A typical care funding plan case file

When the need for care arises, many individuals and their families may not know where to turn for expert assistance at this difficult time. The majority of people paying for their own private care are not aware that care funding solutions are available.

Since the implementation of the Care Act 2014, local authorities have been obliged to explain to people with care needs how they can access independent financial advice.

In this context, 'independent' financial advice means advice given by a qualified person, independent of the local authority.

One way that you can raise your profile in the care market is to get involved with the care planning organisations who act as a link between those needing advice and the specialist advisers who can provide it. Two organisations currently providing this service are:

• SOLLA (Society of Later Life Advisers)
• Symponia

Utilise your professional connections
Many advisers avoid giving advice on care needs, partly due to the need to get a specialist qualification. Therefore, there may be an opportunity for them to refer these cases to you.

Consider how you can leverage any connections you may have with solicitors. Many clients will need to approach a solicitor to obtain a power of attorney when their parent's health deteriorates. This is a great opportunity for a solicitor to suggest that the client contacts you to discuss ways of funding care.

Another great source of referrals are care homes themselves. A Care Funding Plan will secure a reliable income stream for the care home for the rest of the client's life. Therefore, many care homes are happy to refer clients to an adviser to facilitate this.

Why not build 'care' into your fact find?
You may be surprised at just how many care funding advice opportunities exist within your client base. When speaking to younger clients, why not ask them about their parents? You may often find that there is a need for care funding advice that doesn't directly relate to them.

Work with your local authority
Many local authorities have a panel of approved specialist care advisers, and this could be a valuable source of leads for you.

Did you know?

• One in three UK adults will require some form of care in old age (ABI, 2013).
• By 2035, the number of very elderly people in the UK (over 85) is projected to more than double (Age UK, 2015). These people are most at risk of needing long term care.
• The average residential care home fee in 2014/15 was £29,276 p.a. without nursing, and £39,312 p.a. when nursing care is needed (LaingBuisson, 2015).
• Out of 409,000 older residents of independent sector care homes in the UK, 41% paid the full cost of their fees. A further 11% relied on 'top-ups' from family or friends (LaingBuisson, 2015).

Once you've identified a client who may benefit from a care funding plan, it's important to discuss their requirements and the options that they and their family have. The initial meeting is a key stage in advising on care funding plans, and provides clients with all the key information they need.

Should the client's family be involved?
Yes. In a care funding case, it's unlikely that you would deal directly with the person needing care. It's much more likely you'll deal with their family or the person who has been granted power of attorney.

Because of this, a group meeting involving all family members may be useful, even if they have not all been appointed power of attorney. Whatever gets decided will ultimately affect each of them, so involving them all from the beginning can help pre-empt any future issues.

What does the client's family know about the subject of care and the options for funding?
At this stage they may not know much, so it might be worthwhile spending the first part of the initial meeting discussing the care generally and the things that the client's family may need to consider. For example:

• needs assessment
• financial assessment (means test)
• nursing care contribution
• other state benefits the client may be entitled to.

As well as being an important part of the fact find process, this will be a good way to establish trust.

How will the client's family be feeling?
It goes without saying that this is likely to be a distressing and confusing time for the client's family.

As well as coming to terms with a deterioration in the health of a loved one, there are several practical considerations to take into account.

Also, family members are likely to be feeling pressurised to make the right decisions: in addition to making sure that their parent's care needs are looked after, they need to take into account the financial wishes of the client (for example to ensure that their wealth is passed on as they would wish). Therefore, a patient and empathetic approach will be needed.

Helping the client's family choose a care home
Finding the right care home is an important decision which can only be made by the client and their family. While it may not be your place to get too involved in this process, their family might really value some basic guidance from you on the things that they ought to consider when selecting a care home.

Preparing for the initial meeting
You will need to request a lot of information at the initial meeting, including details of potential care costs, sources of income, outgoings and assets/ investments. It can really help to save time if your client's family has this information to hand, so it may be a good idea to send out a checklist prior to the meeting to help them gather the various documents.

Beware - information overload!
At the initial meeting, you may need to provide a lot of general care information to the client's family. While it's important to make sure they have all the facts, it's also important to not overload them at what is a difficult and sensitive time.
When first introducing care funding plans as a potential solution, it can be a good idea to talk about high-level principles (for example, income escalation or plan protection) without getting into too much detail about the specific options. The detail can come later in the process when the options are being discussed in full.

The client's family is unlikely to have a clear idea of the specific care funding plan options that will be most appropriate, so they should ideally keep an open mind at this stage.

So it can be a good idea to request a range of quotes with different combinations of features – for example, income escalation, plan protection and even income deferral, covering a variety of options from all the providers in the market.

The different features can often address the specific concerns of clients (such as the total upfront cost, or the loss of value if the client dies soon after the purchase of the plan).

Come to an arrangement with the care home
The cost of an individual's care is likely to rise each year, and this could lead to a potential funding gap if the income from their Care Funding Plan does not grow in line with these increases.

It may be worth reminding the client's family that having a care funding plan in place to guarantee funding gives them a very strong negotiating position with the care home. So it's often possible for them to reach an agreement with a care home to ensure that the fees will only increase by a set amount each year.

The client's family can then choose a care funding plan with an escalation rate that matches what they've agreed, helping to remove the potential for a future funding gap.

Getting quotes from different providers... with just one form.
When requesting care funding quotes, you don't need to fill in a number of different forms. You can request a wide range of different quotes from all providers in the market simply by completing the Care Fees Plan Questionnaire (CFPQ) and submitting it to Medicals Direct Group.

The quotation process can be quite lengthy: it involves a number of different parties, and requires a full report from both the client's GP and their care home.

You can help to speed up the process by developing a relationship with each of the parties involved in the process:

• Medicals Direct Group
• the client's GP
• the client's Care Home
• the product providers.

'Humanise' the GP report request
Doctors are very busy, and it may seem that they face an ever-increasing administration burden. But a well-timed telephone call to the GP from the client's family could help bring a human element to the GP report request – the knowledge that a swift response from them could help their patient move into the right care home more quickly can often ensure that the request moves towards the top of the GP's 'to do' list.

Regular updates for your client's family are key
A care funding case can take several months from beginning to end, and long periods without updates could be unsettling for your client's family – but regular news on progress could help reassure them and cement your relationship with them.

Once you have received all the quotes, you can produce a recommendation based on the cost of each of the different options so that the client's family can decide on the best way forward.

Of course, this is a really big decision, both because of the likely size of the purchase price as well as the emotional pressure to make the right choice. With this in mind, it is important to deliver and discuss your recommendation in the right way.

Your empathy, experience and expertise will help you to determine the most appropriate way for each individual client.

Make a phone call to gauge the initial reaction
It's only when the quotes have been produced that the client's family will be able to see exactly how much a care funding plan is likely to cost. It can therefore be a good idea to make an initial call to the client's family to gauge their reaction to the different options. It may be necessary to refine the quotes in order to get the recommendation absolutely right.

Meet with the client's family again
It can be really useful to hold another face-to-face meeting at this stage. This will help you to bring the options and recommendation to life, and gives your client's family the opportunity to ask any questions.

It's an important decision for your client's family, and ultimately one that only they can make. However, you can help them make a decision that they are comfortable with by:

• giving them as much space as they need
• acting as a trusted sounding board, and
• providing information and guidance as required.

Job satisfaction

"Helping a client and their family to make the right care funding decision is extremely rewarding. I get great satisfaction from being a care adviser."
Lorreine Kennedy, Carematters.

The key thing is to ensure that you receive the correct paperwork from your client, and that all the forms are completed and signed correctly.

Each provider will have its own requirements, but most are likely to need:

• signed acceptance of the quote, or a completed application form
• an agreement to pay your Adviser Charge
• a copy of the Power of Attorney
• money laundering requirements for both the client and Power of Attorney
• details of the care home.

Staying in contact with the provider can help you ensure that everything is progressing smoothly for your client

Don't close the case when the plan has been set up!
It is rare that any further help will be required once the plan is in force, but the client's family may occasionally have a question after this stage (for example before the income or care payments are due to escalate, or if the client is moving to a different care home).

An offer from you as a trusted and now-familiar adviser to remain as the first point of contact may be sincerely appreciated by the client's family. This may also help build a longer term relationship in the event that family members or Powers of Attorney have any broader financial advice requirements.