Previous Proposed Changes to Care Funding in England:
In September 2021 the previous Government announced they were going introduce a personal cap of £86,000 on how much any individual would need to pay for their “care” costs and would also be increasing both the Upper and Lower Capital threshold to £100,000 and £20,000.
However, our current Government decided they will not be implementing these changes at least for the foreseeable future, and have announced that the Upper Capital Threshold of £23,250 will remain unchanged for what is now fifteen years.
This means anyone whose assessable savings exceed just £23,250 will have to fund there own care unless they qualify for free NHS Continuing Healthcare.
Using a care fees annuity to fund care.
Care fee annuities provide an indefinite tax-free income specifically to meet care fees for however long required and are purchased by paying only one single premium.
They can be used to pay for either care at home or when receiving care in a care home and are transferable so should you change care providers, or need to move from receiving care at home to a care home, the income can simply be redirected to any new provider.
Care fee annuities allow you to also chose whether you want the income to commence immediately – when they are often referred to as an immediate needs annuity, or only after an agreed period of time normally 1-5 years when you will get a lower premium but will be need to pay the care fees directly whilst waiting for the annuity to commence. These are then referred to as Deferred Annuities.
To help offset inevitable increases in fees, you can even request the income escalates by a requested set rate each year (2-10% p.a). or have it linked to Retail Prices Index and the income can be paid either monthly, quarterly or annually direct to any care provider which is registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in England, or Care Inspectorate in Scotland or Wales.
For all your added peace of mind all care fee annuities are fully protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme with no maximum £120,000 unlike other investments.
How much do care fee annuities cost?
As everyone’s need for care will be different, all care fee annuity premiums are individually priced and based on; the amount of income required – which only needs to be the gap or shortfall between cost of care, the persons age, their health and the options you chose including whether to opt for an escalating income and if so at what rate, whether you want benefits to commence immediately or only after a few years and whether you would like some capital protection to ensure either 25%, 50% or 75% of the premium will have been paid out in the event of any early death.
They also differ quite widely between providers.
As such its impossible to give you any immediate accurate figures but here at care-fees-annuity.co.uk we would be pleased to request accurate bespoke initial quotes for you absolutely free of charge and with obligation.
