Paying for care

Care and Support Statutory Guidance provides us with a charging framework to calculate your care fees, and the Care Act 2014 sets out what action we can take in cases of non-payment of care fees and debt recovery.

Unpaid care fees

We'll begin a process to recover the money you (or your representative) owe if you:

• don't pay your contribution to your care fees
• don't pay the correct amount
• don't pay the amount as per your assessment; for example, where the cost of care and support is lower than your assessed contribution
• have (fraudulently or otherwise*) misrepresented or have failed to disclose information relevant to the financial assessment of what you can afford to pay

*If you've transferred your assets to someone else, whilst knowing that you could need or are receiving care and support services, we can seek payment from the person who received the assets.

We approach the recovery of debt for unpaid care fees, reasonably and sensitively; we'll only take Court action as a last resort. In all cases the desired outcome is to prevent debt escalating, and for you to make affordable repayments of the debt, as well as being able to pay your ongoing contribution.

Initial stages of debt recovery involve:

• discussing the debt with you or your representative
• social workers being advised of the debt, and become involved as appropriate
• giving regard to the level of debt, the cost of recovery (not proceeding where the cost of action would be disproportionate)
• only proceeding with County Court action where all alternatives have been exhausted

All debt must be recovered within 6 years from when the sum became due, and where no repayment arrangement is in place and ongoing.

Also see

• Get adult social care
• Residential care
• Social care costs from 18 years of age
• Choosing your care and support (including Direct Payments)
• Paying for independent living with 24-hour support
• Live Well York