• You won’t have to sell your home during your lifetime to pay for care if you don’t want to.
• If you receive funding from us under a deferred payment agreement, you could pay an extra amount towards the cost of more expensive care than we have assessed that you need. The extra money can be added to the amount being deferred against the value of your home. We would need to be satisfied that there is enough value in your property to cover this extra amount on an ongoing basis.
• If someone already pays extra money towards your care, you may be able to add the cost of these payments to your deferred payment agreement, if there is enough equity or financial value in your home. This means that the person would no longer need to pay the extra money towards your care.

Other options

You do not have to take out a deferred payment agreement. There may be other ways for you to pay for your care without selling your home.

• You might choose to rent out your home, which could give you enough income to cover the cost of your care. The advantages of this option are that you would not build up debt and your property would be occupied, with your tenant paying the bills and council tax.
• There are equity-release schemes available which you can use to release money from the value of your home.
• You can buy immediate care plans or annuities (insurance plans) to pay for your care.
• You could choose to pay the cost of your care from your available income, savings and assets, or a family member could pay some or all of this for you.

We strongly recommend that you get independent financial advice before you decide whether a deferred payment agreement is right for you. We can provide you with information about the Carewise care funding scheme which provides specialist independent financial advice. You can of course get advice from other financial advisers if you prefer.