Getting help with healthcare costs

Recent figures showed that 41 per cent of care home residents get no financial support from their local council.

National charity Counsel and Care did not find these figures surprising. Chief Executive Stephen Burke said: “Worries about how to pay for care remain the biggest concern for older people contacting our advice service. They are worried about having to use large amounts of their savings, and how the cost is getting more and more expensive.”

The average cost of a stay in a nursing home for a year in England works out at around £35,000 a year, but there are vast regional differences. Another fact is that dementia care costs more, but retirement homes with only the most basic care cost less.

If you have savings of more than £23,000 then it will be you who pays. (The figure is less is Wales and Scotland.)

Financial difficulties have caused 48,000 people currently in care to sell their homes, but that is not necessarily the best solution.

Beth Cartwright of fees advice organisation NHFA says that taking out a care plan can provide an answer. NHFA provide care advice to help you understand what you may be entitled to from the State towards your care and, if you are self-funding, to help you understand what financial products are available to meet ongoing care costs and still preserve your capital as far as possible.

They look at a person’s life expectancy and assets together with a financial advisor to then give advice on the best way to finance care home fees.

This may mean a plan which guarantees to meet all costs for q lifetime of care in return for a lump sum. One option can be a ‘deferred plan’, in which a lower amount can be paid in anticipation of later care. Whether a plan provides income to cover costs or guarantees a later amount as an inheritance, the key thing is that is can eliminate the risk of running out of money and having to sell your home.

Cheselden Continuing Care take a different approach, assessing whether people are paying fees when they should not be. Age Concern estimates that 200,000 people are paying fees that they should not be.

Colin Ball, at Cheselden, says that they take all the hard work away from the family. He says: “We have won refunds for money spent on care since 1996. This can mean a substantial payout – even if the person is deceased.”

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