Care funding is genuinely confusing, and most families start out not knowing what they might be entitled to. Here's what exists, in plain English — so you can ask the right questions.
This is general information, not financial or legal advice. Good Companions is a care provider, not a financial adviser. Nothing here is a recommendation about your own situation. For advice about your circumstances, speak to your council, or to an independent adviser — we've listed free and independent places to go on every page.
Whatever your savings, these two steps come first.
These don't depend on selling anything or buying a product.
We can tell you these exist and roughly how they work — but by law, advice on them must come from a qualified, FCA-regulated adviser. Not from us.
None of these are connected to us, and none of them sell care.
We can't advise on your finances — but we're always happy to talk about the care side: what's available in Cumbria, what it involves, and what it costs with us. No pressure, no obligation.
The single most useful first step, whatever your savings — and it costs nothing.
Your local council has a duty under the Care Act to assess anyone who appears to need care and support. It looks at what you struggle with day to day and what help would make a difference. It is free and not means-tested — everyone can have one.
A carer's assessment too. If you look after someone, you're entitled to your own separate assessment of your needs as a carer — including support to get a break. This is often overlooked.
Contact the adult social care team at your local council. In our area that's Cumberland Council or Westmorland & Furness Council, depending on where you live. You can also start on GOV.UK, which will point you to the right council.
Good Companions can't carry out or influence a council assessment — it's independent of us, and that's exactly as it should be. We're happy to explain the process or sit alongside you for support if that helps.
Often called the means test — how the council decides whether it helps with the cost.
After the needs assessment, the council looks at your capital (savings, investments and sometimes property) and your income. Where your capital sits against the national thresholds decides whether the council contributes, and how much you pay yourself.
This is the question we're asked most, and the honest answer is: it depends. The value of your home is generally disregarded if care is being provided in your own home. For a move into a care home, it may be counted — but there are important exceptions, such as where a partner, or a relative who is elderly or disabled, still lives there. Because this varies so much with circumstances, it's a question for your council or an independent adviser rather than for us.
Care at home is treated differently from a care home. If you're weighing up staying at home against moving, the financial assessment may look quite different for each. Worth asking the council to explain both.
You may hear suggestions about giving away savings or signing over property to reduce what you pay. Councils can and do investigate this as "deliberate deprivation of assets", and can assess you as though you still had the money. We won't advise on it — if you're considering anything of this kind, take independent legal advice first.
We can't tell you how the means test will land for you — that's for the council to assess, and for an independent adviser to advise on. What we can do is explain the care options and their cost.
What local authority support looks like, and the choice most people don't realise they have.
If the council agrees to fund some or all of your care, it sets a personal budget — the amount it thinks your assessed needs should cost. You then have a genuine choice about how that's delivered.
Instead of the council arranging care for you, it can pay the money to you (or someone acting for you) so you can arrange your own. People choose this for the control it gives: more say over who provides the care and when it happens.
Being open with you: Good Companions is a care provider, so we have a commercial interest in being chosen. Direct payments would let you choose us — but they equally let you choose someone else, and you should compare. Your council can explain how direct payments work independently of any provider.
Sometimes the personal budget won't cover a particular home or arrangement. A family member or third party may be able to pay the difference — see third-party top-ups on the self-funding page. The council should always offer at least one option that meets your assessed needs at no extra cost to you.
People who start out self-funding often become eligible for council support as savings reduce. Ask for a financial assessment before you reach the threshold, not after — it takes time to arrange, and leaving it late can cause a stressful gap.
Not means-tested, frequently missed, and always worth asking about.
If someone's needs are judged to be primarily health needs rather than social care needs, the NHS may fund their care in full — including care at home or in a care home. It doesn't depend on your savings at all.
You can ask for a checklist. Many families don't know CHC exists, and it's rarely offered automatically. If health needs are significant, it's reasonable to ask a GP, hospital discharge team or social worker to arrange a checklist. Decisions can also be appealed.
If someone lives in a nursing home and needs care from a registered nurse but doesn't qualify for full CHC, the NHS may pay a contribution towards the nursing element. It's paid directly to the home.
After a hospital stay, there may be a period of free NHS-funded reablement or intermediate care to help someone regain independence. Worth asking about at discharge, because it isn't always volunteered.
Eligibility is decided by NHS assessors, not by care providers — we have no part in it. Age UK and Citizens Advice can help you understand the process, and there are independent advocates who specialise in CHC appeals.
Large sums go unclaimed each year simply because people don't realise they qualify.
For people over State Pension age who need help with personal care or supervision because of illness or disability. It is not means-tested, isn't affected by savings, and you don't need to have someone actually caring for you to qualify — what matters is the help you need. Paid at two rates depending on whether you need help during the day, at night, or both.
The equivalent for people under State Pension age. Also not means-tested.
Tops up income for older people on lower incomes, and often acts as a gateway to other help such as Council Tax reduction and heating support. Widely under-claimed.
For people who care for someone a substantial number of hours a week. There are earnings limits, and it can interact with other benefits, so it's worth a proper benefits check rather than guessing.
Reductions and exemptions exist — including a disregard where someone has a severe mental impairment such as dementia, and reductions where a property has been adapted. Ask your council.
Get a free benefits check. Age UK, Citizens Advice and MoneyHelper all offer free benefits calculators and help with forms. The forms can be long, and good help with them genuinely improves the outcome. None of these services charge, and none of them sell care.
We can point you to these, but we don't assess benefit entitlement and can't complete claims on your behalf. Rates and rules change each year — always check the current position with one of the free services above.
What self-funding involves — and the arrangements that can make it more manageable.
Even if you're clearly going to pay yourself, have the needs assessment and ask about a financial assessment. It costs nothing, it can uncover benefits and NHS support you're entitled to regardless of savings, and it makes life far easier if funds reduce later.
If someone moves into a care home and their property is counted in the means test, a council deferred payment agreement can let the fees be paid from the property's value later — rather than having to sell the house quickly at a difficult moment. There are eligibility rules, interest and fees, so ask the council for the details in writing.
Where a council-funded place doesn't cover a particular home or room, someone else — usually family — may pay the difference. Make sure everyone understands the commitment, because it has to be sustainable long term and fees rise over time.
Care with us, for transparency: our home care, residential and live-in options each have their own costs, and we'll always set them out in writing before you commit. Our 24-hour live-in arrangement works differently from our CQC-registered services — clients pay the carer directly, alongside a daily registered care visit. We'll explain exactly how that works so you can compare it fairly with anything else.
How to fund care from savings, a pension or property is a financial planning question. An FCA-regulated adviser — ideally one accredited by SOLLA for later-life advice — is the right person for that, not us.
So you know they exist — but the advice must come from someone qualified and independent.
We are not financial advisers and cannot recommend any of these. The descriptions below are general information only. Whether any of them suits you depends entirely on your circumstances — and that judgement must come from an FCA-regulated adviser.
An insurance policy bought with a one-off lump sum, usually when care is already needed, which then pays a guaranteed income towards care fees for the rest of the person's life. The income is tax-free under current HMRC rules when it's paid directly to a registered care provider.
Points people commonly raise: the lump sum is generally not refundable unless capital protection is included; the resulting income counts in any later financial assessment; and only a small number of insurers offer them. They're medically underwritten, so cost depends on age and health.
These can only be arranged through a specialist regulated adviser — insurers won't even issue quotations to anyone without the right accreditation. Advisers need a specific qualification to advise on care fees, and SOLLA accreditation is the recognised standard for later-life advice.
Ways of releasing money from the value of a home while continuing to live in it. They carry long-term consequences for the estate, for benefit entitlement and for future options, so they need careful regulated advice — and usually a family conversation too.
How to draw on existing assets to meet care costs sustainably is a financial planning question, with tax and inheritance implications. Again, that's adviser territory.
Good Companions receives no commission, referral fee or payment of any kind from any financial adviser, insurer or product provider mentioned here. We list them purely so you know where to look.