Lack of government action and the retail distribution review (RDR) will mean short to medium term doldrums for long-term care, according to an advisory firm.
Surrey-based IFA SewellBrydenGunn said it was not realistic to expect clients would want to pay for long-term care advice as fee-based advice spelled higher upfront cost.
Client director and founder Neil Sewell added that lack of government certainty meant there was no real resolution either for clients who did need advice.
He said: "GDP figures are showing we are out of recession but on the ground there is still a lot of graft and people are watching the pennies. If they now have to pay upfront for advice the majority of the population will probably be priced out.
"Clients are not pro-active about this unless an adviser makes them confront the issue at planning stage."
But Sewell said the eventual government action on the Dilnot Report recommendations will mean a brighter picture for long-term care.
"It has not died a death on the government agenda, but it is going to take a long time," he added.
"When there is more certainty awareness will grow, ptoducts will be launched and long-term care could become something that is more prominent in client's minds."
Jim Boyd, director of corporate affairs at long-term care specialist provider Partnership, said RDR could potentially be "fantastic" provided advisers recognised the need to identify elderly parents of clients at the planning stage.
He said: "One of the concerns we have with financial advisers is that they seldom ask if there are any dependent parents or elderly parents who could become dependent in the future."
Boyd added that a pre-funded market was "extremely unlikely" unless the government created incentives for purchase.
