charging for Home Care

By law, we can charge you for care services that are provided in your home. When the government decides what money to give us for community-care services, it assumes that we will raise income through charges.

We have changed the way we decide how much you have to pay in order to meet the government's new fairer-charging guidance. The new rules take account of a person's ability to pay and the amount of service he or she receives. As we are committed to reducing poverty and helping people who need care, the charges are both fair and simple to work out.

This page explains how we make the charge and gives information about who has to pay. We have also included advice about how to pay the charge and answered some questions that people often ask us. The information is correct for 2008.

Who has to pay?

You will have to pay towards the cost of your care if you:

Receive home care
Are aged 18 or over
Have the assessed available income to do so
Have savings over £22,250; and
Own a property which is no longer your main home

We will ask you some questions about your financial position so we can decide whether you have to pay the charge. We will send you an assessment form to fill in. If you need any help, please see the help numbers at the end of this page.

We may also need to make enquiries with the Department for Work and Pensions about paying you benefits.

Some people will not have to pay a charge because of the care that they need. We will not ask you to pay if you receive a:

Mental-health service
A care-programme approach service; or
Intermediate-care rehabilitation service, which may last for up to 6 weeks

There is no charge for transport or daycare, although we will review this policy in the future.

How much will I have to pay?

The amount that we will ask you to pay depends on how many hours of service you receive and how much available income you have each week.

Hours - The most you will have to pay

Up to 2 hours - £18 each week

2-10 hours - £20.50 each week

More than 10 hours - £23 each week

If you have savings or investments of £22,250 or more, we will ask you to pay the full cost of the services we provide to you. If you do not want to give us your financial details, we will ask you to pay the full cost of the service we provide to you (The full cost is £10 an hour).

Do I have to pay for meals on wheels?

Yes, you will have to pay £3.10 for the normal 2-course meal.

I receive a disability benefit. Will you count this as income?

We will only count 25% of your disability benefit as income. If you are not happy with this, you may ask us to review your disability-related spending.

My partner and I both receive home care. Do we both have to pay?

This will depend on the number of hours of care each person receives and individual financial assessment.

How do I pay?

You can pay in a number of ways. We will ask you how you want to pay on a method of payment form, which you will receive when you fill in the financial assessment form. We will send you either a statement or invoice regularly that gives you details of charges and payments you have made. Please contact the Adult Intake and Access Team on 020 8227 2915 for more advice.

What happens if my home care stops for a while?

There will be times when you don't need home care, for example if you go on holiday or go into hospital, or if you need respite care. There will be no charge when you do not receive home care for a whole week.

However, please note that the charging week runs from Saturday to Friday, and you will pay the full weekly charge for services you receive during part of any week.

Please call your service provider to let them know about any times when you may be away from home, otherwise there is a danger that you may be charged for the service. We will make an exception to this if you have been admitted to hospital in an emergency.

What happens if I can not afford to pay?

We recognise that there may be exceptional circumstances which mean that some people will be genuinely unable to meet the cost of their home care. The following waiver scheme will apply in these cases, and has 2 stages.

Stage 1 - Waiver application

Anyone who needs to pay the charge for home care and who believes that paying the charge will cause them financial difficulty can apply for the charge to be waived (not to be made)
Anyone acting on behalf of someone paying the charge can apply for the charge not to be made
If you think that we made a mistake when we assessed you as having to pay the charge, or if you consider that paying the charge will cause you financial difficulty, please contact the Adult Intake and Access Team who will send you a Waiver application form. Or, you may write, asking for a Waiver application form, to:
- Adult and Community Services Corporate Finance
- Civic Centre
- Dagenham
- RM10 7BN
The charge will only be cancelled in very exceptional circumstances
You must fill in all of the Waiver application form giving details of your income and spending including any exceptional costs that you have to pay which will prevent you from paying the home-care charge. If you need help filling in the form, you should contact the Adult Intake and Access Team
We will treat all the information you give us in strict confidence
When we receive the application form, a panel made up of Adult and Community Services staff will consider the information you have given and make a decision within 20 working days of receiving the application. We will give you this decision, and the reason for it, within 5 working days of the panel meeting
You are responsible for paying the charges from the date that you start receiving a service. We recommend that you pay these charges during the application process to avoid debts building up
If the decision of the panel is in favour of the original assessment and you decided not to pay the charge during the application process, you will have to make up any outstanding payments
If we agree not to charge you, we will refund all the payments you have made from the date of your application
We will review the matter after 1 year, or sooner in exceptional cases

Stage 2 - Appeal

If we refuse your application for the charge not to be made, and you are not happy with the decision, you may appeal, in writing, within 28 working days of receiving the refusal letter. Please tell us why you think the decision is wrong and send us any information you think will support your case
An appeals panel, made up of an independent person, a councillor and a senior Adult and Community Services Officer, will consider your appeal and make a decision within 20 working days of receiving your appeal letter. You will receive their decision, and the reason for it within 5 working days of the panel meeting
If we turn down the appeal and you are still not happy with the decision, you have the right to contact the Local Government Ombudsman

If you refuse to pay

If you refuse to pay the charges, it is not only unfair to all those who pay for their service but also affects our ability to continue to provide the same level of service at a charge that is fair and reasonable.

If you face genuine financial difficulty, we may be able to deal with this under the waiver application and appeal procedure outlined above.

If you are responsible for paying the charge but refuse to do so, we may start legal proceedings to recover any charges you owe us.

Helpful numbers

Adult and Community Services Home Support Service

Tel: 020 8227 2904

Please call the Home Support Service if you want to tell us something about the service you receive or are planning to be away when your service is normally provided. If your service is provided by an independent agency please call that agency or the Adult Intake and Access Team (the number is below).

Adult and Community Services Corporate Finance

Tel: 020 8227 2393 or 020 8227 2431

The finance section will answer any questions that you may have about the financial assessment.

Adult Intake and Access Team|

Tel: 020 8227 2915

The Adult Intake and Access Team will arrange help for you to fill in the forms if necessary. The Adult Intake and Access Team will also arrange for a review of your services if your circumstances have changed.

Adult and Community Services Customer Care Manager

Tel: 020 8227 2411

Textphone: 020 8227 2462

If you have any views or a general enquiry about the way we deal with our customers, please feel free to contact the Customer Care Manager.

Adult and Community Services Complaints Manager|

Tel: 020 8227 2405