Financial assessments for residential and non-residential care services

The Care Act is the legislation the Council follows to apply charges for certain kinds of care and support. It also determines the requirement to complete a financial assessment to calculate the maximum amount a person can be charged for their care. 

For further support you can contact the team by calling 0161 912 2106 or emailing financial.assessments@trafford.gov.uk.

Cost of non-residential services

The maximum costs of services are set each year by the Council. The 2026/27 rates are shown in the table:

Service Cost
Home care - Real Living Wage Provider £23.68 per hour
Home care - National Living Wage Provider £23.44 per hour
Pendant alarms and telecare   Level 1: £7.10 per week
Level 2: £8.46 per week
Level 3: £12.19 per week
Day care per day £55.24
Day care per half day £27.62
Transport for day care £3.36 per journey
Direct payments 100% of Direct Payment amount

Capital limits

If your capital is below £23,250 you can request a financial assessment. The Council will complete an assessment based on your income and capital. You will be charged an amount that ensures you will be either left with the Minimum Income Guarantee (MIG), if you receive non-residential care services, or the Personal Expenditure Allowance (PEA) if you receive residential care.

Minimum Income Guarantee (MIG): non-residential care

This is the amount of income the Government states that you are allowed to keep after the Council has completed a financial assessment for non-residential care services. The rates are set by the Government each year. 

The 2026/27 rates can be found in the table:

Age Single Person MIG 
amount per week
18-24 £146.95
25-59 £171.95
60 £241.45

Couples assessment

Age Couple MIG amount 
per week
18-59 £262.60
60 £368.60

Residential and nursing home - council framework prices

The current weekly rates are:

  • Residential and nursing care: £950 per week

Residential care assessments 

When carrying out a financial assessment for those receiving Residential Care services, the Council will leave the service user with a minimum amount of income known as the Personal Expenditure Allowance (PEA). 

This amount is also set nationally each year, and has remained at a static level of £24.90 per week for a number of years but will now increase inline with inflation each year. The 2026/27 amount is £31.80 per week. 

Light touch assessments

The light touch assessment is there to avoid people receiving care filling in forms unnecessarily. 

The Council will use this approach if it is satisfied that a person can afford and continue to afford any charges due, for example, if they have capital over the £23,250 threshold, or where the service user is in receipt of means tested benefits as confirmed by the Department for Works and Pensions (DWP) which the Council can check directly.

Income taken into account

  • All DWP (social security) benefits, allowances and pensions.
  • All private and occupational pensions.
  • All 'tariff income'.

'Tariff income’

For service users whose capital is between the lower and upper thresholds, a ‘tariff income’ calculation will be applied. To calculate tariff income, £1 per week is taken into account in the assessment as income for every £250 (or part of) between £14,250 and £23,250.

Property in financial assessments

If you are in a residential or nursing home the value of property owned or part owned will be included in your financial assessment as capital after 12 weeks from the date you first went in to a residential home. If you are receiving care in a setting that is not a residential or nursing home or if you will be returning home i.e. the stay is temporary, then the property you are residing in will be disregarded. 

All other property is treated as capital based on its value.

Change in circumstances

If your financial circumstances change then you must inform the Financial Assessments Team immediately. The DWP/Pension Service do not automatically tell us of any changes to money that you get from them, you therefore must tell us of all changes yourself.

Any change, which results in a reduction in the amount you pay, will only take affect from the Monday following the date we are told. 

Where a service user lacks capacity to manage their finances and a legal representative is appointed, the Council will allow one calendar month from the date of appointment to be notified of any changes for the change to be backdated. Changes notified after this time period will be treated as above.

Paying your invoice

You will be invoiced for your care services every four weeks in arrears and the details of how to pay will be on the back of your invoice. You can pay your invoice online.

Failing to pay

Failure to make payments will result in arrears that are recoverable under the Council’s Debt Recovery  Policy. The Debt Recovery policy prescribes action up to but not limited to Court proceedings. 

Where a service user has an appointee and has failed to pay the assessed charges for 12 weeks, the Council can apply to the DWP to be replaced as the appointee in order to prevent future arrears arising. 

The Council will recover any previous arrears that accrued from the previous appointee under the Council’s Debt Recovery Policy.

Disagreeing with amount of care charged

If you have a query regarding the care provided, in the first instance please contact your care provider directly to resolve the issue. 

If you are still having concerns and have not received a resolution directly from the Care Provider within 14 working days, email ICE@trafford.gov.uk.

‘Top-ups'

The Council will fund an agreed amount for your placement at a residential/nursing home dependant on your needs and charge you for this by completing a financial assessment; this charge is called your ‘client contribution.’

If you wish to move to a care home that costs more than this amount the excess amount is referred to as a ‘top-up’ or ‘Third Party’. The Care Act 2014 states that you must not pay for this yourself if you have under £23,250 in capital. Therefore a third party will be required to pay for the weekly ‘top-up’ amount. 

The third party will be required to supply information about their income and expenditure to ensure they can afford to pay this Third Party ‘top-up’ back to the Council. If this information is not provided or the Council does not agree that the payment is affordable, then the placement will not be agreed and home without a ‘top-up’ or a lower ‘top-up’ should be sought. 

Full cost vs self-funding

A person who is self-funding means that they are paying for their care directly to the care provider. 

A person who is full cost for their services means that the Council is paying the provider for their care, however charging you for the full cost of this service.

Useful contacts

State Pension

You can apply for Pension Credit by calling 0800 991 234 or by textphone at 0800 169 0133. Both lines are open 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday (except public holidays). The Pension Service website has more information for retired people.