Social care is not free like healthcare - the service is means-tested as shown below. 

Most people will have to contribute to the cost of their care unless they have few assets, in savings and income. 

The amount you will pay depends on how much your care and support costs and how much money you have, so we will look at your capital/savings as well as your income.  

For capital there are three levels:

• if you have savings over £23,250, you will need to cover the entire cost of your care
• if your savings fall between £14,250 and £23,250, we will add £1 to your income for every £250 over £14,250 you have. This is often referred to as tariff income
• if you have less than £14,250, we will ignore your saving when working out your contribution and just look at your income

We will look at your income (and tariff income as mentioned above) and make an allowance for any disability related expenditure, which is any money you spend on things related to your disability, such as buying incontinence products, or higher laundry costs. We will always leave you with enough money as set out in law to live on, this is called ‘Minimum Income Guarantee’ and it ensures that we will not charge you more than the actual cost of the care and support.