People arrange their own care and support for different reasons; some may pay the full costs and others may be council supported but still pay a charge.

If you’re paying the full cost of your care, you are known as a ‘self-funder’. This means:

• You have approached adult social care and, although your needs show that you are eligible for services, your income and assets including savings are above the financial threshold for financial help from the council, or
• You have chosen to fund your own care as you do not want to be financially assessed and wish to make your own care arrangements for support, or
• You have been assessed and are not currently eligible for support from the council, but wish to put support in place, or
• You have chosen not to approach the council for help but wish to arrange support for yourself.

Assessment of your needs

We can work with you to carry out an assessment of your needs, even if you do not want the council to arrange or pay for your support. Find out more about having an assessment.

Arranging support

If you self-fund homecare or other types of community-based support, we can arrange this for you if you would like us to. Please contact the Adult Intake team on 020 8227 2915 or intaketeam@lbbd.gov.uk for more information. We do not arrange care home placements for self-funders.

Deferred payments

If you are a self-funder because you own your home and are moving into a care home, a ‘deferred payment agreement’ means you should not have to sell your home in your lifetime to pay care home bills. It is an arrangement that you can enter into with the council that enables you to defer paying for the cost of care against the value of your home. Find out more about deferred payments.

Independent financial advice

If you arrange and pay for your own care independently, it is important that you get financial advice from a reputable organisation or financial advisor so that you can make informed decisions. Find out more about independent financial advice.

Advocacy: Getting someone to speak on your behalf

There are advocacy services available that can help you to say what you want, secure your rights, represent your interests and get the support you need. Find out more about advocacy support.

Advice on making and resolving a complaint

If you arrange and pay for your own care independently and have a complaint about it, this should be directed at the organisation providing your care.  If you are not able to resolve the complaint, you can approach the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman and ask about its independent complaints review service.