Former minister calls For shake-up to Fund care
A “CARE pension” which helps cover costs for people later in life should be introduced, a former minister said yesterday.
Sir Steve Webb, director of policy at mutual insurer Royal London and ex-pensions minister, said a solution is needed which could help people build up protection against the possibility of huge care costs later in life.
The suggestion is outlined in a paper published by Royal London, which it said has been submitted to the Government.
It calls for policy changes which could combine existing pensions income drawdown arrangements with insurance against future care costs.
Royal London said at present there was a lack of financial products allowing people coming up to retirement to plan ahead for future care costs. Sir Steve said: “We know that more than one in four of us will spend some time in later life in residential care.
“The total bill can easily run into tens of thousands of pounds.
“In extreme cases, people can be forced to sell their family home to pay for care.
“It ought to be possible to take out insurance against this risk.
“But insurers are reluctant to offer products – and consumers have been reluctant to take them up.
“A care pension could build on the increasingly popular income drawdown product by adding in care insurance.”