General Insurance Article - Partnership Comments on IFoA Long Term Care Report

 “Navigating the care funding system can be complex but the report clearly highlights that in order to encourage people to make provision for themselves, we need to understand, educate and incentivise.

 “While it is too early to see the impact of the pension freedoms on people’s behaviour, the industry and Government needs to develop an understanding of how this impacts on care funding choices. This knowledge will provide another valuable tool to support the development of products going forward and help local authorities plan their funding obligations.

 “Education is also key as our Care Index shows that most over-45s (82%) have not thought about care or spoken to their families about it. This lack of engagement means that when someone does go into care they are often financially and emotionally unprepared.

 “Finally, encouraging people to make provision for this later life cost is vital! While Local Authorities can meet the costs of those who need support, they do not have the resources to meet the costs for all. Therefore developing incentives to encourage people to put aside sufficient capital to meet some of these costs means that the system has resilience!

 “The IFoA report shines a light on these issues and will help to develop the industry further.”