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Charges for care and support

Charges are made for some of our services, but not all. If you want to receive a service from us that we charge for you must have a financial assessment. A financial assessment looks at your capital (such as savings and investments) and your weekly income (which includes most pensions and benefits) to see how much you will need to pay towards the cost of your support.

There is no charge for an assessment, information and advice.

Services that are chargeable

Most of the care and support services that we provide are chargeable. This means that if you need these services, we will look at your finances to see how much you can pay, if anything, towards the cost. These services include:

  • care workers, to provide assistance with tasks at home and away from the home like washing and dressing
  • most day care services
  • support in the community
  • Kent Shared Lives – provides eligible individuals the opportunity to stay in the homes of recruited, trained and approved hosts and their families who live in the community. This can be for a long or short term basis or day support depending on assessed need
  • meal services
  • care and support in extra-care housing settings.

Some day care services are funded through grants, and are free of charge.

You can find more information about costs in our charges and rates for adult social care booklet (PDF, 174.4 KB).

Our charging for care in your own home and support in the community booklet (PDF, 170.1 KB) will help you understand in more detail how we work out what you can pay.

Services we don't charge for

Some of the services we provide are not chargeable, these services include:

  • information and advice
  • advocacy
  • assessing your needs and finances
  • equipment to help you around the house
  • a short-term intensive care service which helps you to learn or relearn how to manage daily tasks for yourself (called Enablement)
  • intermediate care services which help you get home after a hospital stay - up to a maximum of 6 weeks
  • sensors that can be installed into your home, and are monitored 24 hours (called Telecare)
  • employment services funded by Kent County Council

NHS continuing healthcare

NHS continuing healthcare is a package of care that is arranged and funded by the NHS for individuals who are not in hospital but have complex ongoing health care needs. You must have a ‘primary health need’ which means that your main or primary need for care must relate to your health. It is normally arranged for a health professional, and is free, unlike social care services provided by us.

To check the eligibility criteria and more information visit the NHS website.