Cost of elderly long-term care “drastically” underestimated

According to the financial services firm, the cost of ensuring an elderly person can spend a year at a nursing home in the UK is greater than the fees for sending a child to one of the country’s most prestigious schools.

However, many British consumers could be facing a stern test of their debt management skills as Saga reveals a quarter of people it polled were unaware of this cost comparison.

Owain Wright, head of care funding services for Saga, commented “We often find that many people don’t think about funding long-term care until the last minute when they are faced with a relative who needs immediate care and as this research shows, the cost then comes as a shock.”

Recent research from the Consumer Credit Counselling Service suggested that the burden of debt management in the UK looks likely to shift increasingly on to older generations.