Paying for your own care (self-funding)
You will not be entitled to help with the cost of care from your local council if:
- you have savings worth more than £23,250 – this is called the upper capital limit, or UCL, and will rise to £100,000 from October 2025
- you own your own property (this only applies if you’re moving into a care home)
You can ask your council for a financial assessment (means test) to check if you qualify for any help with costs.
You can choose to pay for care yourself if you don’t want a financial assessment.
How to arrange your care as a self-funder
You can:
- arrange and pay for care yourself without involving the council
- ask the council to arrange and pay for your care (the council will then bill you, but not all councils offer this service and they may charge a fee)
Find out what care you need
Even if you choose to pay for your care, your council can do an assessment to check what care you might need. This is called a needs assessment.
For example, it’ll tell you whether you need home help from a paid carer for 2 hours a day or 2 hours a week and precisely what they should help you with.