Blog
Expert guides on choosing a care home, understanding funding options, and navigating elderly care in the UK. Written by our editorial team using official data.
Council Financial Assessment Delays for Care Home Fees: What to Do
There is no legal deadline for a council's financial assessment, but the Ombudsman expects four weeks. Here is what happens to care home fees meanwhile, and how to escalate.
Council Tax When a Parent Moves Into a Care Home: Exemptions, Discounts and What to Do
When a parent moves permanently into a care home, their empty home is usually exempt from Council Tax, and a partner left at home usually gets 25% off. Here's how each rule works, what changes if a re...
Care Home Fees for Couples: How the Means Test Treats a Partner Who Stays at Home
When one partner moves into a care home, only their own assets are assessed. Joint savings, pensions and the family home explained, with 2026/27 examples.
What Happens to Benefits When Someone Moves Into a Care Home?
State Pension, Pension Credit, Attendance Allowance, Housing Benefit and Carer's Allowance: which benefits continue in a care home, which stop after 28 days, and who to tell.
The "7-Year Rule" for Care Home Fees: Myth vs Reality
Many families believe a gift is "safe" from care fee assessment once 7 years have passed. That rule exists — but it's for Inheritance Tax, not care funding. Here's what actually governs deprivation of...
Funded Nursing Care (FNC) Eligibility in 2026: How It's Decided and How It Differs From CHC
Funded Nursing Care (FNC) and NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC) are often confused, but they're very different: one is a weekly contribution, the other covers everything. Here's how FNC eligibility is a...
Hospital Discharge: Your Care Home Rights Explained
Told your relative must leave hospital and move into a care home within days? Here's what the NHS and council must do first, and how to ask for more time.
Personal Expenses Allowance in a Care Home: Why It's a Protected Minimum, Not a Fee Credit
Council-funded care home residents are legally guaranteed to keep £31.80 a week (2026/27) from their income for personal spending. Here's how that figure is set, how the rest becomes a care contributi...
Care Home Funding Rates 2026/27: What Changed, What Stayed Frozen, and What Families Should Check
The 2026/27 care funding update is not one simple number. NHS-funded nursing care and Attendance Allowance have risen, the care home capital thresholds remain frozen, and the national council provider...
Care Home Staffing Ratios: What the Data Actually Shows
Families often assume there's a legal minimum staff-to-resident ratio in UK care homes. There isn't. Here's what CQC actually assesses instead, how to find the closest thing to real numbers, and exact...
Direct Payments for Social Care: How They Work and Can They Pay for a Care Home?
Instead of the council arranging your care, direct payments put the budget in your hands to organise it yourself. Here's how the scheme actually works, who's eligible, and the one care-home question m...
Attendance Allowance and Hospital Stays: Does It Stop After 28 Days?
A hospital admission can quietly stop your Attendance Allowance — and an overpayment you didn't know about can follow you home. Here's exactly when the 28-day rule applies, when it doesn't, and what t...