Couples to pay up to £150,000 for residential care under new plans

The Prime Minister initially backed £35,000 cap; however, under new plans, this could increase up to £75,000 per person.

00:00 27 December 2012

Middle-class couples, who need residential care in old age, may be required to pay residential care bills as high as £150,000. Under new

Coalition plans to be unveiled in the New Year, an individual must contribute up to £75,000 towards care. This cap is almost double the amount that was suggested by independent review into England’s care funding system just last year. This means that individuals need to pay £75,000 before the state steps in.

 

The bill doesn’t include ‘bed and board’ cost of heating and food which could cost pensioners additional £7,000- £10,000 per year.

 

Currently, care home residents with assets more than £23,500 can be hit with unlimited charges. Those who do not have savings get care completely free. However, ministers have pledged to increase the threshold to £100,000. This means that pensioners’ savings will not go beyond this level.

Ros Altmann, director general of the over-50s group Saga, said such a high cap would be a ‘betrayal’ of pensioners.

‘A £75,000 cap is too high and would still mean most middle-class families, especially outside London, would lose their home and life savings because the cap excludes accommodation costs which will be many thousands more,’ she said.

‘This high a cap would not allow an insurance market to develop and is more than double the £35,000 recommended by Dilnot.’