Before you pay for care out of your own pocket, first dig deep into any existing insurance policies you may have forgotten you have. While life insurance policies pay out upon a death, there are additional levels of cover that you may have opted to have as part of your policy.

Many life insurance policies offer critical illness cover as an add-on or, alternatively, you may have one of these policies through work or some other benefit. Should you develop a critical condition, long-term illness or disability, then you may find you have financial cover available to help with care costs through one of these policies.   

Similarly, some life insurance policies include terminal illness cover and will pay out upon diagnosis if the death is predicted by a doctor to occur within a year. Check your documents to see if you have this.

Depending on when you took out your policy, you may have long-term care insurance. These policies are few and far between now, but they were once popular and designed to give financial support to those needing long-term care.

In the event you’re still working, then your employer may offer certain benefits as part of your employment package, such as income protection insurance or an early pension for those in poor health. It’s worth finding out what financial support you may be entitled in order to help pay for your nursing care.