Beacon Asset Management is planning to launch a long term care product to help people look after the...
Beacon Asset Management is planning to launch a long term care product to help people look after their garden should they fall ill, writes Robyn Hall.
The Buckinghamshire-based investment manager said that the framework for the product was in place and initial research into the project looked promising.
Simon Goldthorpe, Beacon Asset Management managing director, said that the group now needed to team up with a provider to further develop the product after initial talks with Scottish Amicable fell through.
He said: "We are in the process of developing a product with a long term care facility. The product is designed for people who are concerned about how they will pay for the upkeep of their garden.
"Our initial research indicates that there is a massive market for this type of product, but what we need now is to team up with a forward-thinking product provider with whom we are able to work alongside."
One of the main reasons people move house when they fall ill is that they are not able to keep the garden properly maintained. But Goldthorpe said that he envisaged that this would be an "essentially long term care type product aimed at people who live in large houses with large gardens".
He added: "The idea is to provide a product that will allow a person to continue living in their property, while at the same time pay for gardening help. From the research that we have done so far, it seems a lot of people would be interested in taking out a policy like this.
"We want to try and get this off the ground by the end of the summer, not only because people have a tendency to fall ill in the winter, but as we move into summer the weather will help to focus peoples' minds."
James Rowlatt, investment director at Beacon and a member of a well-known horticultural group, originally came up with the idea.
Once launched, the product will be offered to all intermediaries, who will receive all the commission for selling the product. There is no tie-in to Beacon Asset Management.
