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Elderly care plans to
be policed
BBC
online news
The City watchdog is
taking new steps to protect people who purchase long-term care plans -
savings products which cover the cost of specialist support in old age. Financial
advisers will have to pass exams if they want to sell the plans. Policyholders
will also be allowed to seek compensation if they have been given bad
advice. A
Royal Commission report on Monday found that thousands of old people are
selling their homes to fund care costs. Ageing
society Long-term
care policies (LTC) have become increasingly popular in recent years. They
were first sold in the By
the end of 2002, there were about 45,000 active LTC policies in the They
help pay for personal care costs, such as washing, feeding or dressing,
either in the policyholder's own home or in residential care. In
recent years, the issue of "personal care" has become
increasingly contentious, as in most cases the government refuses to cover
the costs. The
Scottish Executive has agreed to cover the costs of personal care, but
pensioners living in A
Royal Commission into elderly care on Monday concluded that thousands of
elderly people were being forced to sell their homes to fund care costs. As
people live longer with only limited help with the costs of personal care,
an increasing number of consumers are expected to take out this type of
insurance in the future. The new protection measures
will start from
Copyright
© 2002 Global Action on Aging |
