Personal expenses allowance and savings disregard | Care Information Scotland (2024)

FAQs

What is the personal expenses allowance in Scotland? ›

The personal expenses allowance increased to £34.50 per week, with effect from 8 April 2024. Local councils have the discretion to increase the personal expenses allowance in certain circ*mstances, like letting you meet continued home commitments.

The upper limit for savings, assets, and income in Scotland is £32,750 If you have capital above this limit you will not be eligible for council funding. People with assets, savings, and income between £32,750 and the lower limit of £20,250 may still be eligible for some financial assistance from the council.

The personal and nursing care payment rates from 1 April 2024 are: £248.70 a week for personal care. £111.90 a week for nursing care.

The 12-Week Property Disregard

If you have entered a care home and the social work service agrees that you need to stay there permanently, the value of your house will not be taken into account in the financial assessment for the first 12 weeks of your stay only. This is called the 12-week property disregard.

Put simply, the PSA means that: The first £1,000 of savings interest that basic rate taxpayers earn and the first £500 for higher rate taxpayers is free from UK income tax. It's your responsibility to pay any tax you may owe directly to HM Revenue & Customs, according to your individual circ*mstances.

Your Personal Allowance is the amount of income you do not pay tax on. The current tax year is from 6 April 2024 to 5 April 2025 and most people's Personal Allowance is £12,570. Your Personal Allowance is different if you were born before 6 April 1948 or your income is over £100,000.

In England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, a local authority won't consider how long ago you gave away your savings or assets. They may still treat this as a deliberate deprivation of assets, regardless of how long ago you gave them away and your whereabouts in the UK.

If you or your partner have £6,000 or less in savings, this won't affect your claim for these benefits. If you and/or your partner have £16,000 or more in savings, you won't be entitled to Universal Credit.

You cannot usually get Attendance Allowance if you live in a care home and your care is paid for by your local authority. You can still claim Attendance Allowance if you pay for all your care home costs yourself.

Personal care will be provided free for people over 65, provided they are assessed as needing it. Personal care will be free both for older people living in their own home and for those living in care homes. Nursing care will be free for people of any age living in care homes, provided they are assessed as needing it.

What are examples of personal care? ›

Personal care is help with things like: bathing, showering, hair washing, shaving, brushing your teeth, and nail care. going to the toilet, catheter and stoma care, skin care, incontinence laundry and bed changing. eating, special diets, and food preparation.

While you cannot 'avoid' care costs (as your care fees must be paid for in some way), selling your home to meet these costs can sometimes be avoided. Signing your house over to avoid care costs is one option. One in three of us will go into a care home at some point in life. How will you cover care fees?

In Scotland, the threshold for paying for care home accommodation is £35,000. You need to have capital below £21,500 to be eligible for maximum support. In Scotland if you are eligible for personal care, this will be paid for by your local council.

You may be able to rent out your home during the period of the DPA and use the rental income to help you to pay your care home fees. Some local councils use charging orders instead of DPAs. This means they put an order on your deeds so they can recover the cost of the care they've paid when your house is sold.

Many people in the UK believe that if you have dementia, the costs of care will be met by the NHS because it's an illness, says Ros Clarke, Long-Term Care Relationship Manager at St. James's Place. However, that isn't the case: often, those living with dementia have to pay care home fees themselves.

If the value of your pension savings in a year (including pension savings outside of the L G P S) is more than the annual allowance, the excess will be taxed as income. The standard annual allowance increased to £60,000 from 6 April 2023. For the tax years 2016/17 to 2022/23 it was £40,000.

Your tax-free Personal Allowance

The standard Personal Allowance is £12,570, which is the amount of income you do not have to pay tax on. Your Personal Allowance may be bigger if you claim Marriage Allowance or Blind Person's Allowance. It's smaller if your income is over £100,000.

The 50-30-20 rule involves splitting your after-tax income into three categories of spending: 50% goes to needs, 30% goes to wants, and 20% goes to savings. U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren popularized the 50-20-30 budget rule in her book, "All Your Worth: The Ultimate Lifetime Money Plan."

Scottish Child Payment helps towards the costs of supporting your family. It's a weekly payment of £26.70 that you can get for every child you look after who's under 16 years of age. You'll get the payment every 4 weeks if your application is successful.