The five ways care at home gets paid for
Quick summary
There are five routes: Attendance Allowance, the Council Tax disregard, council funded care, NHS Continuing Healthcare, and paying privately. Most families use more than one, and most never hear about at least two of them. Only one is means-tested on savings, which is the fact that surprises people most.
Why most families only find one of them
Because the routes sit with four different organisations and none of them is responsible for telling you about the others.
Attendance Allowance is the DWP. The Council Tax disregard is your district or borough council. Funded care is the county or unitary council. Continuing Healthcare is the NHS.
Here’s the summary:
Route | Means-tested? | Roughly what it is worth | Who to ask |
|---|---|---|---|
1. Attendance Allowance | No | £76.70 or £114.60 a week | DWP, 0800 731 0122 |
2. Council Tax disregard | No | 25 per cent off, or the whole bill | Your district or borough council |
3. Council funded care | Yes | Varies. Full funding below £14,250 capital | Adult social care at the county or unitary council |
4. NHS Continuing Healthcare | No | The entire cost of care | GP, hospital team, or the Integrated Care Board |
5. Paying privately | Not applicable | What it costs | Providers directly |
1. Attendance Allowance
The one to check first, because savings and income are irrelevant to it.
It is a tax-free weekly payment for people over State Pension age who need help with personal care or supervision because of a physical or mental health condition. From April 2026 it pays £76.70 a week if help is needed during the day or the night, and £114.60 a week if help is needed both day and night, or if the person is nearing the end of life (GOV.UK, rates from the Benefit and pension rates 2026 to 2027).
Two misunderstandings stop people claiming. It is not means-tested, so savings, a private pension and a paid-off house make no difference at all. And you do not need to be receiving any help already, because the test is the help someone reasonably needs, not the help they get. Someone living alone and managing badly is exactly who it is for.
You claim on form AA1, which you download from GOV.UK or request by phone. There is no way to submit it online, and you cannot complete it on a phone or tablet.
2. The Council Tax disregard
The one almost nobody hears about, and it can wipe out your entire council tax bill.
Someone who is medically certified as severely mentally impaired, and who is entitled to a qualifying benefit such as Attendance Allowance, is disregarded for Council Tax. The conditions that commonly lead to it include dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and stroke.
What it produces depends on the household. Someone living alone who is disregarded pays no Council Tax at all. Someone living with one other adult gets a 25 per cent discount. Living with two or more other adults who are liable, there is no discount (GOV.UK, Council Tax discounts for disabled people).
Two things to know. It needs a certificate from a registered medical practitioner, usually the GP, and it is not applied automatically, so somebody has to claim it. And note the sequencing: an Attendance Allowance award is often what unlocks this, which is why the first route is worth doing first.
This one goes to the district or borough council, which in the border towns is not the same body as the one handling care. In Buxton that means High Peak Borough Council for the Council Tax and Derbyshire County Council for the care.
3. Council funded care
The route everyone knows about, and the only one of the five that looks at savings.
It starts with a care needs assessment, which is free and is a legal right under the Care Act 2014. That decides what help someone needs. A separate financial assessment then decides what they contribute.
In England for 2026/27, the upper capital limit is £23,250 and the lower limit is £14,250 (Department of Health and Social Care). Above the upper limit, someone pays the full cost. Below the lower limit, they contribute only from income. Between the two, they contribute on a sliding scale of £1 a week for every £250 of capital above the lower limit.
For care at home rather than a care home, the value of the house someone lives in is not counted.
The order matters here. Ask for the needs assessment first and separately, because it happens before anyone looks at money, and because being told what someone is assessed as needing is useful even if they end up paying for all of it.
4. NHS Continuing Healthcare
The one worth the most and the hardest to get.
If the main reason someone needs care is a health need rather than an age-related or social one, the NHS may fund the whole package, at home or in a care home. It is not means-tested and there is no contribution from the family.
The process starts with a screening Checklist, and if that is passed, a full assessment scores needs across twelve care domains. The NHS says that if someone has at least one priority need, or severe needs in at least two areas, they can usually expect to be eligible. A decision should normally follow within 28 days (NHS, NHS continuing healthcare).
Being honest about it: most people who apply are not found eligible, and the threshold is genuinely high. It is still worth asking for a Checklist if health needs are complex, unpredictable or intense, and the request can be made through a GP, a hospital team or the local Integrated Care Board. There is also a fast track route for people whose condition is deteriorating rapidly.
5. Paying privately
The default, and the one most families in this area end up on, at least in part.
Above £23,250 in capital, the council will not fund care, although it will still carry out a needs assessment and should still give advice. What you are then buying is priced by the hour for visits, or by the week for live-in care.
Two things worth knowing before you start paying. Free reablement or intermediate care is normally available for up to six weeks after a hospital stay, and plenty of families begin paying on the day of discharge without ever being offered it. And Attendance Allowance and the Council Tax disregard both still apply to someone paying privately, which together can be worth several thousand pounds a year.
What order should I do these in?
- Attendance Allowance first. No means test, no waiting for anyone else, and it often unlocks route two.
- Then the care needs assessment. Free, a legal right, and it happens before the financial assessment.
- Then the Council Tax disregard, once Attendance Allowance is awarded and if the condition fits.
- Ask about Continuing Healthcare if health needs are complex, and specifically ask for a Checklist rather than asking in general terms.
- Ask about reablement if there has been a hospital stay, before agreeing to pay anyone.
Which council do I actually ring?
- Cheshire East Council, 0300 123 5010, for Macclesfield, Wilmslow, Handforth, Alderley Edge, Prestbury, Bollington, Sutton, Knutsford, Mobberley, Chelford, Goostrey, Holmes Chapel, Congleton, Wincle, Wildboarclough and Alsager.
- Derbyshire County Council, Call Derbyshire on 01629 533190, for Buxton, Harpur Hill, Whaley Bridge, Taxal, Chapel-en-le-Frith and Dove Holes.
- Staffordshire County Council, Staffordshire Cares on 0300 111 8010, for Leek, Meerbrook, Longnor, Hollinsclough, Biddulph, Biddulph Moor and Kidsgrove.
Frequently asked questions
Do savings stop us getting any help at all?
No. Savings only affect route three. Attendance Allowance, the Council Tax disregard and Continuing Healthcare are all available regardless of capital, and the first two are straightforward to claim.
Will they take the house?
For care at home, the home someone lives in is not counted in the financial assessment. The rules are different for a permanent move into a care home, which is where most of the anxiety about this comes from.
Is Attendance Allowance affected by a private pension?
No. It is not means-tested and not taxed, and income and savings have no bearing on it whatsoever.
Can we get the Council Tax disregard backdated?
Councils will often backdate to the date the qualifying conditions were met, which can be some way back. Ask specifically about backdating when you apply rather than assuming it starts from today.
Is it worth applying for Continuing Healthcare if we probably will not get it?
If health needs are complex or unpredictable, yes. Ask for a Checklist, which is the screening stage rather than the full assessment. If it is declined, the letter should explain how to challenge it.
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.
- You choose your caregiver. You meet them before care starts, and if it is not right you say so and we send someone else.
- No visit is ever shorter than an hour. There is no such thing as a fifteen minute call here.
- 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).
- Carers trained in dementia, Parkinson’s, stroke recovery and complex care.
- Live-in care available, up to full time.
Sharon’s mother had been having visits for a fortnight when she wrote this. The line about financial advice is the reason it sits on this page:
“It is not something we ever thought we would need but Visiting Angels have been wonderful. They came to see us to find out exactly what we needed, even though we weren’t completely sure ourselves, but through our conversation we were able to put a package of support in place. They offered advice on other things that were available to us as well particularly financially. They put our minds at ease during what was quite a stressful time in our lives.”
Sharon Thornton, 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 what is actually difficult, and which times of day, which is usually what a visit should be built around.
- Talk through a realistic package, and what it would cost.
- Look at the money with you, and point you towards the funding, benefits and grants you may be entitled to, including the ones most families are never told about.
- Tell you honestly if you do not need us yet, or if someone else is a better fit.
If you would like help working out which of the five routes apply, call us on 01625 720157. You can also WhatsApp us or send an enquiry, and you can see what our services cover.
Authored by Dr Niall Jawad, Director, Visiting Angels Cheshire East.
Published 6 September 2026. Last updated 6 September 2026.
This article is general information about funding for care, not financial or legal advice, and it is no substitute for advice about an individual’s circumstances. We are not regulated financial advisers. Benefit rates, capital limits and council policies change, usually each April, and the figures here were correct at the date of publication; check the current position on GOV.UK or with the relevant council before relying on them. Independent advice is available free 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.
