It is important that people offered deferred payment arrangements as a way to meet long-term care fees receive professional advice about alternatives, an insurer has said.
The Department of Health's Caring for our future consultation on reforming how people pay for their care and support closes today [October 25].
In its response to the consultation, Just Retirement said that financial products relying on wealth tied up in property have a "key role" in helping people pay for residential or domiciliary care.
The Universal Deferred payment scheme is being considered by government as part of care reforms. It enables individuals to borrow against the value of their home to fund care fees and repay the total plus interest when the home is sold.
"We want to highlight the fact that the Universal Deferred Payment Scheme shouldn't be considered the default solution," said Stephen Lowe, group external affairs and customer insight director at Just Retirement.
He continued: "No one solution is right for everyone and they are all products about which people should have professional advice before deciding what best meets their needs."
"Our view is that general information is useful but at the individual level where someone is likely to need to access a financial product including a deferred payment arrangement, they should be referred by the local authority to a regulated financial adviser."
Just Retirement's response warned the Universal Deferred Payment Scheme has been proposed to met a particular need of a limited number of people at the point of entering residential care who are not willing, or able, to sell their home to meet their share of costs.
The response said: "For people who are not in that position, it would not be in their best interests to be offered a product which is not designed to meet their needs. People in this situation should have regulated financial advice to help them identify the best solutions."
Lowe added: "One measure of success for the new rules will be whether they get more people planning ahead. "When people were informed about how care is paid for, the majority thought it would be a good idea to sort out their finances in advance."
