The Department of Health is currently consulting on the Charging Arrangements for Residential Care. An important aspect of this consultation is the treatment of Single Premium Investment Bonds.
Guidelines published within the Charges for Residential Accommodation Guidance (CRAG) currently mean that the value of Investment Bonds are disregarded as a capital asset in the financial assessment for residential accommodation.
This is because they are treated as a life assurance policy rather than a capital investment, due to their structure.
The consultation asks the following question:
“Do you think these bonds should be taken into account in the financial assessment?”
It goes on to suggest that the surrender value of Investment Bonds should be taken into account if they are entered into after the date any change to regulations come into force.
You can view the consultation paper, which is only twelve pages long, here.
The closing date for responses to this consultation is 23rd April 2010, so we expect to see a policy statement from the Department of Health in the early summer.
