LEBC Group has called on MPs to consider making long-term care advice fees VAT exempt.
At the Equity Release Council's presentation on improving financial advice for older people, MPs had expressed concerns that some elderly clients could not afford advisory fees.
LEBC Group's director of financial planning Kay Ingram asked MPs to consider a simple amendment to the Bill "to make fees for care planning advice VAT exempt. That would cut the cost and potentially save the Treasury billions if it meant more got good advice."
Ingram also urged for MPs to ensure that later life planning, as required by the Care Bill, should be provided by regulated specialist advisers.
The Care Bill had fallen short of stipulating that anyone looking to fund long- term care should receive independent financial advice.
Ingram said: "Few individuals plan ahead for care, and decisions affecting the wellbeing of elderly relatives were often made in a hurry without information on all the options and with issues of capacity and family conflicts to the fore.
"Only independent regulated holistic advice should be required to be made available to help families and their legal advisers to make informed decisions.
"The Bill's requirement for local authorities to make this available was unlikely to be realistic as it was outside their skill set. Such advice would not be independent and without regulation could produce poor consumer outcomes."
