Assessments for care and support if you’re disabled

This page gives you information about the Care Act 2014, how your care and support needs as an adult will be assessed and how the cost will be paid for.

The Care Act 2014 is for care and support England. Similar rules and guidance are in place in Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland.

On this page:

• The Care Act 2014
• Care and support assessments
• Financial assessments

The Care Act 2014

What is The Care Act 2014?

The Care Act 2014 is a law about care and support for adults in England.

It says that if you’re an adult aged 18 and over with care and support needs, you have a right to have these needs met and to have control over your daily life.

The Care Act 2014 summary

The Act gives rules and guidance about what you should be able to get and what your local authority will have to do.

These rules and guidance mean your local authority must:

• Find out what needs you have – they must give you an assessment, even if they think you, or your family, can pay for your care and support.
• Think about how your needs affect your wellbeing, what’s important to you and how you want to live.
• Think about services that stop problems before they start or stop them from getting worse as early as possible. For example, community activities that would help you keep fit or stop you feeling lonely.
• Involve you in writing and checking your care and support plan and, if necessary, your carer or someone else you choose. This is called person-centred planning.
• Find you an independent advocate, if you find it difficult to be involved and there is no one else to speak for you.
• Make sure there are lots of different care and support services in your area.
• Give you good information and advice to help you choose the right care and support for you.
• Decide what you pay towards your care and support – they will check to see what money you have and ask you to pay what you can afford.

Care and support assessment

An assessment is how your local authority decides whether you need care and support to help you live day to day.

A trained assessor will consider:

• Your needs and how they affect your wellbeing. For example, do you need help getting dressed or support to get to work?
• What matters to you. For, example, are you lonely and would you like to make new friends?
• Other circumstances that affect you. For example, do you live alone, or does someone support you?

If you are deafblind, your local authority must make sure the person assessing you is qualified to do a specialist deafblind assessment.

If you are a carer, the law says you can have an assessment too. Find out more about support for carers.

Financial assessment

Your local authority will do a financial assessment to decide how your care and support will be paid for.

They will look at your:

• Income
• Assets – for example, property, savings or investments.

Find out more about paying for your care and support.

This content was last reviewed in April 2023. We’ll review it again next year.