When moving into long-term or residential care, there’s a lot for everyone to deal with, and tackling financial affairs can just feel like added stress. That’s why we wanted to make this process simpler for you, so have created a guide to support those affected by a loved one entering long-term care with a Standard Life Home Finance Horizon lifetime mortgage and provide the answers you may be looking for during a difficult time.

What is meant by long-term care?

Long-term care is defined as the transition into, usually residential care, indefinitely, with the expectation to not return to your home and require 24-hour care. This does not apply to living in sheltered or warden supervised accommodation. We kindly request to be informed if an applicant enters long-term care.

How do I notify Standard Life Home Finance?

When either applicant enters long-term care, we’ll require an official letter from the care home confirming the date of this change and that they’re expected to remain in their care indefinitely. You can notify us of this change by post to the address below, referencing the account holder’s name and the account number (if known).

Standard Life Home Finance
PO Box 1168
Preston
PR2 0GB

For those wishing to notify us via email, please contact [email protected], referencing the account holder’s name and account number (if known). Please note that the care home’s official letter must be sent to the address above.

Alternatively, for assistance please call 0800 188 4815 and our servicing team will be able to help you.

Does this apply to joint cases?

If you’ve taken out a joint lifetime mortgage, as a couple, we’ll still need to be informed if one of you enters long-term or residential care, while the other remains living at home. 

Notifying us can be done following the same process above. If you are notifying us but you are not the plan holder, we will require a Letter of Authority or Lasting Power of Attorney to be able to confirm your identity. However if the person remaining at home is notifying us, this won’t be necessary as we will confirm your identity over the phone.

We won’t make any steps to redeem your loan at this stage, but if the remaining applicant living at home wishes to repay the loan in full, they can do so without incurring early repayment charges (ERCs).

What happens if I move to live with family for care reasons?

If you, or both applicants decide to live in the long-term care of family, rather than in a care home, we may still consider redeeming your loan without ERCs, but this will be assessed on a case-by-case basis.

In the scenario, rather than providing a letter from a care home, we’ll need a report from your GP including the move date and confirming that you’re moving to live with family for the purpose of requiring indefinite 24-hour care. Please also include your full name and account number.

The above information may be sent to us via post to the address above, or via email if you prefer.

How do I notify you on behalf of someone else?

For applicants unable to notify us, someone with a Letter of Authority or Lasting Power of Attorney can do so instead. They’ll need to provide the original/certified copy of their Letter of Authority/Lasting Power of Attorney and their identification, all of which can be posted to the address above.

Any original or certified copies of ID will be returned to you as soon as possible via Tracked Royal Mail. We recommend sending any original/certified ID via Special Delivery only, for increased security.

At the time of the last remaining applicant entering long-term care, we will collate and confirm all evidence before arranging closure of the account and redemption of the loan through sale of the property. Alternatively, if you wish to keep the property or sell to another family member, you have the option to repay the loan in full without incurring ERCs at this time.

Still have questions?


If you still have questions, we’ll be happy to help. Get in touch here and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible.
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