Will we live long enough to have our care costs capped?

Average care fees paid by local authorities are £700 a week or £36,400 a year and the original Dilnot Report, on which the new proposals are based, suggested that around a third of this total is for board and lodging. That leaves £24,000 a year of “social care costs” which will count towards our care cap. This means it would take more than three and a half years of self funding before someone reaches the new spending cap.

According to the British Geriatrics Society, the average life expectancy in a UK residential care home is 24 months and 12 months for care homes with nursing.