Editorial guides
Practical articles, checklists and explanations built around Italian care homes, urgent placement, waiting lists and home-care decisions.
Featured guide
The two types of LPA, why doing it before capacity is lost is essential, what happens if you leave it too late (deputyship), and how it makes care and finance decisions possible.
Self-funders often pay full care-home fees until their savings nearly vanish — then scramble. Plan the handover to council funding early and you protect choice, avoid a forced move, and get the council contributing sooner than most families expect.
When the council funds a care home, families are often asked for a "top-up" to cover a nicer room or a more expensive home. Some top-ups are legitimate; others are unlawful. Here is how to tell the difference and protect yourself.
If most of your wealth is in your home, a Deferred Payment Agreement lets the council pay the care-home fees and reclaim the money later from your estate — so you are not forced into a rushed sale. Here is how it works, what it costs, and who qualifies.
A day-by-day plan for finding a good care home fast — CQC ratings, the means test, NHS Continuing Healthcare, the shortlist, the visit questions and the paperwork, without losing a week to phone calls.
What a care home really costs per week, what drives the price up, and how local-authority and NHS funding fit in.
Capital thresholds, the property disregard, and how the council works out what you pay towards care.
The fully funded NHS care package many families never ask about — eligibility, the assessment process and appeals.
The real differences in care level, cost and who each option is for — so you don’t overpay or under-serve.
How to read the Care Quality Commission’s ratings and inspection reports — and the questions ratings never answer.
Most read
The two types of LPA, why doing it before capacity is lost is essential, what happens if you leave it too late (deputyship), and how it makes care and finance decisions possible.
What the Care Quality Commission's Outstanding-to-Inadequate ratings measure, why the report matters more than the badge, how to read the five key questions, and a visit checklist.
What happens when a self-funder's savings approach the means-test threshold, how to trigger a local authority reassessment in time, and the truth about third-party top-up fees.
Who qualifies for fully funded NHS care, the means test threshold, the deferred payment agreement that keeps the home, and the reliefs families routinely fail to claim.
