Adult social care and support

Adult social care assessments and eligibility

We use the national eligibility rules set out within the Care Act 2014 to determine whether you qualify for support from the council. A decision on your eligibility can only be made once we understand your needs. We do this through a support needs assessment.

Page contents

Adult with care and support needs

In order to qualify for support you must meet all 3 of the conditions below.

  1. your needs must come from or be related to a physical, mental health, frailty, impairment or disability
  2. you will have difficulty with or cannot do at least 2 of the everyday tasks or activities (also known as outcomes) because of your physical, mental health, frailty, impairment or disability
  3. there is, or there is likely to be, a significant impact on your wellbeing as a result of having difficulty or not being able to do at least 2 of these everyday tasks

Everyday tasks (outcomes) for adults with care and support needs

  • eating and drinking
  • managing your personal hygiene
  • using the toilet
  • getting dressed
  • looking after your home
  • staying safe in your home
  • maintaining, improving or building personal relationships
  • managing work, learning and volunteering
  • getting out and about
  • managing parenting or caring responsibilities for a young person

To find out if you, or someone you know, can get help from us, complete our self-assessment form. It asks you questions about what you or the person you're telling us about:

As you answer the questions, give us as much detail as you can. This will help us to understand your current situation.

After you send us your details, a member of our team will get in touch to talk about what you've told us.

To complete the form you need:

  • an email address
  • a contact telephone number
  • the GP's contact details

Start a self-assessment

Carers with support needs

There is a different set of eligibility criteria for carers. In order to qualify for support you must meet all three of the conditions below:

  1. your needs must come from providing essential care for an adult
  2. you are unable to achieve one or more of the everyday tasks or activities (also known as outcomes) as a result of your caring responsibilities
  3. there is, or there is likely to be, a significant impact on your physical and/or mental wellbeing as a result of not being able to do one or more of the everyday tasks or activities

Everyday tasks (outcomes) for carers

  • looking after a child
  • caring for other adults
  • maintaining your home and keeping it clean and fit to live in
  • eating and drinking
  • maintaining, improving or building personal relationships
  • managing and maintaining work or volunteering role or participating in training or education
  • getting out and about
  • engaging in a hobbies or activities that are important to you

Carers over 18 who look after another adult can have a carer's assessment. You can do this with our online carer's self-assessment form. It asks you questions about your:

After you send us your details, a member of our team will call to talk about what you've told us.

To complete the form you need:

  • an email address
  • a contact telephone number
  • the GP's contact details

Start a carer's self-assessment

Wellbeing

Eligibility decisions focus on whether the impact on your wellbeing is, or is likely to be 'significant'. Wellbeing relates to the following areas in particular:

  • personal dignity
  • physical and mental health
  • physical, mental and emotional wellbeing
  • being protected from abuse and neglect
  • having control over your day-to-day life
  • participating in work, training and recreation
  • your social and economic wellbeing
  • your domestic, family and personal relationships
  • suitable living accommodation
  • your individual contribution to society

If you have any questions, contact Adult Social Care.

Online financial assessment

How your assessment is calculated will depend on the type of service you receive. You will have to pay for the full cost of your care if you have savings of:

  • £23,250 or above for residential services
  • £24,500 or above for non-residential services

You have the right to refuse a financial assessment. If you do not want an assessment or if you know you will not qualify for financial help, you will have to pay the full amount.

Start a financial assessment

If you are arranging and paying for your care yourself you will be known as a 'self funder' and further information can be found at arranging and paying for care yourself.

What happens after the assessment?

Following your face-to-face meeting you will be sent a letter telling you of your eligibility decision with a copy of your assessment. This will include information about actions agreed with you to meet some, or all, of your needs.

If you have submitted an online assessment your local team will contact you to make an appointment to meet you and talk through the needs you have identified.

If you do not have needs that are eligible we will give you information and advice about what care and support is available to help you. For example, this could be from local charities or voluntary organisations. If any children in the household have caring responsibilities, we will also provide you with information available to them as young carers.

What happens if I disagree with the eligibility decision or assessment?

If you would like more information or you are unhappy with the eligibility decision you can ask the person who assessed you to look at the decision again.

If you are still unhappy with the outcome, you can speak to the team manager to ask for a further explanation and to have the decision reviewed.

Read our Adult Social Care privacy notice.

If the issue cannot be resolved by the team manager, then you can access our complaints procedure by completing the Surrey County Council Complaints form or:

Where can I get independent advice?

Local organisations can offer independent advice about your financial assessment. These organisations include agencies/resources such as:

In this section

Did you find this information helpful?

Rating Did you find the information helpful?

We aren't able to reply to individual comments, so please don't include any personal details.

Subscribe to our newsletters for latest news and events.