Care crisis: The cost of a room in a care home, presently about £750 a week, will be £1,000 a week by 2020, experts warn The firms running care homes will try to plug the gap by raising fees, experts say. Valuing Care, a respected care fees analyst, predicts they will rise 8 per cent a year 'for the next decade'. That would mean the average fee reaching £1,020 a week by 2020, or £53,040 a year and that accounts only for a place in a residential care home. Fees for elderly people needing specialist medical care may be even higher than that. Most people will have to pay this themselves as local authorities currently cover your care bills only if you have less than £23,250 in savings, investments, properties and other assets (£26,250 in Scotland and £24,000 in Wales). Read the full article here

This is Money the popular finance arm of the Daily Mail features Valuing Care on how to negotiate care home fee rates. Many people who move into residential homes do so at a time of great stress, often following a period of illness. Usually, they don’t think to scrutinise the price charged by their chosen home until it’s too late - but even a discount of £50 a week can save thousands in the long-term. Ray Hart, creator of the Valuing Care Fees Calculator, talks This is Money through the best ways to negotiate costs. Read more here