Caring Times, November 2006
Care fees planning causes confusion
A group of Independent Financial Advisors (IFAs) say rules on long term care fees planning are ‘confusing and opaque’ within the industry and certainly to consumers.
Symponia, a national affinity group for long term care fees planning, which currently has 55 IFAs across England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, is calling for simplification of the rules by the Financial Services Authority (FSA).
As of October, Independent Financial Advisors who deal with long term care fees must hold a qualification known as CF8, but any adviser not practising (or not deemed competent) in October 2004 has a two year window from the date they start working in the care fees planning arena to obtain CF8 and this date is flexible if they should stop working in this area for a period of time. Even then, CF8 only covers one aspect of financial planning for elderly people – the writing of Immediate Care Plans (ICPs), which are only one of a raft of methods that may be recommended by a specialist adviser to pay for long term care.
Janet Davies, Symponia’s joint founder and managing director and an IFA herself, said it was clear just from talking to colleagues in the industry that there was a lot of confusion surrounding the new legislation.
“If professional advisers are confused, what hope is there for consumers, the very people intended to be protected by the new rules,” said Ms Davies.
“The bottom line is that as long as an adviser doesn’t actually write an Immediate Care Plan (ICP) they don’t have to be in possession of CF8, despite the fact that their client may be 85 years old, in poor health and a resident in a care home. “Care fees planning advice is not just about products, it encompasses so much more; for instance knowledge on Enduring Powers of Attorney, Attendance Allowance, and each individual’s position on NHS funded contributions and/or Continuing Care.
“Only advisers with the required qualifications are equipped to look at the big picture.”
Symponia says the governance of CF8 should encompass all the financial affairs of elderly and/or vulnerable people, and certainly those people in need of care.