A care home is a place that gives you nursing or personal care as well as accommodation.

This guide applies to people who are having all or some of their care home fees met by their local authority or the NHS. If you are fully self funding, you should speak to an adviser (see Find an Adviser link below) about how this might affect your benefit entitlement.

Some benefits can still be paid when you live in a care home. Some stop being paid once you, your partner or your child has been living in a care home for a set period of time. Others are reduced if they included amounts for your partner or a child.

Please note: This is a complicated area and we recommend that you seek advice from an expert benefits adviser about your particular circumstances. You can use our Find an Adviser tool to find a local adviser.

You should tell whoever pays you benefits (for  example, Jobcentre Plus, the Pension Service, Disability Benefit Unit, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) or the local authority) that you have moved to live in a care home. You should do this before you have been in it for 28 days as none of your welfare benefits will stop or go down in the first 28 days. They can then make any changes that need to be made so that you are not paid too much or too little.

If you own your home, its value could affect the amount of means-tested benefits you are able to get when you move into a care home. In some cases, this means you are not able to get any means-tested benefits. The rules are complicated and there are several ways that the value of your home can be ignored for a period of time. If you are in this position, it is important to get advice. Use our Find an Adviser tool (link above) to find a local adviser.

It is important to remember that although the benefit rules state how much benefit you will get when living in a care home, you may have to use some of the money you get from benefits to pay your care home fees. Unless you are funding yourself, the local authority will add your benefit income to your other income when working out how much you should pay towards the care home fees.

You should always be left with a weekly personal expenses allowance of at least:

England: £28.25
Scotland: £32.65
Wales: £39.50
Northern Ireland: £27.19 

Applies to: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland 

Updated: April 2023

If you get any of the benefits listed below, the amount you get for yourself will not change if you live in a care home.

However, if you get any extra money in the benefit for another person, for example for a child or your partner, it is important for you to get advice about your situation. If you have a partner, it may be better for them to make their own claim for a benefit.  You can use our Find an Adviser tool to find a local adviser.

• Basic State Pension

• New State Pension

• Widow’s Pension

• Widowed Parent’s Allowance

• Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit

• Statutory Maternity Pay

• Maternity Allowance

• Statutory Sick Pay

• Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) (though the amount may change)

• The mobility component of Disability Living Allowance (DLA) or Personal Independence Payment or Adult Disability Payment (Scotland)

• Armed Forces Independence Payment (AFIP)

If you are claiming Universal Credit, you may be able to carry on receiving it when you are living in a care home. You also might be able to make a new claim for Universal Credit when you live in a care home.

If you have a terminal illness and are in a hospice, you can continue to be paid Attendance Allowance, the Disability Living Allowance/Child Disability Payment care component, and Personal Independence Payment/Adult Disability Payment daily living component after you have been resident for 28 days.

If you pay all of your care home fees yourself,or the local authority is temporarily paying your care home fees for you while you sell a property and you are going to repay them once the property is sold, you can still get the Disability Living Allowance (DLA) care component, Personal Independence Payment daily living component, Adult Disability Payment daily living component or Attendance Allowance.

Reviewed: May 2022

If you get Carer’s Allowance for looking after another person, your benefit will stop when you move to live in a care home.

If you get Jobseeker’s Allowance, it will stop when you are sick and not able to look for work for more than two weeks.

In these cases, you should get advice to see if you can get another benefit instead.

If you get Universal Credit, you might need to check whether you need to change your claimant commitment to be able to carry on claiming Universal Credit while in a care home.

If your care home fees are paid in full or part by the local authority, National Health Service (NHS) or other public funds, payment of Disability Living Allowance (DLA) care component, Personal Independence Payment (PIP) daily living component, Adult Disability Payment (ADP) daily living component or Attendance Allowance (AA) will stop after you have been in a care home for 28 days.

If your DLA, PIP, ADP or AA payments stop, they can be paid again when you come out of the care home even if this is only for a short period of time, for example a weekend. If you come out of the care home but then return within 28 days, your benefit will stop again as soon as you return to the care home.

If you were living in hospital before moving into the care home and payment of DLA, PIP, ADP or AA had already stopped, you will not be paid from the first day in the care home.

Reviewed: May 2022

Any benefits you get to help pay your rent, lease, mortgage, or other home loan and Council Tax on your former home will stop when you move to live in a care home permanently. For some benefits, this is from when you expect to be away from home for 52 weeks or more. These benefits are:

• Housing Benefit (England, Scotland, Wales) or Housing Benefit (Northern Ireland)

• Support with Mortgage Interest or housing costs paid with Pension Credit

• income-based Employment and Support Allowance, Income Support or income-based Jobseeker's Allowance

• Council Tax Support if no one else is living in the property, tell your local authority's Council Tax department as you may not have to pay Council Tax any more.

If you move temporarily to a care home but are going to return home, for example you have respite care or are trying out a care home, these benefits can carry on being paid for up to 52 weeks.

If you are claiming Universal Credit Housing Costs Element, you will only be able to carry on getting it after you move into a care home if your stay there is not expected to be longer than 6 months.

If you are claiming a Support for Mortgage Interest loan with Universal Credit, you can only carry on getting it after you move into a care home if your stay there is not expected to be longer than 6 months.

You will need to tell the people paying the benefit that you are moving into a care home, for example Jobcentre Plus, the Pension Service or your local authority. You should tell them as soon as you know you are moving so they can make sure that you are not paid too much.

If you were claiming one of these benefits on behalf of you and your partner, your partner should claim in their own right as soon as you move permanently into a care home.

Reviewed November 2021

If someone gets Carer’s Allowance (CA) for looking after you, their benefit will stop when you move to live permanently in a care home as they will no longer be providing care for you.  

You or your carer should tell the Carer’s Allowance Unit that you have moved into a care home.

Although Carer's Allowance will stop, carer premiums paid as part of other benefits may continue for up to eight weeks. The Carer's Element of Universal Credit will stop straight away.

If the person who was looking after you loses their Carer's Allowance and they are getting other benefits, such as Universal Credit, Income Support, Pension Credit or Housing Benefit (England, Scotland, Wales)/Housing Benefit (Northern Ireland), they should tell the relevant benefit office – for example, Jobcentre Plus, the Pension Service or local authority office so their other benefit claims can be updated.

If your stay in the care home is temporary, your carer's Carer's Allowance will stop if your Disability Living Allowance care component, Personal Independence Payment daily living component, Adult Disability Payment daily living component, or Attendance Allowance stops after 28 days.

Otherwise, Carer’s Allowance will stop if your carer has a break from caring for you for more than 12 weeks in a 26 week period.

Reviewed: May 2022

If you move into a care home permanently you can get Child Benefit even if your child lives elsewhere as long as you pay towards their maintenance and no one else claims Child Benefit for them. It may be better for the person who has your child living with them to claim Child Benefit. If this applies to you, it is important to get advice. You can use our Find an Adviser tool to find a local adviser.

If you are living permanently in a care home, you will not be able to get Child Tax Credit or the Child Element of Universal Credit for your children unless they live with you in the care home. The person who is looking after your child should claim Child Tax Credit or the Child Element of Universal Credit for them.

If you are staying in a care home temporarily, you can get Child Tax Credit or the Child Element of Universal Credit for a child who normally lives with you when you are at home. However, it may be better for someone else to claim Child Tax Credit or the Child Element of Universal Credit for your child when you are in a care home. Get advice if this applies to you. You can use our Find an Adviser tool to find a local adviser.

Reviewed November 2021

For the purposes of benefits claims, you and your partner will no longer be treated as a couple if you are living in a care home permanently. Your partner must apply for benefits as a single person.

If your partner gets a benefit in their own right, for example Basic State Pension, New State Pension or contributory Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), they will get the benefit but any additional amount paid to them for you as their partner will stop. 

Your partner should tell whoever pays them benefits that you have moved to live in a care home (for example, Jobcentre Plus, the Pension Service, Disability Benefit Unit, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) or the local authority) so that they can decide what changes needs to be made to their benefits.

The benefits that your partner can claim as a single person will depend on their age, whether they are caring for children, looking for work, sick, disabled or caring for a disabled person. They can use the Turn2us Benefit Calculator to find out what they might be entitled to.   

If you are living in a care home temporarily, for example in respite care, any benefits your partner gets that include an amount for you will only change if you are likely to be living apart for more than 52 weeks if your partner gets legacy benefits or 6 months if your partner gets Universal Credit.

Reviewed November 2021

If your child usually lives with you but moves to live in a care home or residential school, any Child Benefit, Child Tax Credit, Child Element of Universal Credit, Child Disability Payment and Disability Living Allowance you get for them could stop or be reduced. The rules are very complicated, so get advice if this applies to you.

You should tell the agency that pays your benefit if your child moves to live in a care home or school so that they can make any changes to your benefit to avoid paying you too much.

Reviewed: May 2022

Will I still get my State Pension when I start living in a residential home?

You will still get your Basic State Pension or your New State Pension if you move to live in a care home. However, if your care home fees are paid in full or part by the local authority, NHS or out of other public funds, you may have to use your State Retirement Pension to pay a contribution to the cost of care. 

You should always be left with a weekly personal expenses allowance of at least:

England: £28.25
Scotland: £32.65
Wales: £39.50
Northern Ireland: £27.19 per week

I was not getting any benefits when I moved to a care home because I was working before I became ill. Can I claim benefits now I live in a care home?

If you were working when you became ill, you might be getting Statutory Sick Pay (SSP). This will be paid for the first 28 weeks that you are not able to work. You may also continue to get Working Tax Credit for the first 28 weeks, if your income and savings are low and you have already been receiving tax credits.

If you are not entitled to SSP, and are not able to work due to ill health and you are aged under State Pension age and you have made sufficient national insurance contributions, you could claim Employment and Support Allowance (ESA). 

If you are not able to work due to ill health and you are aged under State Pension age, you could claim Universal Credit.

If you are over State Pension age, you could claim Pension Credit. 

If your income or savings are low enough, you might get help with rent or payments towards a mortgage or other home loan if you are only temporarily living in a care home. See our Housing Costs guide for information on benefits to help pay your rent, Council Tax or mortgage/home loan.

If you are not getting Personal Independence Payment (PIP) or Attendance Allowance (AA), you can make a claim for these benefits while living in a care home. If your care home fees are paid by the local authority, National Health Service (NHS) or out of other public funds, you will only be paid the daily living component of PIP or AA if/when you move out of the care home. Although it can be paid if you come out of the care home or spend time living at home, for example on weekends or holidays.

If you qualify for the mobility component of PIP or Adult Disability Payment Scotland, it can be paid when you are living in a care home.

Age UK: Care Homes information

Independent Age Care Homes information 

Scope: information on moving to residential care

Reviewed: November 2021