A free UK care cost calculator covering England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland with their actual statutory means-test rules, NHS Continuing Healthcare pass-through, free personal/nursing care contributions, home protection logic, and a what-if toggle for the £86,000 care cap (cancelled in July 2024). Plus the conversations that protect your family regardless of the numbers: Power of Attorney, an up-to-date will, and a SOLLA-accredited adviser.
Median UK residential stay is ~2-3 years; right tail is long for dementia (5-10+ years). For "capital when care begins" enter total assets including investments and property — we'll handle the home protection rules below. Weekly income defaults to the full new State Pension for 2026/27 (£241.30). The income test is simplified: in a care home, anyone the council helps pays their income less a personal allowance; for care at home, councils protect a minimum income instead, which this calculator does not model, so income is treated as not assessed there.
NHS CHC pays the full cost when the primary need is a health need. Not means-tested. Assessed by NHS using a Decision Support Tool. Significantly under-claimed — worth requesting an assessment.
This calculator shows what care does to your starting capital. The much more useful question is: "given my actual finances today, what will I have when care begins — and what does the full trajectory from now through retirement to care look like?" That's what the in-app version does.
Two types — both worth setting up:
Cannot be set up after mental capacity is lost — that's a one-way door. The application is a single online form on gov.uk (£92 per LPA, £184 for both). Takes ~10 weeks to register. Without one, family must apply through the Court of Protection — a much longer, more expensive process.
Open gov.uk LPA application →Care costs deplete estates faster than most people realise. An out-of-date will leads to unintended inheritance outcomes — assets going to ex-spouses, estranged children, or under intestacy rules that don't match your wishes.
Worth reviewing every 5 years, or after any major life change (marriage, divorce, new grandchild, property purchase, business sale). For complex estates a solicitor is worth the £200-500 fee; for simpler estates MoneyHelper has free templates and guidance.
MoneyHelper will guidance →Records wishes about treatment, end-of-life care, and CPR preferences. Comes in two forms:
NHS clinicians honour these when known. Pairs naturally with an LPA Health & Welfare so someone you trust can advocate for your wishes. Free to set up — templates available from Compassion in Dying and Marie Curie.
NHS advance decision guidance →The Society of Later Life Advisers (SOLLA) is a specialist accreditation for financial advisers working in later-life and care fees planning. The right person for:
Free directory at societyoflaterlifeadvisers.co.uk. Initial consultations are typically free; ongoing advice fees apply.
Find a SOLLA adviser near you →Free, independent help is available from several UK charities and government services:
For local council social care assessments: each council has a duty under the Care Act 2014 to assess any adult who appears to need care. Free; take it up before crisis hits.
The calculator runs the year-by-year drawdown of your starting capital against the means-test bands for your selected UK nation, applying free personal/nursing care contributions, a simplified income test, NHS Continuing Healthcare if eligible, and the cancelled £86,000 cap as a what-if if toggled on.
effectiveWeekly = grossWeekly − freeNursing − freePersonal(if Scotland) − homeCapAdjustment(if Wales home care)
For nursing and dementia care, the NHS Funded Nursing Care contribution (£267.68/wk England 2026/27, ~£200/wk Wales, £117.10/wk Scotland, ~£100/wk NI) is deducted before the means test applies. Scotland's free personal care (£260.30/wk, adults of any age assessed as needing it) is deducted across all care settings. In Wales the council can charge no more than £100/wk for care at home it arranges. In Northern Ireland, care at home arranged by an HSC Trust is normally not charged for, so the calculator shows nothing to pay.
assessable = totalCapital − (homeEquity if care at home, or if spouse-protected in a care home)
For a care home, the home is excluded from the means test if a spouse, civil partner or dependant lives in it. For care at home, the home's value is ignored in every nation. The calculator assumes 50% of starting capital is home equity, up to £400k. Wales uses a £24,000 capital limit for care at home instead of £50,000.
Each year, the engine determines which means-test band applies and what the user actually pays:
if assessable > upperThreshold: selfPay = min(effectiveAnnual, income + assessable)
else if assessable > lowerThreshold and tariff applies: selfPay = min(effectiveAnnual, assessedIncome + tariffIncome × 52)
else: selfPay = min(effectiveAnnual, assessedIncome) (council pays the rest)
Self-funders pay from income first and draw on capital for the rest. assessedIncome is a simplified income test: in a care home it is your weekly income less the personal allowance for your nation (England £31.80 for 2026/27; Scotland £37.65 from April 2026; Wales £46.35 Minimum Income Amount; NI £34.10). For care at home, councils protect a higher minimum income instead, which is not modelled, so income is treated as not assessed there. You can't pay £62,400 of care from £49,000 of savings: the council picks up the shortfall when self-pay can't cover the cost.
if capEnabled and totalSelfPay > 86000: totalSelfPay = 86000, council picks up the excess
The £86,000 cap was cancelled in July 2024 and is not in force; the toggle is a hypothetical. As designed it would only have counted personal care costs at the council's standard rate, so this simplified toggle overstates what it would have saved.
The four UK nations have materially different care funding rules. This is the single biggest variable for many households after care type and duration:
| Nation | Upper threshold | Lower threshold | Free care | Special rules |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| England | £23,250 | £14,250 | FNC £267.68/wk for nursing (2026/27) | Tariff income £1/wk per £250 in the band |
| Scotland | £36,750 | £22,750 | FPC £260.30/wk + FNC £117.10/wk (any age if assessed, any setting) | Means test applies only to "hotel costs" |
| Wales | £50,000 | £50,000 (flat) | FNC ~£200/wk for nursing | Care home limits shown; care at home uses £24,000 and a £100/wk maximum charge; no tariff band |
| N. Ireland | £23,250 | £14,250 | Nursing contribution ~£100/wk | Mirrors England's care home bands; HSC Trust care at home normally not charged for |
The practical effect: a person with £40,000 of assets in Wales is below the £50,000 care home limit, so the council helps with the fees from the start, though their income (State Pension, pensions) still goes towards them apart from a £46.35/wk Minimum Income Amount; in England they'd self-fund until £23,250 then enter the tariff band. A Scottish resident in a care home pays "hotel costs" (~£700-1,000/wk) rather than the full £1,200/wk. For households with substantial savings and care needs at home, Wales's £100/wk maximum charge is the largest difference from England.
Most care planning isn't just about you — it's about the whole family. The in-app version lets you save scenarios for each person and compare them, model joint household impact, and surface the conversation prompts (POA, will, SOLLA referral) appropriate to each.
Try WealthR Pro free →WealthR is a complete UK personal finance app: net worth tracking across every asset class, UK tax modelling (including all Scottish bands), retirement projection, and eleven life-event Scenarios, including Income Shock, Cost of Raising a Child and the Long-term Care tool you've just used. Free forever for core tracking, and the Income Shock, Salary Sacrifice and Pay Rise Scenarios are free; Pro adds the other Scenarios, including Long-term Care, plus Save & Compare and the Tax Year Optimiser.
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