The lack of access to care advice, both regulated and non regulated, is leaving many lost about where to turn for help, according to Anthony Miles, technical director at My Care Consultant.
Speaking at the Personal Finance Society’s conference this week (November 2), Miles said when the government launched its Build Back Better plans for social care in England in September 2021, they set not only a huge challenge for local authorities but also a huge opportunity for the financial advice and planning profession.
Miles outlined the proposed reforms in place by the government and outlined the opportunities they could offer financial advisers in the coming months.
He said: “The imminent reforms are also part of that tipping point and I think the increased regulatory focus on both vulnerability and consumer duty… If you put all that together, we're at a tipping point.
“However, lack of access to care advice, both non regulated and regulated, knowing where to go for help, and an understanding of why regulated paid for advice is so important, remains a significant issue for the majority of the public.”
Source: PFS Festival of Financial Planning
Yet, like everything, Miles said this presents an opportunity and argued that where people in need do find their way to getting help, the reaction is often more than positive.
“I suspect you all have had expressions of gratitude from financial planning clients,” he said.
Miles outlined five key aspects of the care reforms that have been proposed for England.
- Care cap
- Means testing
- Fair cost of care
- Care brokerage
- Deferred payment schemes
Source: PFS Festival of Financial Planning
Discussing the reforms to the care cap, he gave an example of a client (see image), where he explained that this individual would be paying £36,608 daily living costs, taking inflation and any increase in fees out of the equation, on an ongoing basis.
“I don't know about you, but for me that still represents catastrophic cost, which is what the care reforms are supposed to remove,” he said.
“Now if you happen to be one of the 10 per cent, and this is an average figure, who are still in care after six years, that figure of £238,700 is closer to £300,000.
“If you happen to be one of the tiny minority who are in care for considerably longer, that figure is eye watering and this is the reality should the care cap come into play.”
He urged advisers that there was an opportunity to help people with this, whether it was through running virtual and face to face seminars in their area, perhaps as part of "your civic duty".
He said: "I already know that many of you offer valuable pro bono advice via this many other routes.
"And if ever there was an opportunity to change the consumer dial, to understand that you are a safe pair of hands and the unique and the often undervalued role you can play, surely, social care and the reforms has to be it.
