The cost of Residential Care

Protecting your assets from
the costs of Residential Care

Google Rating
5.0
Based on 176 reviews
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You’ve worked long and hard to buy your home and build up a savings pot. Without some forward thinking, the costs involved in care for later life can erode your best intentions, possibly wiping out your life savings and leaving nothing for your loved ones.

When someone enters care, they are immediately “means tested” and all their assets, including their home and other property assets you may have, are considered. Only those who cannot afford to pay, as assessed by the local authority, escape the costs of care.

Planning can be put in place that will safeguard your home from being sold to pay for your care, securing your savings and investments and ensuring your children and grandchildren do not lose their inheritance.

Frog Wealth Management can advise on the most appropriate Trust planning to ensure your home and other assets are protected from long term Care costs.

No one wants to see a lifetime of work, their home and savings being decimated by Care costs, leaving their children without their rightful inheritance. If you have any assets you want your children and family to benefit from, this is the best way to protect them.

At Frog Wealth Management, our advisers can advise on all aspects of Care planning

Find out more

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Some of our Google Reviews

I can't recommend Frog Financial Management enough!They were friendly, helpful and really responsive. It really felt they went above and beyond for us (saving us a few extra quid too).
Tom Roberts
Tom Roberts
1733169929
Had a great experience with Frog Financial management. They work proactively, give good advise and are always quick on the ball. Would very much recommend.
If you're looking for mortgage, insurance or any other financial protection advice, you really couldn't do any better than Greg, Charley and the rest of the Frog team. Since putting our house on the market, Greg was very quick to respond and generous with his time - always explaining things clearly and what our options were. With Frog's support, we had trust that we were making the right choices for our family.
Owen Adkins
Owen Adkins
1728940246
The team at Frog are oustanding. A big thanks to Charley (who is amazing) at helping with my home insurance.Thank you very much
John Vassallo
John Vassallo
1727261810
I can't thank Frog Financial enough! They made buying our first home so easy and stress free. Greg was so helpful throughout the whole process and really took time to explain things in detail. The rest of the team were also super helpful and proactive and so responsive to our emails and phone calls. I honestly cannot recommend them enough!
Tom Harding
Tom Harding
1727018918
Greg, Ruth & the whole team at Frog Financial have been amazing at securing mortgages for myself and my sister. We have had lots of changes & challenges and they have been very helpful & quick at responding to multiple questions! For myself, being self employed, Greg worked wonders to find a lender that worked. Fingers crossed until it all completes!
sarah heduan
sarah heduan
1725377138
I highly recommend Frog Financial Management. Charley is fantastic, so helpful and sorts us out every year. Than you
Lesley Ashton
Lesley Ashton
1724154889
Can't recommend Craig and his team enough! Amazing family ran business who will work tirelessly to provide you the best service. Got us exactly what we wanted and was always just a phone call away if we had any queries or needed some advice and support.Will definitely be using them again.
Sacha Podda
Sacha Podda
1724067412
I could not recommend using Frog financials more!They are quick to reply to any queries via email and on the phone. They provide well informed advice and are exceptionally friendly when answering questions.I will definitely be using them again in the future!
Katie Bryden
Katie Bryden
1723557747
Greg and the team have been super helpful throughout the whole mortgage process! Greg has explained each part of the application with great detail to make sure we understand it fully. They were prompt in their replies and made this a completely stress-free experience, highly recommend!
Emma Hooley
Emma Hooley
1722871153
Very professional and knowledgeable service with great detail and kindness, I have been using frog services now for 12 years and am very happy with the products they find for me
Paul Singh
Paul Singh
1721049224
After trying various agents and insurers, Frog FM was able to secure exactly what I needed and for a reasonable premium. Professional and friendly service. I know who to go to first next time!
Simon Gardner
Simon Gardner
1720201499
I first contacted Frog several years ago and they are now my "go to" company for all financial matters and advice. I have always found them friendly, efficient and easy to deal with, and I applaud their ability to convert "financial jargon" into everyday understandable language.I also especially appreciate that they will contact and remind me when I need to review some aspect of my finances. I can without hesitation fully recommend Frog and all their team members
Roger James
Roger James
1719570412
Charley and Danni have been exceptional in assisting me with managing my insurance requirements. They offer an outstanding and effortless service.
Alex Woodford
Alex Woodford
1718270992
Amazing.Charley and Greg were amazing in listening to my needs and being able to offer the best solution for me.Thank you Charley for your patience with me. You have been incredible.I like the fact that they are a local company.I strongly recommend them.
I have used Frog Financial for several mortgages and cannot recommend them enough. Extremely helpful, professional and efficient and always going above and beyond to make the process as smooth as possible and finding the best options for me. Everyone in the team is brilliant to work with and I will of course be using them for all future mortgages! Sam x
I dealt with Greg to get a mortgage on my first property - he was fantastic, helped educate me on the process as well as coming up with outside of the box solutions, really happy with the service and will 100% use him again in the future.
Tom Evans
Tom Evans
1713279680
An exceptional service given. Everyone we have spoken with has gone above and beyond to help us and answer all questions we have. Can not recommend Frog financial management enough and will be using them again in the future.Helena & Jason
Jason Benn
Jason Benn
1712763206
Greg and the team at Frog Financial have been excellent with finding me a mortgage a couple of years ago and managing the renewal recently. They have been able to find the best deals in the market and provide good options and advice based on our conversations. They are friendly, attentive and responsive and I highly recommend them.
Carl Goodman
Carl Goodman
1712568081
Amazing team could not have done it without them.
Grace Kearns
Grace Kearns
1711487336
Excellent service from Charley on a non-standard building and contents insurance. She was prompt, and knowledgeable, and helped clarify various issues
Phenomenal service. I have and will recommend Frog Financial to everyone. Informative, helpful, great communication, so kind, and we really felt like the whole team cared about us. Took so much of the stress out of the process. We have no doubt that we will use Frog again! 🐸
Elena Prokopiou
Elena Prokopiou
1708805074
Arranged our mortgage deal and building insurance with Frog. They were really helpful throughout the whole process and we would have no hesitation at all recommending to others.
William Oakes
William Oakes
1708085925
Just the best, Greg helped me find a mortgage for my first property when other mortgage brokers couldn't find one to fit my needs. They were great answering any questions I had and helped me a lot throughout the house buying process. Also helped find and set up house insurance. Will be continuing to use them in the future and I highly recommend them.
K.K. Gres
K.K. Gres
1707130758
I was directed to Frog Financial in September 2018 and received excellent financial advice and general guidance. Since then I have requested them to investigate house insurance for me and have always signed up to the suggested policies.I would have no hesitation in suggesting they are approached by my friends to discuss their requirements.
Dave Shirvell
Dave Shirvell
1706109059
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Most people work hard throughout their lives and want whatever assets they have built up, to pass down to their children and grandchildren, so losing their property to Care Costs is a severe blow, find out more

Means Testing – Upper and Lower Limits (England and Northern Ireland only).

If you own more than the upper limit currently £23,250, (which includes your property, any cash or savings and stocks and shares) you will be expected to fund the full cost of your own Care fees. You will not receive any financial help from your local Council, until your savings (assets) have been reduced to the upper limit.

If you have less than the upper savings limit or, when your savings drop to this limit, the local council will then assess your ability to pay based on both your capital and income.

If you have assets below the lower limit, currently £14,250, then any contribution you may be required to make towards the cost of your Care will be based solely on your income and your assets disregarded.

If you own your own home, then it’s value will usually be counted as capital. There are some important exceptions to this rule.

  • Your property will be disregarded for the first 12 weeks after you enter care permanently.
  • If your husband, wife, unmarried partner or civil partner lives in your home, then it’s value will not be counted as capital.
  • If a relative aged 60 or over lives in your home, it’s value will be ignored.
  • If a relative under the age of 60, who is incapacitated (i.e. receiving Incapacity benefit or disability Living allowance) lives there, then again, the value will be discounted.
  • If your home is occupied by your estranged or divorced partner and he or she is a lone parent with a dependent child, it’s value will be ignored.
  • The value of your property should be ignored if you are liable to maintain a child under the age of 16 and your house is the child’s main home. The child must be either a relative of yours or a relative of a member of your family.

There are other situations in which the Council may ignore the value of your home at their discretion.

If you jointly own your home with someone who does not fit into any of the above categories i.e. a relative under the age of 60 or a friend, then in this situation the Council will designate a value to your Interest in the property. The value will depend on the price that your share of the property could be realistically obtained from, what is termed as a willing buyer.

If your co-owner is unable or unwilling to buy your share from you, your interest in the property could be held to be worth nothing. This is because it is highly unlikely that an outsider would want to buy into a property, when this would involve sharing it with someone else.

You are most at risk of losing your home to Care costs when you enter Care, after owning your home jointly with a spouse, unmarried partner, or civil partner and they have passed away. The full capital value of your home will have passed to you and you will be assessed on the property’s full value, along with any other formerly jointly held assets, such as savings.

Whilst the Council cannot force you to sell your home, if you are unable to cover your Care Home fees the money you owe to your local Council will mount up. However, the local Council can allow you to defer part of your contribution, if you are unable or unwilling to sell your home and you do not have enough income, or other assets to cover your full fees. This will be seen as an interest free loan, or a deferred payments agreement and will be paid back when your property is eventually sold, or when your Estate is wound up.

The deferred payments agreements could involve a legal charge being placed on your property. The amount of money you owe will then start to incur interest 56 days after your death, or the date you terminate the deferred payments agreement. You may also have to cover any legal costs involved in placing such a charge.

Although you can defer the part of the contribution, that is based on the value of your home, you will still have to contribute any other assets or income you may have towards the costs of your Care Home fees.

When buying a property with another person, most people own the property as Joint Tenants and whilst this may be the correct way to own a property in certain circumstances, for the vast majority of people, this is not the best way to own a property for either, Care Cost issues or IHT liabilities.

As previously stated, when entering Long Term Care all assets, property and income will be assessed.

Assets such as Cash, Stocks and Shares, Bank and Building Society accounts, PEPs and ISAs, etc, will be assessed as liquid assets and in addition to any income received, will be assessed for Care.

If you would like to discuss the possible implications of this with one of our Advisers, please contact us.

If you would like to discuss the possible implications for you with one of our Advisers