Deferred payment agreements

If you are staying in residential care you will need to pay a contribution towards your care costs from your income. Any costs you cannot meet from your contribution can be deferred under a Deferred Payment Agreement (DPA).

A DPA will give you the option to use your home to pay for your care home costs. However, you will not need to sell your house immediately to pay for your care. If you decide to agree to a DPA we will loan you the money to pay your fees until you are able to repay us the full amount.

You will need to repay the fees, plus any associated costs when your house is sold or you no longer need residential care. The current rate of interest for our Deferred Payment Scheme is 1.15%. More detailed information on our DPA is set out in our Deferred Payment policy (PDF, 121 KB).

You may be eligible for a DPA if:

• you have less than £23,250 in capital (including savings and investments) apart from the value of your former home.

• you have a legal or beneficial interest in a property which is your main or only home.

• we can place a legal charge on your property (similar to a mortgage) or in very exceptional cases we may consider other forms of security.

• the cost of your care home has been agreed by us.

If you choose not to agree to a DPA we will include the value of your property in your financial assessment. This will mean that your capital will be over £23,250 and you will have to pay the full cost of your care.