What are top-up fees?

The local authority has to give you services that meet your needs, no matter how much it costs. However, you or your family can pay a bit more for your residential accommodation if you want somewhere more expensive. These are called top-up fees. The local authority can’t put you somewhere and expect you to pay extra costs if you do not need it.

Top-up fees would be the difference between your personal budget and the cost of the care home you want to go to. This might mean your personal budget is £200 a week but you want to go to a care home that costs £300 a week. You could pay £100 a week to make up the difference.

If you are doing this you have to sign a contract with the local authority. This contract will make sure you can afford the cost of top up fees. This contract will also decide how often you pay your top-up payments and who they are paid to.

If you do not make your top up payments you may have to move to a different place that is within your personal budget.

The local authority will review the agreement from time to time. This will make sure they know of any increases in charges and how they will divide this.