ONLY one in 10 adults aged 55 and over are putting aside money to help pay for care in old age it has emerged, amid fresh warnings over the UK's "broken" social care system.
Research by consumer champions Which? warned that any funding model which relies on individuals to bankroll their own social care is "doomed to fail".
They found that only 12% of people over 55 had set aside cash to pay for care home costs with 55% admitting they were prioritising other things they want or need to do now over planning for care.
However, the vast majority of the 2100 respondents said they would be willing to pay for adaptations to their home - such as ramps or handrails - to enable them to live in their own home for longer, and 85% said they would consider hiring a cleaner, gardener or handyperson if they could afford it.
The survey also found that most people faced with sourcing social care provision for themselves or a relative would turn to Google first, before seeking advice from a GP or family.
Alex Hayman, Which? Managing Director of Public Markets, said: “The broken social care system cannot continue to fail older people and their families in delivering high-quality, affordable care when they most need support.
“The Government must recognise that most people won’t have made extensive plans for their care, so the system must be designed to help people get the support they need at a time of crisis and stress for themselves and their loved ones.”
It comes after reports that the Treasury will be asked to draw up plans for a Care Isa which would enable people to save tax-free towards social care while protecting their savings from inheritance tax.
The proposals would be unveiled in the UK Government's forthcoming Green Paper on social care for England, although a spokeswoman for the Treasury stressed that it was not a Treasury policy and not something being worked on at present.
It is also unclear whether Care Isas would be available to Scottish investors since social care is devolved - but most tax policy is not.
Isas are currently taxed at death, which is said to give people the "perverse incentive" to spend money they may need for end of life care.
At present, anyone with capital worth more than £27,250 - for example, property or savings - must pay their own care home bill.
Below that threshold, residents will pay a portion of the fees until a cut-off of £17,000, after which the full cost is picked up by councils.
In Scotland, the elderly are also entitled to free personal care which covers costs such as bathing and having meals prepared, both in care homes and in their own home.
However, there have been accusations that better-off care home residents are unfairly "propping up" the system by paying much higher fees than council-funded residents in the same home.
It also emerged in June that 15,000 Scots are in debt to social care providers and 11 were taken to court over unpaid charges last year.
It comes as cash-strapped local authorities have increased fees for non-residential care or introduced new levies for services such as attending a day centre, telecare monitoring, sheltered housing and shopping services.
Dr Donald Macaskill, CEO of Scottish Care, the umbrella body for independent care providers, said: "In order to maximise the benefits of having people live longer, to build on the potential of health and social care integration, and to address the crisis in social care service sustainability we need to start urgently to plan for our future.
"The Which report highlighting the lack of planning people make for their future and the potential of a Care ISA south of the border add even greater urgency to this debate.
"If we are to continue to have and to further develop high quality rights based care for all our older citizens in Scotland then we need to start planning.
"The alternative is to sleep walk into a future where those who can afford to will purchase high quality care and those who cannot will be left with a poorly funded, resource drained, lesser alternative.”
A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: “In Scotland we are fully committed to providing free personal care, currently for those aged 65 and over, with this extending to those under 65 from 1 April 2019.
“In 2018/19, we’re giving an additional £66 million to local government to support implementation of the Carers (Scotland) Act, maintaining payment of the real Living Wage, and increasing payments for free personal and nursing care.”
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