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Financial advisers should include care fee planning advice alongside pensions, annuities, PMI, equity release and drawdown discussions and insert it into their factfind document.

Chris Cain, founder and managing director of Grace Consulting, a firm of independent care advisers that focuses on the social and medical needs of the client and recommends clients to IFAs, believes that IFAs should not be scared off from talking to clients - particularly those aged 40 to 60 - about care fee planning, even if they do not hold the CF8 qualification. He said the qualification is to protect vulnerable people but advisers are missing out by failing to include this important facet in their holistic financial planning.

He said: "It simply cannot be good financial planning for clients to deal with these decisions during a crisis. There may be an element of insurance products involved but people should also be saving for this and preparing for lengthier retirement. For example, a quarter of over-80s need care. We are isolating the subject down to crisis-management rather than looking in advance and planning ahead."

While Mr Cain admits that there are very few specific products aimed at those wishing to forward plan their care fee liabilities - not least because government dithering over state assistance has "put product providers in a difficult position" - yet he claims that once advisers embrace the concept, not only will they be treating customers fairly, but providers will introduce more innovative products.

He said: "The breakthrough will come when IFAs see the value in care fee advice, then product providers will also move. There is a reluctance by IFAs at the moment but it is about building up assets and looking more broadly at a client's portfolio."

Financial advisers could find an untapped resource within their own existing client banks, Mr Cain explains and by mixing and matching a client's savings and investments with available insurance products they can significantly reduce their likely care fee costs. Mr Cain believes such discussions should take place alongside traditional discussion of retirement and inheritance planning, incorporating products such as annuities, equity release, drawdown and private medical insurance.

For elderly relatives of IFA clients, Symponia, an affinity group for care fee planning specialists, has a Professional Partner programme to allow advisers to refer clients to CF8-qualified advisers. Janet Davies, founder and managing director of Symponia said: "As a profession, it is a great way to move forward by taking advantage of the spectrum of advisers available. By referring, the existing IFA is safe in the knowledge that their client has received holistic professional financial advice without losing that client to another IFA firm."