Who cares wins

“People used to be fully alive one day and fully dead the next. The reality is that for many, death could be preceded by ten years or more of chronic ill health.”

Peter Webb, senior PR manager at Friends Life, said that insurers are generally behind the need for advice for LTC.

“The market will grow  organically, if nothing else  because demographics define that it has to in terms of the need for LTC funding of some sort.

“How that will be achieved will come from the Dilnot Commission because it is obvious the state will not be able to fund LTC for society as a whole. There are going to have to be other funding options,” he said.

Another factor is that of cross-generational fairness, according to Chris Horlick, managing director of care at ­Partnership. “There are fewer people of working age having to pay taxes to support an ever-larger retired population.

“It seems very clear from hints we have had from the Dilnot Commission that they will recommend a ­partnership solution between individual and state. Government will have to put more money in, as will individuals, in order to fund this ever-increasing need.”

Horlick is a firm supporter of the Society of Later Life Advisers (SOLLA). “Not only do its members have the CII CF8 qualification, but they have all also completed an externally benchmarked, accredited exam to demonstrate their expertise in the wider care advice space.”

Through the work of such advisers with local authorities and care homes, the signposts are gradually being put in place to direct those having to fund for their own care towards professional financial advice.

Lorreine Kennedy, co-founder of Care Matters, approached a few local authorities to get them to signpost self-funders through to SOLLA.

She said: “I had to build up a lot of credibility and really get to understand the local authority’s policies and how they do things. We can really hold our own with them now because of the knowledge we hold. But the real problem is that the public just isn’t aware that there are specialist LTC advisers such as ourselves out there.”

Kennedy would certainly recommend the LTC market to other advisers, but did emphasise that it needs to be specialised.

“As a job, it can be emotionally rewarding and it is becoming financially rewarding. It can be complex, which is why other IFAs shy away, because you do have to have a very good knowledge of both the products and what is going on with state funding and local authorities.

“But it’s a non cyclical business, not hit by recessions and a growing market. For me also, it has to be about a win-win for everybody, which if you do the job right, it is.”

FEAR OF HIGH COSTS

Many people seem to think the costs involved in LTC are insurmountable and fear they will have no control over what care they receive. David Soper, director of David Soper and Co, says clients often don’t take on the detail and stop any discussion about care very early.

“If they see the figure of £30,000 to £40,000 a year in a care home, they think their money is going to run out in three years. But they don’t factor in the attendance allowance higher rate of about £3,500 and the state pension of £6,000.

“Then there might be £8,000 to £9,000 in an ­occupation pension and some capital and property, so you can see how the amount needed to self-fund can look more manageable.”

The LTC market is not actually about the product, Soper said. “It’s about advice. The solutions offered may be a product, but they may be an ISA or existing pension plan or the state pension.

We use the product in conjunction with everything else. You use the care plan to reduce the shortfall, so the remaining investments are capable of generating the income needed.”

On which basis with clients needing funding for care now or reassurance for the future advisers do not really need to wait for the Dilnot Commission to report, or for insurers to start throwing products back into the mix. It could well be that who cares wins.