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Long Term Care*
This type of policy provides cover when an individual needs constant care because they are unable to carry out certain specified activities of daily living without assistance. These activities include; washing, dressing and undressing, bathing, cooking, cleaning, mobility and using the toilet.
The care may be in the form of simple domestic assistance to medical interventions. It may be provided in either a residential or nursing home or indeed within the person's own home. More often than not, it is the elderly who require care, as the NHS no longer covers all the costs associated with the incurable condition of frailty in old age.
The Local Authority decides what care services are required by assessing a person's finances and health in respect to those going into nursing and residential homes. If a person has just over £18,500 in assets after 6th April 2001, (£16,000 before this date) funding for Long Term Care will have to be done without any help from the Local Authority, although this is currently under review.
Long Term Care can be catered for by either; pre-funding for the desired level of care from an early age, or, funding existing and imminent care immediately. Both methods aim to ensure that a person is:
Cared for in accordance with their wishes,
Financially independent (all fees are paid),
Not a burden on anyone,
Able to leave an Inheritance if desired.
* this product is not wholly regulated by the Personal Investment Authority.
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