Fernleigh Wearden & Company Ltd
Independent Financial Advisers
Four fields. That’s it.
One of our advisers will ring you back by the end of the next working day, at the time you asked for.
In a hurry? Call us on 01772 864314, 9am–5pm Monday to Friday.
For individuals
It is one of the most frightening conversations a family can have, usually held in a hurry and at the worst possible time.
Overview
Most people meet the care system for the first time in a crisis — a fall, a diagnosis, a hospital discharge that will not wait. Decisions get made in days that will affect a family for years.
There are rules here that very few people know about until they need them. What the local authority will and will not pay for, what counts towards the means test, when a property is disregarded and what NHS Continuing Healthcare covers. Getting these right at the start changes the arithmetic considerably.
We cannot make this an easy conversation. What we can do is make sure a family is making informed decisions rather than frightened ones and that whoever holds power of attorney understands what they are able to do.
Mark holds the Certificate in Long Term Care Insurance and the Certificate in Equity Release. This is a specialist area with its own qualifications and it is right to ask any adviser whether they hold them.
Advice areas
Often at the point where a family assumes there is no choice at all.
Residential, nursing and care at home differ enormously and so does the local picture. Real figures make planning possible.
What is counted, what is disregarded and when the value of a home is and is not included. The detail matters.
Income, savings, investments, immediate needs annuities and property. Which combination suits depends on health and time horizon.
Fully funded care where the need is primarily a health need. Under-claimed and worth understanding before you assume you do not qualify.
Sometimes appropriate, often not. It is a serious, long-term commitment and we will talk through the drawbacks as fully as the benefits.
Not our job to draft, but essential to have. Without one, families can find themselves unable to act at all.
Working with us
Nothing is committed until step five and the first two cost you nothing but time.
A chat, at our office, your home or over video. We listen, you ask questions. There is no charge and no obligation and if we can't help we'll say so.
What you have, what you owe, what you want and how you feel about risk. This is the part most people find surprisingly useful in itself.
We review your existing plans, charges and funds against the whole of the market. Being independent means nothing is off the table.
A written report in plain English setting out what we suggest, what it costs and why. You take it away and think about it.
Only once you're happy. We handle the paperwork, the providers and the chasing, which is usually the tedious bit.
If you'd like us to, we'll review everything at least once a year and tell you honestly if nothing needs changing.
Who you’d be dealing with
Mark holds the specialist long term care and equity release qualifications and as our Chartered Financial Planner he generally leads on this work. We are happy to meet at your home, or at a care home, if that is easier for everyone.
In their words
Both Sue and I would like to take this opportunity to express our sincere thanks for all the financial planning and advice you have undertaken for us over the past 30 years. The expertise and attention to detail with which you, Paul and lately Mark have handled our financial affairs could not be faulted. Particularly reassuring to us is our feeling of certainty in the absolute integrity and commitment of all our dealings.
Paul has always explained financial advice in the simplest ways so that I can understand and therefore can make a financial decision with confidence. Fernleigh Wearden & Company also advised me on my parent’s affairs after my mum died and lately my dad, which was done with the least fuss. Even the solicitor wanted to speak to him she was so impressed with their work.
After a recent bereavement I needed to rely on Mark to give me advice on a number of financial issues. This he did, not only in his usual professional way, giving me sound, clear and concise advice, but also in a caring and considerate manner that I appreciated at that difficult time. Thank you Mark for everything you have done.
Often relevant alongside this
Care funding and estate planning pull in opposite directions. They need thinking about together.
Read more Often nextBuilding care costs into a retirement plan early is far easier than reacting to them later.
Read more Try itTest what happens to a plan if care is needed for two years, or ten.
Read moreCommon questions
Not necessarily and this is the single most common fear we hear. Whether a property counts towards the means test depends on who else lives there and the type of care needed. There are also deferred payment arrangements. Get the facts before making an irreversible decision.
It varies considerably by type of care and by home. We would rather give you real local figures at a meeting than a national average that may be nothing like your situation.
Fully funded NHS care for people whose primary need is a health need rather than a social one. It is not means tested. Assessment is notoriously difficult, but it is worth understanding whether it might apply before assuming it does not.
Sometimes and often not. It is a long-term commitment with real drawbacks, including the effect on what you leave behind and on means-tested benefits. If we discuss it we will be as thorough about the disadvantages as the advantages.
We can work with whoever holds a registered lasting power of attorney or a deputyship. If neither is in place, that becomes the first thing to sort out and it is a solicitor’s job rather than ours.
Yes. Home visits are entirely normal for us and we can meet at a care home if that suits the family better.
Our services
Advice areas overlap. Part of our job is spotting which ones actually apply to you.
Tell us when suits and an adviser will ring you back. There is no charge for the first conversation.
