grant or loan from DHSS

venus69

My son broke the bath. I rang the local council, the came out to take a look and hopefully to repair it. He told me i would have to pay to have one in and that he would send me a letter stating how much it would cost.
i got a letter 8 days after his visit with a whopping £600.25 for a bath and fitting.
i emailed them asking where that got that figure,
as i can get a whole bathroom suite for less.
they said thats how much it costs, and if i get it done myself it would have to be inspected and would be removed if wasn't up to safety standards.
And the cost to have it removed would be billed to me.
I am on jsa as i was made redundant in may.
I applied for budget loan but i was refused as i am not on the right benifit.
do you think a community care grant would fund this?

Fran

Did your son physically break the bath (smash it/drop something in it etc.) or did it happen to break when he was in it? What quality was their bath?

You would not be eligible for Community Care Grant as they don't give one "for repair to council property". DWP website and you have to be on an income based benefit. To get a Budgeting Loan you have to have been on JSA income based or Income Support etc. for 26 weeks Direct.gov.

I would get back to the council unless son has clearly smashed it to bits and try to get them to replace. You could try Citizens Advice who could phone on your behalf.

venus69

It was an accident. We have a mirror on the wall in the bathroom he took it off the wall and it slipped out off his hand. and put an hole in the bath.

Oldernotwiser

How would they know if you just put a new one in yourself? People must change their bathroom suites all the time.

Fran

Have you got any home contents insurance?

cw18

When my elder son broke our bath (back in 1992/93!) it was covered by the building insurance rather than the contents, as a bath is seen as a permanent fixture.

venus69

I did have contents insurance but when i was made redundant in may i found impossible to live on benifit so my building insurance,telephone etc had to go

[Deleted User]

As has already been said this would be covered by buildings and not contents insurance,so i wonder if the council has such cover?did you explain to them exactly how it got broke?
failing that I agree that the best course of action would be to but one and pay a plumber to install it,then forget to tell the council,i doubt they will come round looking to see what youve done

dmg24

woodbine wrote: »

As has already been said this would be covered by buildings and not contents insurance,so i wonder if the council has such cover?did you explain to them exactly how it got broke?
failing that I agree that the best course of action would be to but one and pay a plumber to install it,then forget to tell the council,i doubt they will come round looking to see what youve done

Not all block policies (as the council policy is likely to be) cover internal fixtures and fittings. This is a problem encountered by many leaseholders, including those who own their properties but have to have the insurance provided by their management company. Often they are not aware that they are not covered until they need to claim.

real1314

Ok, here's what I'd do.

Ask the council for any list of approved tradesmen (not sure which dept they might have to cover this - maybe a trading standards branch?)

Get 3 quotes off traders on the list, over the phone should be ok.

Then book an appointment with your local councillor to ask why a council using bulk buying powers and with no need to make a profit charges more than a self employed trademan.

My local paper usually has 2 or 3 ads for bathrooms fully fitted for £450 or so. The toilet and basin must be at least £100 between them for supply and fit (probably more like £150), so a bath alone should be £350 maximum.

Oldernotwiser

real1314 wrote: »

The toilet and basin must be at least £100 between them for supply and fit (probably more like £150), so a bath alone should be £350 maximum.

Fitting the loo is a far bigger job; fitting a bath is something anyone handy at DIY can do.