Quality Care You Can Trust in Worcestershire

with pension savings. The scam then takes place right in front of their eyes, and it means thousands can be lost, for good. It’s important that consumers stay alert to these tricks, and visit ScamSmart to protect themselves before the sleight of hand can begin.”

If a consumer deals with an unauthorised firm, they will not be covered by the Financial Ombudsman Service or Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) if things go wrong.

The most commonly used tactics of pension scammers to be aware of include:

• the offer of a free pension review,

• higher returns, where they will guarantee they can get you better returns on your pension savings, • help to release cash from your pension even though you’re under 55. An offer to release funds before age 55 is highly likely to be a scam, and has major tax implications

• high-pressure sales tactics, where the scammers may try to pressure you with ‘timelimited offers’ or even send a courier to your door to wait while you sign documents

• unusual investments – which tend to be unregulated and high risk, and may be difficult to sell if you need access to your money

• complicated structures where it isn’t clear where your money will end up

• arrangements where there are several parties involved (some of which may be based overseas) all taking a fee, which means the total amount deducted from your pension is significant

• long-term pension investments – which mean it could be several years before you realise something is wrong. n

When a family is thinking about care for a loved one, they want the best - they want to know that the care home they choose will put their loved one’s safety, happiness and wellbeing first.

Care UK’s Brook Court, Chandler Court and Perry Manor care homes in Worcestershire provide residential, dementia and nursing care, giving families peace of mind that their loved ones can stay living at the home should their needs change.

Living at Brook Court, Chandler Court and Perry Manor is all about quality of life. Every colleague in the home is passionate about enabling residents to enjoy a fulfilling lifestyle, tailored around their unique needs and preferences. The lifestyle teams organise a huge variety of group and one-to-one activities, with plenty going on each day.

With the extra support that Brook Court, Chandler Court and Perry Manor offer, new residents are often surprised at what they can do, whether that’s being able to continue with an activity they’ve enjoyed in the past, or even discovering new hobbies with our daily activities. Whether your loved one enjoys a quiet cup of tea in bed before starting the day, loves going for strolls in the landscaped grounds, or enjoys a chat over a beer, the team at Brook Court, Chandler Court and Perry Manor will spend time to enable them to continue living life the way they want to.

Brook Court, Chandler Court and Perry Manor care homes are part of award-winning provider, Care UK – one of the UK’s most successful care home operators* with over 40 years’ experience of delivering high quality care to older people. n Brook Court care home 37-38 Oldnall Road, Kidderminster DY10 3HN kay.mayes@careuk.com

Chandler Court care home Recreation Road, Bromsgrove B61 8DT paul.chambers@careuk.com

Perry Manor care home Charles Hastings Way, Worcester WR5 1ET Katherine.matthews@careuk.com