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05

Calls for social care fees to be capped at £60,000

Open-access content Tuesday 6th June 2017 — updated 5.50pm, Wednesday 29th April 2020

Nine in ten people aged over 50 in the UK believe there should be a social care fee cap after PM Theresa May proposed to continue to charge anyone with more than £100,000.

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That is according to the findings of a survey by Saga, which reveals that a third of over 50s would not save for their future if they had to pay the controversial 'dementia tax'.

It was found that while many agreed that those who can afford it should contribute towards their own care, £60,000 should be the limit, with home owners the most likely to be put off saving if the contribution is too high.

"The survey clearly shows that people are supportive of contributing to their own care, but not at any price," Saga Money managing director, Nici Audhlam-Gardiner, said. "They strongly believe there should be a cap on care fees and that this should be set at around £60,000.

"People find it grossly unfair that some people get all costs funded by the state, whilst others are faced with losing a huge part of the estate they have worked hard to build up."

Concerns were raised that families in some areas could face bills of up to 79% the value of their homes after the Conservative party revealed their social care plans last month.

The original proposals involved including the value of homes when means-testing those who receive social care, however, the PM backtracked on the plans within a week by saying there would be a cap after a consultation is undertaken.

The Saga survey involved questioning 2,004 nationally representative UK adults aged over 18 in May this year, 897 of which were aged 50 or over, finding that three-quarters of people do not think a home should have to be sold for care.

"But it is not just homeowners looking to protect their inheritance that feel this way," Audhlam-Gardiner continued. "A similar number of people in rented accommodation also said that this concept was not right.

"Clearly we need to find a sustainable solution to our care funding crisis, however without a realistic care cap in place, people could choose to spend now rather than buying their homes or saving for later life - leaving the state to pick up an even bigger bill for the future."


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This article appeared in our May 2017 issue of The Actuary.
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