Quick summary
Fifteen hours a week at £36 an hour is £540 a week, or roughly £28,000 a year before any benefits. Attendance Allowance and the Council Tax disregard can take several thousand off that. Council support starts when capital falls below £23,250, and the house is not counted for care at home.
The basic arithmetic
Work in weeks rather than hours, because that is how the money actually leaves the account.
Care each week | Weekly at £36 | Yearly |
|---|---|---|
3 hours | £108 | £5,616 |
7 hours (1 a day) | £252 | £13,104 |
10 hours | £360 | £18,720 |
14 hours (2 a day) | £504 | £26,208 |
15 hours | £540 | £28,080 |
21 hours (3 a day) | £756 | £39,312 |
28 hours (4 a day) | £1,008 | £52,416 |
Our rate is £36 an hour with a one hour minimum visit, correct as at September 2026. Local averages are around £35 in Macclesfield and £39 across Cheshire East (Lottie, 2026), so the shape of this table holds whoever you use.
What most calculations get wrong
- Care is paid out of income first, not capital. The State Pension, private pensions and benefits all arrive weekly or monthly. Savings only cover the shortfall between income and the cost of care. A worked example is far more useful than a headline annual figure.
- Benefits are not optional extras. Attendance Allowance at £114.60 a week is £5,959 a year, is not means-tested, and reduces the shortfall directly. The Council Tax disregard can be worth another £2,000 or so.
A worked example
Two visits a day, seven days a week, for someone with £60,000 in savings.
Item | Weekly |
|---|---|
Care: 14 hours at £36 | −£504 |
State Pension (illustrative) | +£230 |
Small private pension (illustrative) | +£60 |
Attendance Allowance, higher rate | +£114.60 |
Living costs: food, heating, Council Tax, insurance (illustrative) | −£150 |
Shortfall drawn from savings | −£249.40 |
At roughly £250 a week, £60,000 of savings lasts around four and a half years before reaching the £23,250 threshold at which council support begins to be considered.
Without Attendance Allowance, the shortfall is £364 a week and the same savings last around two years. That is the difference one non-means-tested benefit makes, and it is why our guide to getting assessed puts benefits before packages.
These figures are illustrative. Use the person’s real pension income and real outgoings, because both vary widely.
Do your own version
- Add up weekly income. State Pension, private pensions, any benefits already in payment.
- Add Attendance Allowance if it is not yet claimed but would be awarded. Not means-tested.
- Subtract normal living costs. Food, utilities, Council Tax, insurance, phone, transport.
- Subtract the weekly cost of care from the table above.
- The answer is the weekly shortfall.
- Divide usable savings by the shortfall to get the number of weeks. Divide by 52 for years.
Usable savings means capital above £23,250, since that is where council support comes into view.
What happens as the money runs down
- Above £23,250: paying the full cost. The council will still do a free needs assessment and give advice.
- £14,250 to £23,250: contributing from income, plus a tariff of £1 a week for every £250 of capital above the lower limit.
- Below £14,250: capital ignored, contribution from income only, protected by the Minimum Income Guarantee.
Contact the council before capital reaches the upper limit, not after. Assessments take time, and a gap between the money running out and support starting is avoidable. Three months’ notice is sensible.
One caution: the council may only pay its own commissioned rate, which is typically lower than private rates. That can mean a top-up or a change of provider. A direct payment is the usual way to keep the provider you have.
The four things that change the answer most
- Attendance Allowance. £76.70 or £114.60 a week, not means-tested, and the single biggest lever here.
- The Council Tax disregard, where dementia or a similar condition is medically certified. Often worth four figures a year.
- NHS Continuing Healthcare. Not means-tested, and if awarded it funds the entire package. Worth asking about where health needs are complex.
- The house. Not counted for care at home, which is why domiciliary care so often preserves capital longer than a care home move. Our piece on live-in versus hourly care covers the crossover if hours climb.
Planning points worth knowing
- Needs usually increase. Budget for hours rising rather than staying flat.
- Rates rise annually, typically in April, in line with the National Living Wage.
- Free reablement after hospital can cover up to six weeks without touching savings.
- Immediate needs annuities exist, which convert a lump sum into a guaranteed income for care for life. They suit some people and not others, and they need advice from a regulated specialist.
- Do not give money away to qualify sooner. That is deprivation of assets, and councils investigate.
Frequently asked questions
How long will £50,000 last paying for care?
It depends entirely on the shortfall between income and costs. At a £250 a week shortfall, capital above the £23,250 threshold lasts a little over two years. At £500 a week, around a year.
When does the council start paying?
It considers support when capital falls below £23,250, and full support from income only below £14,250. Eligible needs must also be assessed.
Does the house count?
Not for care in your own home. It is usually counted for a permanent care home move, subject to disregards.
Can I keep my provider once the council funds it?
Often, through a direct payment, topping up the difference if your provider costs more than the council’s rate.
Should we use an immediate needs annuity?
Possibly. It removes the risk of outliving the money, and it commits a large lump sum. Take advice from an adviser who specialises in later-life care funding.
What if we run out before help arrives?
Contact the council early, in writing, with the date you expect to reach the threshold. Councils should not leave eligible needs unmet, and the process takes time.
About Visiting Angels Cheshire East
Visiting Angels Cheshire East provides care at home across Macclesfield, Wilmslow, Knutsford, Congleton, Alsager and the surrounding villages of East Cheshire, along with Buxton, Whaley Bridge and the Staffordshire Moorlands towns.
- Our rate is £36 an hour, with a one hour minimum visit. Correct as at September 2026.
- You choose your caregiver, and meet them before care starts.
- You see the same faces. Our carer turnover is 12 per cent, against a sector figure of 23.7 per cent (Skills for Care, 2025).
- Packages that go down as well as up, because care after an illness or operation should reduce as someone recovers.
- Live-in care available, up to full time.
Iain wrote this about the help his mother receives:
“Visiting Angels have been a great help to my mother with cleaning, shopping, taking her for walks and by simply keeping her company.”
Iain Brook, Google review
Not sure what you need yet? Start with a free assessment
Our free home care assessment is a visit at a time that suits you, with no obligation afterwards. In it we will:
- Work out the hours realistically, rather than the hours that sound affordable.
- Put the weekly and annual cost in writing.
- Do this sum with you, using real income and real outgoings.
- Check the benefits first, because for most families that changes the answer more than choosing a cheaper provider would.
If you want the numbers worked through properly, call us on 01625 720157. You can also send an enquiry, and you can see what our services cover.
Authored by Dr Niall Jawad, Managing Director, Visiting Angels Cheshire East.
Published 27 September 2026. Last updated 27 September 2026.
This article is general information and illustrative arithmetic, not financial advice, and no substitute for advice about your circumstances. The worked example uses illustrative income and outgoings and will not match any individual. We are a care provider and not regulated financial advisers; for care fee planning, including annuities, take advice from a regulated specialist. Rates, capital limits and benefit amounts change and were correct at the date of publication. Free independent advice is available from Citizens Advice, Age UK and MoneyHelper. To the fullest extent permitted by law, GB Care at Home Ltd accepts no liability for any loss arising from reliance on this article.
