Financial services are not responding to care crisis

Andrew Dilnot’s call for financial services to engage in long-term care funding is not being given any stimulus according to Partnership managing director for care, Chris Horlick.

It had been hoped that the Dilnot Commission's proposals would produce a climate for financial services to engage in the funding debate. Instead Horlick pointed at widespread industry apathy.  

Horlick said:  "You hear Andrew and others talking about the financial services sector being interested - I don't see many colleagues from the insurance sector turning up at events I'm at, learning about the care space."

He continued "It doesn't mean they're not doing it. And certainly a few came to the ABI's sponsored engagement workshop, but not too many, to be honest. A good number of them were reinsurers rather than insurers. "

When asked why care fees hadn't been privy to the same level of interest as pensions, Horlick said: "That's because there's lots of players in the pensions sector and it's a massive market. Actually, the money at stake in the care sector is quite large although nowhere near as large as in pensions. It just isn't in the hands of the financial services sector. It's paid out of the pockets of these poor individuals who don't get advice and therefore do the wrong thing, inadvertently. That's what we've got to change."

This comes in the wake of increased scrutiny on how care should be funded. Last week the care services minister Paul Burstow told the health select committee government had pledged an extra £7.2 billion over four years to local councils to protect services for those in need.  

However, leading charities rebuffed the minister's claim in a letter published in The Guardian. They argued the care system was in crisis and asked for urgent reforms to address funding issues as local authorities had spent 4.5% less on care than the previous year.