For clients who need to think about putting themselves or their immediate
family into care, it can be a daunting, emotional and stressful time.
A huge part of this stress can be down to working out how to pay for the care itself.
Unfortunately, care homes haven’t been immune to the effects of the cost of
living crisis. The average weekly cost of living in a residential care home is
£760; for a nursing home it’s £9601. These costs vary depending on where
they are in the UK.
But the UK Care Guide’s 2022 survey found average fees have risen by 11%
between February 2022 and February 2023, with some homes increasing
their individual costs by as much as 30%.
This is down to things like raising staffing costs to attract and retain care workers, rising energy costs to keep homes warm and comfortable, and pricier food bills in the supply chain.
The number of people going into care is increasing significantly, too.
According to the 2022 Office of National Statistics report, 375,035 people
went into care between March 2022 to February 2023 – a 3.1% increase on
the year before.
With the need for professional care increasing due to an ageing population2,
spiralling costs at an already financially pressured time will create more worry
for your clients who are looking at care options for themselves or their
loved ones
Funding for care
The care system in the UK can feel complicated.
With thousands of homes to choose from, it can be hard to know where to start and how to pay for it.
For those who aren’t solely self-funding their care, help is available.
Here are some examples:
- Means-tested local authority funding.
- Attendance Allowance – not means tested, but eligibility applies.
- Pension Credit, which can help pay for care support.
Around £1.7 billion goes unclaimed each year.
It can be difficult navigating this aspect of later life for you or loved ones.
So we can tap into the Legal & General Care Concierge service for when the need arises.
You (or anyone in your immediate family) can call care experts to get more information about finding and funding care. These experts can help
understand all the funding options available such as NHS, local authority,
self-funding and gifting.
Having someone at the end of the phone who knows the system inside-out
can make a stressful time a little smoother.