The Tory #CareTax proposals

The 2017 Conservative Manifesto has promised "Dignity and protection in old age through the right long-term solution for elderly care" if they are returned to power. They are proposing three measures:

• First, we will align the future basis for means-testing for domiciliary care with that for residential care, so that people are looked after in the place that is best for them. This will mean that the value of the family home will be taken into account along with other assets and income, whether care is provided at home, or in a residential or nursing care home.
• Second, to ensure this is fair, we will introduce a single capital floor, set at £100,000,more than four times the current means test threshold. This will ensure that, no matter how large the cost of care turns out to be, people will always retain at least £100,000 of their savings and assets, including value in the family home.
• Third, we will extend the current freedom to defer payments for residential care to those receiving care at home, so no-one will have to sell their home in their lifetime to pay for care.

Hitherto, older people who have worked all their lives and managed to become home owners through paying into a mortgage of some kind, could rest easy that their efforts would be passed on to their offspring (or whomever). And if they happened to need some care at home, they knew their own home was not at risk. If the Tories are elected to government, everyone who owns a home would know their behest is at risk: because no one can know whether they will eventually need long term domiciliary care. 

No longer would many older people have the comfort of knowing that their capital asset would maybe help their son or daughter or their grandchildren to buy a home for the first time. For many older people, this is really, really important and helps to make them feel worthwhile. The Tories are threatening to take this comfort away. Indeed I have already seen one tweet this morning from someone saying that they explored the Dignitas site for the first time in response to the manifesto. I really worry that some older people will make the decision to end their own lives rather than see their hard earned assets be whittled away by this policy. 

There are many, many reasons why this policy is very unfair and punitive. And it will ultimately result in more people gaming the system (but that is for another blog...) What I want to focus on here is how would it actually work in practice? Here some questions that I would like to have answers to:

1. The proposal refers to the value of the family home. How will that value be determined? 
2. Will measures be put in place to prevent people from putting their homes into trust to avoid this tax?
3. Will this only apply to older people, or all people who need help at home such as people with disabilities?
4. How old is old? Pension age or younger? Or older?
5. Given the massive financial consequences, who will adjudicate on whether someone has health needs (paid for free by the NHS) or social care needs (subjected to surrender of their home asset)? Will such decisions be open to legal challenge?
6. How much will this policy cost to administer?
7. Will the process of releasing the equity on the homes in question be outsourced to private financial institutions? Will they charge fees and interest?
8. What happens if the person needing such care has a partner/spouse who also owns the property? Will the legal status of this ownership (tenants in common vs joint tenancy) make any kind of difference?
9. What legal instrument will be used to extract the monies after the death of the person who needed social care? Will the government expect to put a charge on the house? What happens if the person concerned refuses to sign their home over to the government? Will they be compelled to?
10. Will this policy apply to family members who do not own the family home but live in it? In other words, will it impact on social care support for younger people (perhaps with disabilities) still living with their carers/parents?
11. If a family home would be taken into account for these purposes, will that revision of the basis of means-testing eventually be made to apply in other circumstances as well? Is this the beginning of a very large wedge of policies that will mean the state seizing more and more privately owned assets?

I am sure there are many more and more critical questions that need to be asked and answered about this policy. We need to know now so that people can make their own decision on how to vote on June 8 and before. 

Does this policy feel like one that is making the country fairer to you? I know my answer to that: no!