You have a right to keep a proportion of your income. The ‘Disposable Income Allowance’ is a fixed amount of up to £144 a week of your income, which you can keep to pay for ongoing home insurance, property maintenance costs and to cover your weekly spending needs.
If you prefer, you may choose to keep less of your income than the maximum £144 a week so that you can contribute more to the cost of your care from your income. This would mean that you could reduce the amount of your deferred payment and, as a result, reduce the amount of interest you have to pay.
During your financial assessment we will ask you how much of your weekly income (up to a maximum of £144) you want to keep.
You should not use the Disposable Income Allowance to:
• top up the overall cost of the weekly care home fee; or
• pay for services which the care home should normally include as part of its care package to residents.
Your savings and investments must remain below the £23,250 limit in order for the deferred payment agreement to continue. If your savings and investments increase above this level you can take either or both of the following actions to reduce the amount.
• Pay a lump sum off your deferred payment agreement account
• Increase your weekly contribution towards your care from your income by asking for a reduced Disposable Income Allowance