If you choose a care home that costs more than we have allocated for your care, you or someone else will have to make extra payments to cover the shortfall. These are known as ‘top-ups’.
Top-up payments that you make are known as ‘first-party top-ups’. Top-up payments made by someone else are known as ‘third-party top-ups’.
First-party top-ups
You can pay first-party top-ups for more expensive care if one of these applies. You:
- are in the first 12 weeks of your stay and we aren’t including the value of your home when we work out how much you have to pay (known as the 12-week property disregard)
- have a deferred payment agreement in place – the agreement will include the top-up and how you’re paying it
- move into a care home under section 117 of the Mental Health Act
If you have a deferred payment agreement, you can pay a first-party top-up when due or defer payment with your other care costs.
Third-party top-ups
If you choose a care home that costs more than we have allocated for your care, you or someone else will have to make extra payments to cover the shortfall. These are known as ‘top-ups’.
How the top-ups work
Watch the video explainer here, and you can check over the information below which provides a simple overview of the process for top-up payments.
Step 1 – Assessing Your Care Needs
The first step is for the Council to assess your care needs. We will determine the level of care and support required based on your individual circumstances. Find out more Care and support assessment.
Step 2 – Care Plan and Cost Calculation
Once your care needs are assessed, we’ll work with you to develop a care and support plan, outlining the care, support and services you will receive. We will also calculate the cost of this care.
Step 3 – Financial Assessment and Personal Contribution
We will ask you, or a relative or friend, to complete a financial assessment. You can find out more by visiting Financial assessment for a care home. This assessment considers your income, savings and other financial factors, and based on the results we will calculate your personal contribution which represents the portion you are required to contribute towards your care and support services.
Step 4 – Third Party Top-Up
If the cost of the services you choose is more than the amount covered by the Council funding and your personal contribution, you may need to consider a third party top-up payment (this is a top-up payment made by someone else such as a family member or friend).
Step 5 – Affordability Check and Contract
We will ask anyone put forward as a third party to complete an affordability check. This is to make sure that the person or persons making the third party payments can afford to pay it. Like the financial assessment, this considers income, savings and other financial factors. Once affordability is confirmed, a contract (known as a third party agreement) will be signed between the Council and the person making the third party payment which will outline the agreed payment amount.
Step 6 – Agreement
With the affordability check completed and the contract in place, an agreement will be made between you, the provider of your care and support services, the Council and the person or persons making the third party payments. This is agreement is known as an Individual Placement Agreement.
Step 7 – Ongoing Support and Monitoring
Once the contract, agreement and the third party top-up payment is in place, the Council will arrange the agreed care and support services. We will continue to monitor the payments to ensure that they are being made correctly and on time.
Step 8 – Review and Adjustments
Periodically, usually annually, we will review your care needs, the financial arrangements and the affordability of the third party top-up payment. If necessary adjustments may be made to ensure that your care and payment arrangements remain suitable and fair. If things change in the meantime, or if your circumstances change, then please call us as soon as possible.
Important information about top-up payments
We pay the care home for the total cost of your care and will invoice whoever is paying the top-up, who must then make payments every 4 weeks by Direct Debit.
More than one person can pay third party top-up payments. Each person who is paying has to sign an agreement with us to pay the top-up payments for as long as you need to stay in the care home.
Remember, the affordability check is conducted to ensure that the person making the payment can afford it, both now and into the future, so it is important that they are open and honest with us. We always recommend that anyone considering entering into a Third Party Agreement seeks appropriate independent advice.
You may have to move to another care home if you or the third-party or parties:
- don’t want to pay an increase;
- want to stop paying top-ups;
- fail to pay the top-up.
We will undertake a new care and support assessment including identifying an alternative accommodation which is suitable to meet your needs and, if required, affordable within your Personal Budget.
If the third-party fails to pay the top-up, we will collect the debt through our debt collection processes.
Frequently asked questions
You can download a copy of these FAQs if required:
What is a top-up?
If you choose a care home that costs more than we have allocated for your care, you or someone else will have to make extra payments to cover the shortfall. These are known as ‘top-ups’. Top-up payments that you make are known as ‘first-party top-ups’. Top-up payments made by someone else (usually a relative or friend) are known as ‘third-party top-ups’.
For more detailed information on are Charging Policy, please refer to the full policy at Financial assessment for a care home.
How much is the top-up payment?
The top-up payment is not a set fee, but is based on the cost of your care, your agreed Council funding and your assessed personal contribution.
For example:
- The Council will pay up to £798 per week towards the cost of your care (this is sometimes called your maximum personal budget).
- You have been assessed to contribute £280 per week towards your care.
- You have chosen a care home that costs £1,000 per week.
If agreed, the top-up payment would be £202 per week (The cost of your care home which is £1,000 minus (-) your maximum personal budget of £798):
- The Council will pay the care home the full cost of £1,000 per week.
- You will pay the Council your assessed personal contribution of £280 per week.
- The person paying the top-up(s) will pay the Council the top-up of £202 per week.
How do I make payments?
We pay the care home for the total cost of your care and will invoice whoever is paying the top-up. They must make payments every 4 weeks by Direct Debit.
Who can pay the top-up payments?
This could be a friend or family member – or sometimes a charity. We will ask anyone put forward as a third party to complete an affordability check. This is to make sure that the person or persons making the third party payments can afford to pay it. Like the financial assessment, this considers income, savings and other financial factors. If they cannot afford it, then another third party or alternative arrangements will need to be considered.
The Council always recommends that anyone considering entering into a Third Party Agreement seeks appropriate independent advice.
What happens if I can no longer afford the top-up payments?
If a third party payor wishes to terminate the agreement they should give the Council as much notice as possible and not less than 3 months’ notice. This is to allow the Council to review the person’s care needs and to make alternative arrangements for their care.
If there is more than one third party, if one of the third parties tells us that they want to stop paying the top-ups, we will look again at the agreement with all the third parties.
Will top-up payments always remain the same?
At least once a year, we will look again at:
- how much care you need
- the cost of the care home
- the top-up agreement
If anything changes and the cost of your care increases, we will talk to whoever pays the top-up to get their agreement to the change. We won't automatically reduce the top-up amount if the amount you pay changes because of change in your financial circumstances.
If the change is not agreed, we will undertake a new care and support assessment including identifying an alternative accommodation which is suitable to meet your needs and, if required, affordable within your Personal Budget.
How do I make a complaint?
If you or a third party wishes to make a complaint, this will be considered by the Council under our statutory complaints procedure.
Online Affordability Checker
The online affordability check form will need to be completed by each third party who will be contributing towards the cost of the top-up payment.
You will need to know the full cost of care (outlined in your Care and Support Plan) to complete this form.
You will need to upload digital copies or photos of these documents:
- Last 3 payslips;
- Bank statement for the previous month.
Please ensure you complete the form to the best of your knowledge. Once submitted, our financial operations team will notify you of the outcome within 7-10 working days.
Also see: