War veteran 'forced to sell home to pay for care'

Robert Kidd, 84, bought his family house in Cochrane Park, Newcastle, more than 40 years ago, but will now not be able to leave it to his family as he had hoped.

Under the current means-testing system, Mr Kidd must pay for his own care because he owns his own home worth about £150,000 and he has two pensions worth £1,400 in total a month.

But these pensions alone are not enough to cover the care home charges of around £2,000 a month.

His daughter, Jane Major, 53, said her disabled father, who is recovering from major surgery in Walkergate Hospital, feels "very let down" by the system.

"He's very upset. He feels very let down," she said. "He didn't think he would ever find himself in this position.

"But the cost of care homes is really high and can't be covered by his pensions."

Mr Kidd enjoyed a long career in the Post Office, eventually running its investigative branch, and served with the RAF during the Second World War.

Mrs Major, a registered childminder from Gosforth in Newcastle, said today: "I feel he has been robbed.

"Everything he has worked for, he has put into the house.

"It's his only asset - he doesn't have savings or anything else. I think it's unfair.

"It was a very happy family home and it's sad that it will have to be sold for that purpose."

Mr Kidd, whose wife Enid died 10 years ago, went to Walkergate Hospital for physiotherapy after a fall in July.

He then underwent an emergency operation after he became ill with a perforated bowel.

Doctors gave him a one in three chance of survival but he has made a good recovery, although he will need to go into full-time care soon after he leaves the hospital.

Mrs Major, a mother of three, added: "It's really upsetting. I think there are lots of people now who are going to be in this position - ordinary people whose only investment is their house.

"With an increasingly aged population it's going to happen more and more."

She said she is now considering signing over ownership of her own home to her children to prevent the same situation arising in future.

"I would urge everyone near pensionable age to think very carefully about putting their houses in a trust, and even more so if they don't have relatives to leave it to," she added.

The Department of Health says anyone with more than £13,000 of assets must part-fund their own care and those with over £21,500 must pay the full amount.

This takes into account savings, pensions and capital, including the person's home if they live there alone.