Care costs
October 2015
No sooner have you written a post about a government commitment than the party concerned are busy announcing a deferment until 2020.
Sound familiar? Well that's basically what's happening with the Conservative pledge to cap care charges. (See post from 3 July 2015)
More often than not when political promises are 'shunted into the long grass' the concept disappears, never to be heard of again.
So where does this all leave us? Some would say 'up the creek without a paddle'.
The truth of the matter is however that the current rules will leave many of us having to fund care costs from our own resources.
The average weekly cost of a residential care home accommodation in England is estimated to be £558.00 with the figure rising to £738.00 for a residential nursing home. So a 12 months stay in a care home is going to cost in the region of £29,000.00, rising to £37,000.00 if nursing is required. And don't forget the addition of clothing, personal items, trips and treats etc.
Partnership Assurance state that their experience indicates that the average length of stay for people who have to self-fund care is around 4 years. It doesn't take a mathematical genius to work out that the costs are frightening! In England you effectively become a 'self funder' if your savings, property and other assets exceed £23,250.00.
Clearly this upper limit will 'catch' many of us. A sobering thought!
There is action that can be taken and I will explore some ideas and possibilities within future blogs. I will also consider the subject of local authority financial assessments and the thorny issue of 'deliberate asset deprivation'.
Steve Hall