How to avoid care home fees
Covering the cost of long-term care is one of the biggest financial challenges many families face, which is why it’s important to know that there are completely legal ways to reduce or even avoid paying care home fees, depending on your circumstances. In this guide, we’ll explain your options, what the law says and how you can protect your assets while ensuring your care needs are met.
In this article:
Can I refuse to pay care home fees?
If you are the person moving into a care home, refusing to pay is rarely an option. Once you enter a nursing home or residential facility, you are legally responsible for meeting the cost of your care unless you qualify for NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC) or local authority support. Ignoring requests for payment can put your placement at risk and may even result in legal action being taken against you.
For family members, however, the rules are different. Being a spouse, child or next of kin does not automatically mean you must cover the fees and you cannot be forced to pay for the cost of someone else’s care unless you have signed a contract accepting legal responsibility.
Are next of kin responsible for care home fees?
In short, no. Next of kin are only responsible for care home fees if they have formally agreed to pay them, e.g. by acting as a guarantor or co-signing a contract with the care provider. Without this agreement, there is no legal duty on family members to cover the cost of care.
This is really important, as many relatives wrongly believe they must contribute when, in reality, the obligation lies with the person receiving care, and any financial assessment carried out by the local authority will be based on that individual’s assets, not those of their family. If you are asked to pay as a next of kin without signing any agreement, you are entitled to refuse.
For people funded by the Council, the amount the Council will pay is often not sufficient to cover the cost of care. Unlike CHC, Councils can limit the amount they pay for care. In these cases, families may be offered the option of paying a third-party top-up to cover the difference between the Council’s rate and the care home’s fees.
This contribution is voluntary but must be agreed in writing, and the family should be given a clear choice: make the top-up payment or allow the Council to arrange a suitable, fully funded placement within its standard rate.
Ways to avoid care home fees
There are legitimate ways to reduce or avoid care home fees in the UK, usually depending on your health needs, financial circumstances and the support available from the NHS or your local authority. Below, we’ll explain three key options:
NHS Continuing Healthcare Funding
NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC) is a package of care, which is fully funded by the NHS. If your primary need for care is health-related (rather than social care) you could qualify for CHC funding, which covers 100% of care home fees, regardless of your financial situation.
Eligibility is assessed using a Checklist Assessment followed by a full Decision Support Tool (DST) at a Multi-Disciplinary Team (MDT) meeting. The process reviews 12 care domains such as mobility, cognition, and behaviour. If the assessment shows that your needs are complex, intense or unpredictable, you may qualify.
If successful, CHC funding ensures you don’t have to pay care home fees at all. You can read more on this at our NHS Continuing Healthcare page.
Funding from local authorities
If you don’t qualify for CHC funding and your capital falls below certain thresholds, you may receive help from your local authority, as indicated here:
- Over £23,250 in assets – you must self-fund your care.
- Between £14,250 and £23,250 – the local authority contributes, but you also pay from your income and a tariff on your savings.
- Below £14,250 – the local authority pays most of your fees, with you only contributing from your income.
This support is means-tested, and what is included in the financial assessment can be complex, i.e. whether or not your home is counted will depend on who is still living in the property and the nature of ownership. Local authority funding won’t always cover full nursing home fees, but it can significantly reduce the overall cost of your care.
Deprivation of assets
Some people try to reduce their savings or transfer property to family members in order to fall below the local authority’s financial threshold. This is known as deliberate deprivation of assets.
While this might seem like a way to avoid paying for care, local authorities have strong powers to investigate, and if they decide you have deliberately reduced your assets to avoid care home costs, those assets can still be included in the means-test. This could mean you are still treated as if you own the asset, leaving you liable for care fees. If the asset was transferred or gifted, the local authority can ask this individual to also pay towards the care costs up to the value of the asset they received.
Before making decisions about gifting property or money, you should seek robust legal and independent financial advice. Strategies such as setting up a Life Interest Trust or reviewing Powers of Attorney may provide more secure ways to protect your assets without risking severe penalties, but this must be done many years in advance of care being needed to avoid allegations of deliberate deprivation.
How much are care home fees?
Care home costs in the UK vary widely depending on the level of care required and the location. In 2025, the average weekly cost ranges from £1,000 to £2,500, meaning annual fees can easily exceed £65,000. Residential care typically falls at the lower end of this scale, while specialist dementia or nursing care costs can be considerably higher.
At the time of writing, there’s no cap on care home fees in the UK. Proposals for a lifetime cap on the cost of your care have been repeatedly delayed, leaving many families responsible for significant out-of-pocket expenses.
You can read more detail in our care home costs and fees 2025 guide.
Speak to Farley Dwek
Avoiding care home fees legally often depends on whether you qualify for NHS Continuing Healthcare. At Farley Dwek, we specialise in helping families secure this funding, from preparing the necessary evidence to representing you at MDT meetings and appeals.
We also advise on retrospective claims, meaning you may be able to reclaim fees that should never have been paid in the first place.
For tailored advice on reclaiming care home fees after death or avoiding unnecessary costs, speak to our expert team today. Call 0161 272 5222 or contact us here.
