Elderly Care and help with Meeting the cost of residential and nursing care in old age is a growing issue for many people in the UK. As life expectancy continues to lengthen, more of us can expect to require some form of ‘residential or nursing home care’.
Care for Elderly
Whether you are a relative or someone who needs to plan for their own later years, the costs involved can be daunting to say the least. The cost of residential care in the UK is now estimated at £24,128 a year. If nursing is also required, this can rise to £34,528 a year (1). Faced with costs like this, it is not surprising to learn that more and more people require elderly care and are having to sell their home to help with the funding burden. While the state can help with some costs, eligibility for help is limited and many people find themselves over the threshold at which state support is provided.
What help is available from the State for Care of the Elderly?
Local authorities and the NHS can help with care of the elderly care costs – but support is limited.
Whether a person requires care at home or in residence, the State can provide help with the cost within strict limits.
State assistance with the cost of old-age care is means-tested – primarily by imposing upper and lower capital limits on the value of a person’s savings, property and other assets.
Elderly Care In England, for example, if an individual’s assets including any property have a total value of less than £14,000, care bills will be paid in full by the State.
If personal assets exceed £23,000, an individual will normally be expected to pay for their own care in full. (Different upper and lower capital limits apply in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
A reducing scale of support applies between £14,000 and £23,000, based on the person contributing £1 a week for every £250 in assets over £14,000. So, someone with assets of £18,000 would be expected to contribute £16 a week (£4,000 ÷ £250 x £1 = £16) towards care.
Financial assessment
Care for Elderly and Local authority means-testing will look to include most capital and savings held in an individual’s name, including:
- Bank and building society accounts;
- National Savings and Premium Bonds;
- Stocks, shares and investment products;
- Income from state, personal and occupational pensions;
- Property and land (less any mortgage).
Jointly-held savings and assets will be usually divided by two to calculate an individual’s share.
Some assets are disregarded by the means test, including:
- Surrender value of life policies / annuities;
- Surrender value of life policies / annuities;
- Some compensation payments held in trust or by the courts;
- Some investment bonds with a life assurance element (check with provider);
- Property that continues to be inhabited by a partner, dependant or certain other parties.
Even if an individual falls below the lower capital limit – and therefore qualifies for full help with fees – there can still be a gap between a care home’s fees and the maximum the local authority is willing to pay for that standard of care.
For families this can mean a difficult decision to fund the shortfall or move a relative to a cheaper nursing home. In some cases, it may be possible to claim there were no other suitable homes available within the local authority’s price limits. If this is upheld, the local authority may pay the full amount.
Some Of Our Elderly Care Services
So that your local adviser can begin to guide you through your long term care options, you will need to provide some information by completing the attached form. Alternatively, you can simply call our Care for Elderly Advice Line on 0800 043 0725