PURE Adult Social Care

Q – “i had a financial assessment with xxxxxxx council. in the section where it says what money i have it said ‘minimum income guarantee’ but i don’t have an income and it doesn’t explain what that means, if they think i have an income they might stop my carers allowance!” (from PW)

A – unlike help from the NHS, social care help is not free, so after a person has had an assessment of their care needs which has decided they are eligible for support, then their council will usually go on to carry out a financial assessment to work out how much the person can afford to pay towards their own support (including out of their benefit ‘income’). the council will then be responsible for paying the rest of the costs.

when the council is doing this for an adult who receives care and support – but who is not in a care home arranged by the council – it must make sure that the amount it decides the person must pay towards their care does not leave them without enough money for their daily living expenses – such as food, toiletries and bills.

that protected amount of money for daily living expenses is called the ‘Minimum Income Guarantee’ (MIG) and a person MUST NOT be forced by the council, as a result of their financial assessment, to use that amount to pay for their assessed care needs.

so, to make sure that happens, when a council is working out what a person must pay towards their care, it will look at the total amount of money they receive each week – which may be partly or entirely made up of welfare benefits such as Personal Independence Payments (PIP) or Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) – and then it MUST treat the same amount as the Minimum Income Guarantee as if the person did not actually have it – that is, they must ignore or ‘disregard’ it from their calculations.

the MIG amount changes each year. the current amounts are listed below and will be valid and remain unaltered until the new financial year begins on 1st April 2025

Weekly Minimum Income Guarantee (MIG) amounts from 1st April 2024 – 31st March 2025

if You have a child and:

• You are responsible for a child and a member of the same household as them: £101.25 per child (child premium)

if You are single and:

• You are of pension credit age or over: £228.70
• You are aged between 25 and pension credit age: £110.60
• You are aged 18 – 24: £87.65
• You receive or would be eligible for disability premium: £48.80
• You receive or would be eligible for enhanced disability premium: £23.85
• You receive or would be eligible for carer premium: £52.35

if You are in a couple and:

• One or both of you are of pension credit age or over: £174.60
• One or both of you are aged 18 or over: £86.85
• One of you receives or would be eligible for disability premium: £34.80
• One of you receives or would be eligible for enhanced disability premium: £17.15
• One of you receives or would be eligible for carer premium: £52.35

Statute: care and support (charging & assessment of resources) regulation 2014

Guidance: care and support statutory guidance – s8 – charging & financial assessment

Helpful Resources: disability law service age uk disability justice