Financial advisers will be ‘centre stage' in the future long-term care system, according to the minister for care and support.
Speaking at yesterday's Society of Later Life Advisers' [SOLLA] conference on ‘The Value of Advice', Norman Lamb said the current system was "completely dysfunctional" as people deteriorated with no access to advice and the belief there were no products available.
He said it was crucial for government to move from Dilnot's capped cost principles to implementation, with a focus in the draft care and support bill on advice.
Lamb told adviser- delegates: "This is where critically you come in. How that person can make best uses of the resources they have available to them. Your role in this landscape we're going to design is completely critical. You come centre stage.
"We know at the moment people are not using their resources rationally. They're seeing them disappear without any planning at all. So building the capacity to ensure there is advice is available to people, ensuring local authorities steer people in the right direction so they know they can get advice.
He continued: "I don't think people are even thinking about the need for financial advice and yet it's so crucial in protecting their interests in the widest possible sense. It's both because it's legitimate for people to want to preserve the assets they've worked hard for throughout their working lives but also to ensure resources are available to help them when the need arises."
Lamb concluded government must push the capped cost scheme through to give the financial services industry space to develop products.
