General Insurance Article - Vanessa Owen, LV= head of equity comments on Dilnot report

 Commenting on the Dilnot commission's report into the funding of long term care, Vanessa Owen, LV= head of equity release said:

 "To encourage people to save for retirement we need certainty that they are not going to be penalised for their prudence. The Commission's proposals provide exactly that, certainty, whilst recognising the greater needs of the poorest people, and for this reason, we also agree there should be a cap on people's lifetime contributions towards social care. We particularly welcome the report's recognition that people should have the choice how they fund their contribution, recognising that some might raise cash from the value of their home whilst some might use savings or take out a new financial product. Indeed, research LV= recently carried out among advisers showed that a third (33%) believed that domiciliary or long-term care would be the greatest reason for a rise in the number of people taking out equity release in the future[1].

 "Be it to help fund care, or as an addition to pension income, equity release will need to become a more prominent factor in helping people fund retirement, be that in sickness or in health. In our latest HIPpies report (home is pension) we found that 1.2million (23%) over-50s not yet retired are considering using their property to fund retirement, with a further 9% saying they will seek advice on equity release as retirement approaches["]."

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