Lifetime Care Plan

In exchange for a single premium, our Lifetime Care Plan pays a monthly payment to your client’s UK registered care provider for the rest of their life.

Payments can be made to a maximum of two UK registered care providers, if your client is receiving care from more than one provider.

Under current legislation no income tax should be due on payments to UK registered care providers, the rules governing tax may change in the future and affect your client’s income.

Your client can choose to receive the payments themselves, but these payments are subject to income tax.

The plan doesn't guarantee to cover the entire cost of care and your client's care costs may increase over time. Your client is responsible for funding any shortfall and may need to fund their additional care costs from other sources.

A Lifetime Care Plan may be suitable for clients who:

• Are over 60 years of age when they apply.
• Are currently receiving care, or will need care when the plan starts, which is expected to be permanent until they die.
• Want a regular payment for life to help meet care costs.
• Have/will have care provided by a UK registered care provider and care is provided in their own home or in a care home.

If your client no longer requires care, or becomes eligible for state benefits, they can’t cancel their plan.

Your client can choose either a fixed payment that does not change throughout the duration of the plan, or a payment that increases each year by: 

• a fixed percentage – anything up to and including 8% (in whole numbers); or
• in line with the Retail Price Index (RPI). If your client selects this option, they'll be unable to select the Additional Payment Protection option (see death benefit option).

Any payments we make directly to your client or anyone other than a UK registered care provider are subject to income tax.

The care provider may continue to charge fees even after your client dies but the payments from us will stop from the date of their death.

Receiving payments from a Lifetime Care Plan may affect your client’s ability to claim for means-tested state benefits.

Our Lifetime Care Plan offers the following death benefits:

• COVID-19 Guaranteed Premium Protection: In response to COVID-19, this benefit has been introduced and will apply to clients who have taken out a Lifetime Care Plan policy from 1 March 2020¹. For qualifying clients, we will pay back 100% of the total premium less any payments paid, if COVID-19² is the cause or contributing factor of your clients’ death, and is stated as such on the death certificate. Subject to the applicable terms and conditions, the guarantee applies where death occurs within the first 12 months after the policy begins.
• Guaranteed Premium Protection: This benefit is automatically included in your client's plan. It means that if they die within the first six months of the plan, we’ll pay their estate a percentage of their original premium less any payments that we’ve already made.
• Additional Premium Protection: Your client can choose to protect a percentage of their original premium for more than the first six months of their plan. When they die we'll pay their estate the percentage they've protected, less any payments we've already made.

The total amount of monthly payments we make, plus any payment we make to your client's estate from the Guaranteed Premium Protection or Additional Premium Protection, may be less than the original premium paid for the plan (excluding COVID-19 Guaranteed Premium Protection).

The details of the Guaranteed Premium Protection and Additional Premium Protection can be found in the Lifetime Care Plan Key Features PDFsize:1.5MB. Further information on the COVID-19 Guaranteed Premium Protection can be found in the Addendum to the Terms and Conditions PDFsize:99KB.

¹This will be a temporary, time-bound offer that can be withdrawn from new business at any time. We anticipate the offer of COVID-19 Guaranteed Premium Protection will run until 30 June 2021.

²Covid-19, Coronavirus or Sars Cov-2.