Record number of pensioners funding own care

More pensioners than ever are paying their own care fees, a new report has revealed.

As many as 57 per cent of care home residents (231,000 people) are funding their care, the highest percentage ever recorded, the Daily Mail reports.

In the remainder of cases, residential care is being funded by councils either because the resident has no savings or because they have already used their assets to pay for it.

Currently, people with assets of £23,500 or more are required to cover the cost of their care, while those with less are entitled to it for free.

The government instructed economist Andrew Dilnot to conduct a report into funding for social care and his commission released a report in 2011 recommending a limit of £35,000 on the amount any one person must contribute to his or her care.

However, the coalition has yet to implement any cap, believing the estimated cost of £1.7 billion per year to be too obstructive. 

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