Can u help? Condition worsens as paper pushers drag their heels

danielfulshaw

Hi

I'm posting on behalf of my mum. She suffers from fibromyalgia. Though only recently diagnosed, I found out last October that she was eligbile for £ 2k of help from the council to help install a downstairs showeroom.

After a very long and tortous 6 month process, we eventually got 2 quotes back which were more than double what i would have excpected to pay if the work was being done privatley - they wanted about £ 11-13k for a very, very small bathroom!

My mums condition has since worsened. And to top it all, the council have said that they have now run out of money and taht nothing can happen until April. Even worse, come April the council will be merging to form a new council and they are not even sure whether there will be any grants being made.

Without that £2k there is no way I can get that shower installed. I feel powerless to do anything and my mother is at the point of despair having spent nearly 11 months in the hope that she would see an end in sight. The local health assesor has said she isn't eligible for a full grant so we've explored that avenue and I'm running out of options for her. She is in abolsute pain and thanks to technocarats and form fillling and paper pushers we're nowhere futher on. Can anyone offer any advice as to what we could do or what they would advise?

Does anyone know where the money comes from that the council is distributing?

nanokitten

If you want to give them a kick up the b*m then I'd:
1. get an advocate from either the CAB, DIAL etc.
2. make a formal complaint (there are rule and time limits on how they deal with this). write to someone senior, tell them that your next step will be to do the following...
3.contact my local MP.
4.contact the local govenrnment obudsman.
5.contact the press.
I'd mention council incompetance, dubious inflated quotes, maladministation of your application.... If your mum has suffered from loss of the aminity of the adaptions during this time, you should be aiming for compensation for the pain and discomfort of being without it for an unreasonable length of time.
(that's one reason to get an advocate as they will not feel embarrassed about having the chutzpah to sugest this!).
You needsomeone with a bit of welly behind you to make sure ypu donot get fobbed off by the council so get some help to write the letters.

The grant is probably a disabled facilities grant
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/DisabledPeople/HomeAndHousingOptions/YourHome/DG_4000642
although there are also pots of european social fund money too.

danielfulshaw

Thank you - I'm certainly not going to give up now! And I certainly don't believe what the council have told me.

Yes, the grant is a disbaled facilities grant and is essentially central govt money given out under a 1996 act. So, if that act is still on the statute books, how can the council claim they may change it to discrentionary grants (which is a separate 2002 act dreamt up, I think, for those who failed to meet the means test criteria of the 1996 act?)

It beggers belief.

I will be verifying the sitaution with the Department for Communities and Local Government, then writing to the relevant minister asking for reassurances and then take that to the council!

Have you any experience of this sort of thing yourself?
What was the European money you mentioned and how can that be accessed??

lollipoplady

I'm sorry to hear that you are having such a struggle to sort out your mother's shower room. It can be a nightmare to sort these things out especially dealing with local tradesman, and then the council on top of this!

Unfortunately from my own experience when any contractor hears the word "council grant" they rub their hands with glee - not all I am sure but most.

The council cannot do much until you have obtained your quotes. They need to know how much the work will cost, as do you.

As for a small bathroom - if they have to deal with drainage and such it can drastically up the price.

When you contact the tradesman you do not need to tell them that it is grant work. You used to be able to opt to pay them yourself ie not direct from the council you physically obtain the money. Ask for the approved list of contractors from your council and go through the list. This all takes time unfortunately and chasing people but you can get there.

You also need to speak to the officer assigned to the case - sometimes if you have trouble getting quotes they can accept just one as long as the price is not overinflated. Go back to you OHT as he/she may be able to help you also.

There is always money available but you do have to be quick as the budget does start to "run out" and as the european money this used to be available if the costs went over £20,000 +

nanokitten

I've not had experience of the faclities grant however I have been forced to take the council successfully to the ombudsman after they burried a serious complaint for over nine months. I got a CAB advisor to set up a meeting, wrote to my MP and ombusdman and within two days I have all the assurances I needed and within two weeks had a backdated check for everything they owed me. (a few months later the ombusman found in my favour and I was compensated for the ordeal).

danielfulshaw

Thanks guys - I did ring up DCLG and they said that the grant was running a snormal and couldn't understand what the council were talking about. Though it is possible that their money had run out, it's best to get teh application in anyway. Though interestingly the council have told my mum they can cap the amount given to £ 2k..but the DCLG couldn't understand that.

Absolutley take your point about inflated prices..however, I've asked that the council get two more quotes as I wasn't happy with them. Also asked a local plumber and he reckons it will be £ 5k tops..not £ 7k plus vat PLUS £ 2k for fittings...nearly £ 13k!!!

What is the European money? Can you get VAT off the fittings??

ElectricSoup

I work as an OT for a London borough council & have two clients applying for DFGs for shower installations. Fairly straightforward jobs. Quotes were about £9k and £11k. I know there are regulations that the surveyors I work with have to meet when drawing up specifications for the works - covers their backsides I suppose - maybe this has added extras that increase your quotes? I know we have to have anti-slip flooring & thermostatically controlled shower units specified. Plus adequate heating / lighting / ventilation. Capped at £2k sounds strange. DFG is means tested, so any contribution you (your mum) is assessed as having to make is then topped up with the grant. But my understanding is that the DFG will pay up to £25k. Might be different for different councils - though its been £25k for all 5 councils (SE UK) I've worked in.

Best of luck!

Peapod2

danielfulshaw wrote: »

Hi

I'm posting on behalf of my mum. She suffers from fibromyalgia. Though only recently diagnosed, I found out last October that she was eligbile for £ 2k of help from the council to help install a downstairs showeroom.

After a very long and tortous 6 month process, we eventually got 2 quotes back which were more than double what i would have excpected to pay if the work was being done privatley - they wanted about £ 11-13k for a very, very small bathroom!

My mums condition has since worsened. And to top it all, the council have said that they have now run out of money and taht nothing can happen until April. Even worse, come April the council will be merging to form a new council and they are not even sure whether there will be any grants being made.

Without that £2k there is no way I can get that shower installed. I feel powerless to do anything and my mother is at the point of despair having spent nearly 11 months in the hope that she would see an end in sight. The local health assesor has said she isn't eligible for a full grant so we've explored that avenue and I'm running out of options for her. She is in abolsute pain and thanks to technocarats and form fillling and paper pushers we're nowhere futher on. Can anyone offer any advice as to what we could do or what they would advise?

Does anyone know where the money comes from that the council is distributing?

I had to have a disabled facility grant and when the original builders came to give me a quote they were on about an electric shower and how much it would cost to run the cable through the house etc Eventually I went with an excellent builder who got me a shower that ran off my boiler (instant hot water). It is a proper shower fixed to the wall with all the safety features. No electric is needed so money saved in installation.

calleyw

We are about to have out bathroom turned in to a low level shower room as my husband is disabled.

We got a couple of a well know companies who do disabled bathrooms to do quotes where between 6k-9k with no vat to pay. And that was just for the shower unit and new loo and basin and not doing the rest that needed to be done.

We got out local bath shop to come out and low and behold just a smidge over £4k with no vat to pay. And that includes everything to finish apart from the flooring.

We are paying for this ourselves.

I am interested in the Anti-slip flooring as I was told there was no such thing. Only something that is not so slippy.

Yours


Calley

Peapod2

calleyw wrote: »

We are about to have out bathroom turned in to a low level shower room as my husband is disabled.

We got a couple of a well know companies who do disabled bathrooms to do quotes where between 6k-9k with no vat to pay. And that was just for the shower unit and new loo and basin and not doing the rest that needed to be done.

We got out local bath shop to come out and low and behold just a smidge over £4k with no vat to pay. And that includes everything to finish apart from the flooring.

We are paying for this ourselves.

I am interested in the Anti-slip flooring as I was told there was no such thing. Only something that is not so slippy.

Yours


Calley

Mine is a low level walk in shower with a non slip floor. The shower cubicle etc came from a specialised shop.

somebody_else

calleyw wrote: »

I am interested in the Anti-slip flooring as I was told there was no such thing. Only something that is not so slippy.

Calley

Erm, there is - it's what I've now got on my bathroom floor. I can't, off the top of my head, remember what it's called, but I'll have a furtle on the 'net and see if I can find it. It won't be cheap though.