Deferred payments
If you are staying in residential care you will need to pay a contribution towards your care costs from your income. Any costs you cannot meet from your contribution can be deferred under a Deferred Payment Agreement (DPA).
A DPA will give you the option to use your home to pay for your care home costs. However, you will not need to sell your house immediately to pay for your care. If you decide to agree to a DPA we will loan you the money to pay your fees until you are able to repay us the full amount.
You will need to repay the fees, plus any associated costs when your house is sold or you no longer need residential care. The national maximum interest rate changes every 6 months on 1st January and 1st July. This rate tracks the market gilts rate specified in the latest Office of Budget Responsibility (OBR) report, plus 0.15%
We will charge interest at either 1.15% or at the national maximum interest rate, whichever is lower. More detailed information on our DPA is set out in our Deferred Payment policy (PDF) [121KB] .
You may be eligible for a DPA if:
you have less than £23,250 in capital (including savings and investments) apart from the value of your former home.
you have a legal or beneficial interest in a property which is your main or only home.
we can place a legal charge on your property (similar to a mortgage) or in very exceptional cases we may consider other forms of security.
the cost of your care home has been agreed by us.
If you choose not to agree to a DPA we will include the value of your property in your financial assessment. This will mean that your capital will be over £23,250 and you will have to pay the full cost of your care.
Disposable Income Allowance (DIA)
The result of your financial assessment may mean that you will have to pay towards the cost of your care. However, you still have the right to keep a certain amount of your income. This is known as the Disposable Income Allowance (DIA). This is a fixed amount which you can choose, and it can be up to £144 per week. If you choose to keep less than £144 per week, you will be able to pay more towards the cost of your care. This will reduce the debt of the final amount you are deferring.