Any savings (including shares and investments), income (including a pension) or property that you own will affect whether you are entitled to any funding from your local authority.

You are likely to have to pay the full cost of your accommodation and personal care yourself if you have capital of over £23,250. Even if you think you’re likely to need to fund all your care yourself, it’s important to have a needs assessment and a financial assessment done.

These will help you to clarify what kind of care you need (e.g. personal care, nursing care) and any support – including any benefits – that you or your family may be entitled to.

Care homes price their services differently, so it’s important to check what the fees of your chosen care home will cover and what will be charged as an extra cost – ask for their pricing policy if you haven’t been given it. It may be that entertainment, hairdressing and additional wellbeing services may be extra.

If you’re likely to be funding the majority of your care we recommend talking to a financial adviser as you’ll need to know that you’ll have the resources to fund your care in the longer term.Having completed a financial assessment with your local authority, if your capital falls below the limits above, you will receive local authority contributions towards the cost of your care.

If you think this is a likely scenario, check in advance that your preferred care home would accept local authority funding if it became necessary.

In England, NHS continuing healthcare (CHC) is available for people with severe or complex health needs and it may cover all of a person’s care home fees.

NHS staff will undertake an assessment of your needs to determine whether you have a primary healthcare need that is best treated outside hospital (dementia is an example of this).

You will need to have regular assessments to determine whether you continue to receive this type of funding.