Benefits You Can Claim in a Care Home (2026)

Moving into a care home doesn't mean giving up on benefits altogether. Some carry on, some stop, and some only apply once you're paying your own fees. Getting this right can be worth hundreds of pounds a month — and families often miss it because nobody tells them the rules have changed.

Which benefits can you claim in a care home?

Benefits fall into two broad groups, and it matters which group each one is in.

• Not means-tested — Attendance Allowance, the disability benefits (PIP, DLA), NHS Funded Nursing Care and NHS Continuing Healthcare. These depend on your care needs, not your savings or income.
• Means-tested — Pension Credit, council-funded care, Housing Benefit and Council Tax Support. These depend on your income, savings and, in some cases, who else lives with you.

This guide covers England. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own rules on care funding and some benefits, so check with your local council or GOV.UK if you live outside England.

Can you claim Attendance Allowance in a care home?

Attendance Allowance is paid to people over State Pension age who need help with personal care because of an illness or disability. It's not means-tested and isn't affected by savings.

What happens to it once you move into a care home depends entirely on who pays:

• You're paying your own fees (self-funding): Attendance Allowance normally continues in full.
• The council is funding your care in full: Attendance Allowance usually stops after 28 days, because public funds aren't paid twice for the same need. If you're only partly funded by the council, or your funding is under review, check your specific position — the 28-day rule applies to fully-funded placements.

It's worth claiming Attendance Allowance even during a short self-funded period, or while a funding decision is pending, since it can be backdated in some circumstances and directly increases your income for the means test.

What happens to PIP or DLA when someone moves into a care home?

Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and Disability Living Allowance (DLA) work in a similar way to Attendance Allowance, but they have two separate components:

• Daily living / care component: usually stops after 28 days if the local authority is funding the placement in full — the same rule as Attendance Allowance.
• Mobility component: continues regardless of who funds the care home place, because councils don't fund transport or mobility needs.

If you're self-funding, both components normally continue as before.

Does Pension Credit stop if you move into a care home?

Pension Credit tops up a low income for people over State Pension age. Moving into a care home doesn't automatically end it, but it's usually recalculated:

• If you move as a couple and one partner stays at home, your claim may need to be reassessed as the household composition has changed.
• Pension Credit income is counted in the council's financial assessment for care costs, so a change here can affect what the council expects you to pay.
• Pension Credit can also open the door to other help, including Council Tax Support and, for the person remaining at home, help with heating costs — so it's worth checking eligibility again after a move, not just leaving an existing award unreviewed.

What about Housing Benefit and Council Tax Support?

If you move into a care home permanently and no longer live in your former home, Housing Benefit on that property usually stops — though there's a linking rule that can protect it for a limited period (commonly up to 13 weeks) if there's a reasonable chance you might return. Council Tax Support similarly ends once you're no longer liable for council tax on the property, though the property itself may become exempt or discounted if it's left empty. Check the exact position with your council, as local schemes vary.

NHS Funded Nursing Care and NHS Continuing Healthcare

These two are easy to confuse, and neither is means-tested.

• NHS Funded Nursing Care is a fixed contribution paid directly to a nursing home (not to you) towards the cost of registered nursing care, for people assessed as needing it.
• NHS Continuing Healthcare is different: if your primary need is a health need, the NHS can fund your entire care package — including accommodation — regardless of your income or savings. Eligibility is decided through an assessment process, usually starting with a checklist and, if that's positive, a full multidisciplinary assessment.

If you think a health need, rather than a general care need, is driving the move into a care home, ask for a Continuing Healthcare checklist before assuming you'll have to self-fund. The NHS social care and support guide explains the process in more detail.

If a partner or family member stays at home

When one partner moves into a care home and the other stays put, several things change at once:

• The value of the family home is normally disregarded in the local authority's financial assessment for as long as a partner (or certain other relatives) continues to live there.
• Pension Credit and Council Tax Support for the partner at home may need to be reclaimed as a single person, which can sometimes increase the amount they receive.
• If the partner was claiming Carer's Allowance, this can stop once the person they cared for is no longer receiving a qualifying disability benefit at home, or once caring hours fall — check this separately, as it's easy to lose without realising.

Carers UK has practical guidance for the partner or family member left managing this change.

What to do around a move into a care home

1. Check what you're owed before the move. Claim Attendance Allowance or PIP if you haven't already — it strengthens your position during the means test and while self-funding.
2. Tell the DWP about the move as soon as the funding arrangement is settled, giving the date the council started (or is expected to start) paying in full.
3. Ask about NHS Funded Nursing Care and Continuing Healthcare if there's any nursing or significant health need — this is separate from the council's means test and easy to overlook.
4. Get the partner at home reassessed for Pension Credit and Council Tax Support as a single claimant if that applies.
5. Get a free benefits check from Age UK, Citizens Advice or the council's welfare rights team. It costs nothing and regularly turns up entitlements families didn't know existed.

For a wider view of how care costs are worked out, including the means test and the current capital thresholds, see the NHS social care and support guide and MoneyHelper, and always check figures against the current rates before relying on them.