YOU HAVE YOUR SAY
How YOU can protect your wealth from a care fees black hole
EVERY week, Money Mail receives hundreds of your letters and emails about our stories. Here are some of the best from our piece about how households are losing their life savings to crippling care costs, and what you can do to protect your family’s cash. I AM going through this now with my mother-in-law. We have just sold her £85,000 flat. The money won’t last that long before the council takes over. We accept the need to pay, but it’s a shame her wish to help her four grandchildren on to the property ladder will not come true. N. W., Southampton. MANY who paid contributions for decades took it for granted that they would get old-age care. Now the Government has passed the buck to the private sector, it is a cruel blow to find they want all you have strived to secure. P. W., Ashworth. I HAVE been looking for residential care for my father for months. Costs are between £650 and £900 per week. We are in negotiation with one home to reduce fees from £750 to £700. O. W., Adlington, Lancs. I WOULD rather pay for private nurses than go into a care home and spend hundreds a week on very basic care. That way, when I have nothing left, I will go into a care home and pay nothing. A. P., North Yorkshire. MY FATHER’S house had to be sold when he went into a home. There was nothing left after a lifetime of hard work to own it — he was proud of it and wanted to pass it on. You would think £1,000 a week for care would be luxurious. Think again. G. G., Bristol. LOOK up ‘NHS continuing healthcare’ and download the criteria checklist. The person needing care may be eligible and the NHS can cover costs. L. M., Leeds. THE cost of running care homes goes up, and so does what people must pay. There have been rises in the minimum wage, and care homes employ a lot of people. Many have huge heating bills. Z. D., Harwich.