Deferred payments for care home costs

You might be able to use the value of your home to help pay your care costs using a deferred payment. The council will pay your care home bills now and you repay us later when you decide to sell your home, or we can be paid back after your death.

We always recommend that you get independent financial advice to help you decide how to pay long term care costs and make sure you're claiming all the benefits and allowances you can.

You should be able to get a deferred payment agreement if:

• you live in a care home or you're moving into one soon
• you own your own home, which needs to be insured
• you have savings and investments of less than £23,250, not including your home or pension

How to apply for a deferred payment

It takes around twelve weeks to set up a deferred payment agreement.

The agreement will include the maximum amount that we'll pay towards your care, along with the interest rate and any fees we'll charge. It will also include certain conditions, such as how the property should be maintained.

Download the deferred payment application form (Word doc) [119KB]

Deferred payments policy (PDF) [891KB]

The amount you can defer

The amount you can defer depends on how much your home is worth, so we'll have your property valued. You can also get an independent valuation if you want to.

Most people use around 70 per cent of the value of their home. We don't use the full value to make sure you have enough money left over to pay the costs of selling your house (like solicitor's fees) and to make sure we have enough money to pay for your care if house prices go down.

When to repay a deferred payment agreement

You can repay a deferred payment at any time either by selling your house or if someone else (like a friend or relative) pays the bill. Or you can have a deferred payment agreement for the full length of your stay in a care home and it will be paid back from the sale of your home after your death.

Your deferred payment agreement ends automatically after your death, and your executor will have 90 days to arrange to pay back the money owed. If your executor doesn't pay within 90 days we can take them to court to get the money back.

Applying for someone that can't understand

Carers and families can help people to make decisions about their care and how to pay for it. If we think the person applying for the deferred payment agreement doesn't understand the agreement, or won't be able to understand it in the near future (such as someone with dementia), then another person may need to represent them. Only a person that is properly authorised, like someone with legal power of attorney, can represent someone in applying for a deferred payment agreement.

Is the information correct?

Let us know if the information on this page needs updating.

Want to create a page on the Plymouth Online Directory?  Register for free and add a page - it only takes a few minutes.

This page was last updated on 1 December 2022.