Counting the cost of care

Cast your mind back to last year’s General Election and the furore which surrounded a plan by the government to change the way social care costs were paid by older people.

The plan was to ensure that no-one with assets of less than £100,000 would have to pay for care – but it was soon dropped amid concerns that older voters would not be happy with a scheme which might mean they couldn’t pass on their homes them to their children when they died.

Without a doubt, it proved just how difficult a subject paying for social care has become. But if the subject is complicated for politicians, it’s even more so for the rest of us.

We recently conducted a survey which showed that more than half of us under-estimate just how expensive care homes can be. When we asked people to estimate the average cost of a nursing home in their region, 55 per cent came up short. One in ten even under-estimated the true cost by a massive £737 a week – that’s £39,000 a year – which could either result in serious financial problems in later life, or having to settle for inferior care.

Londoners had the most unrealistic expectations, underestimating the cost by an average of £540 a week while people in the East Midlands were the nearest to reality, with just a £74 shortfall compared with the real figure.

Perhaps we are just trying to convince ourselves that care isn’t that expensive otherwise it would be yet another financial problem to worry about. Previous Which? research has shown that only one in ten of adults aged 55 or over, say they’ve put aside money to pay for care needs as they get older. But the fact is that around one in ten older people now face bills of more than £100,000 and rising.

We know the care system can be confusing and daunting, especially as it’s generally navigated at a time of great stress for families. It is vital people have access to tools and resources to help them plan for the future. Which? has launched a simple and free online cost of care checker, to help calculate the cost of social care in your area as well as eligibility for any support and funding options.

Please do take a look so you can plan ahead for whatever the future brings.

Send me your consumer queries to askalex@which.co.uk