This page provides information about how people contribute to the cost of social care support provided by us in people's home or their community. This information is based on our Contributions Policy which explains in more detail why people contribute to the cost of their social care support and the way we work out how much people pay. View the Contributions Policy (pdf, 111KB).
Social Care services are not always free like health services are.
Some services are provided free of charge to everyone. This includes minor equipment, social work assessment advice and support, and some rehabilitation services. If the service you choose is free, you might not need to have a financial assessment.
Others services have a standard charge which everyone who uses the service has to pay. Meals at home and certain types of short break have a standard charge.
For most of the services we provide we will ask you to contribute to the cost of your services if you can afford to. We won’t ask you to contribute if you have income below a certain amount. If you have savings and investments, we may use that to work out how much you will need to contribute.
Everyone has the opportunity to have a financial assessment. A Financial Assessment Officer will help you with this assessment. They will ask you about your financial circumstances and record the information on a form which you will need to sign.
We will need to know about:
• Your income, for example benefits or income from investments
• Your outgoings, like rent, mortgage or council tax
• Any capital you have such as savings or investments, but not the home you live in.
We will use these details to work out if you can afford to pay a contribution, and if you can, how much that might be each week.
The government sets rules which tell us how much money people need to live on. There are different amounts for different circumstances. If the financial assessment tells us that paying for your social care services would mean you did not have enough money to live on, we won’t ask you to pay.
If you are living with someone as a couple we will do two assessments. One will look at income and savings that you and your partner have and the other will only look at your own income and savings. We will use the assessment which suits your household the best.
Some things cost more for people who have a disability or health condition. For example, heating can be more expensive if you can’t move around to keep warm. To help make sure you have enough money to cover extra costs like this, we will make an allowance of £5 per week when we do a financial assessment. This will be added to your outgoings and reduces the amount of income you can be charged on.
If you feel your costs are higher than this you can ask for an individual disability related expenditure assessment. We will ask you for evidence.
If you have capital (savings or investments), we may take these in to account as part of your financial assessment:
If you have savings of over £23,250 or (£46,500 if you are a couple), you will be asked to pay a charge equal to the cost of your services, up to a maximum of £400 per week.
Depending on the cost of your services and your financial circumstances, the charge you pay will be the lowest of the following amounts:
We will never charge you more than your service costs us to buy, and we will never ask you to pay more than £400 per week.
It’s up to you whether you have a financial assessment, but we would strongly encourage you to have one. Not having a financial assessment could cost you more.
You will have to pay the full cost of your services (up to a maximum of £400 per week) if:
You hold up the financial assessment without good reason.
If you are unhappy with the financial assessment, please contact our Reconciliation Team on 0191 211 6467, or write to us at:
Newcastle City Council
Adult Services Directorate
Reconciliation Team
Civic Centre
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE1 8PA
If you think that you cannot afford to pay, please contact you social worker straight away. Your social worker will talk with you about why you cannot pay your charge. If you do not pay, we will look at other ways of recovering the money from you.
If your financial circumstances, care needs or housing support needs change please contact your social worker so that we can reassess how much you pay. If there is a change to your charge, our Reconciliation Team will tell you. In the case of Supporting People services your landlord or service provider will tell you.
We will send you an invoice every four weeks which will give you the details of the services you are being charged for.
You can pay your invoice in a number of ways. In most cases you will need either your invoice or the reference number at the top of your invoice. The reference number is always 13 digits long and starts with 18.
By post (cheque only). Please make cheques payable to 'Newcastle City Council', write the invoice number on the back of the cheque and send it to: Newcastle City Council, Civic Centre, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE99 2PT.
The rules on financial assessments are slightly different for services provided under Supporting People:
If your financial circumstances or housing support needs change, please contact your social worker so that we can reassess how much you pay. If there is a change to your charge, your landlord or service provider will tell you.
If you think that you cannot afford to pay, please contact your service provider, or your social worker if you have one, straight away.
If you want to know more about your charges, contact our Reconciliation Team on 0191 211 6467.
If you have any queries about your care at home or day care services, you can contact our Adult Social Care Direct Team.
If you want to know more about long term Supporting People services phone the Supporting People Team on 0191 211 6477.
We want you to be satisfied with our help, and need you to tell us if we are succeeding. We would like your comments on our services and your suggestions for the future.
Page last updated: 2 April, 2013
