Costs & Funding

Most people would rather be cared for at home than move into a care home or other institution and there are various financing options and state funding schemes which can help people achieve this.

This page summarises how Live In Care is often financed. Agincare Live In Care services is not authorised to provide investment or other financial advice and nothing in this brochure should be construed as such. We recommend you obtain independent financial advice from an adviser registered with the Financial Services Authority.

Private care funding schemes fall into two main categories - Equity Release and Annuity based schemes, although there are other alternatives.

State and Local Authority funding includes
Attendance Allowance, Social Services support and 'Direct Payments', Carer's Allowance, NHS Continuing Healthcare, Disability Living Allowance, Independent Living Fund. Not all of State and Local Authority funding is means tested.

Equity release schemes include
Reversion Plans (sale of one's house), Interest-Only Mortgages, Home Income Plans (mortgage used to buy an Annuity), Roll-Up Mortgages (the lender gives you a lump sum, you pay nothing and the interest is 'rolled up' into the loan) and Shared Appreciation Mortgages. Some Equity Release arrangements gave the financial services industry a bad name and as a result a new voluntary code, SHIP - Safe Home Income Plans, came into being, your Independent Financial Adviser will be able to advise you which companies are part of this scheme.

Annuity based schemes involve
the payment of a lump sum of capital to a plan provider in return for a guaranteed income for life. This income is used to finance the cost of the care. A simple alternative to financing care might be a bank or building society loan. A loan may make good sense when care is likely to be required only for a brief time. It may also be the answer to financing care in the short-term while longer term financial measures are considered and put in place.