Discounted "essential items" for disabled?

Lou76

Hiya, sorry didn't know how to title this thread to make it clear what I'm asking, so hopefully the drivel that follows will help.

To make a short story long: I have ME/Crohns and as such am housebound about 98% of the time (trust me, that 2 % makes all the difference [to me] ).

I live in a top floor flat (3 floor up, converted townhouse) and as such my only means of drying clothes, bedding, towels etc is either via a tumble dryer or hanging things over the clothes horse.

I appreciate that a tumble dryer is not the most 'money saving' way to go but, for me, it's my lifeline. Just because I'm a wee bit unwell, and not able to go out and earn like I used to, doesnae mean I like wearing cardboard for jeans (feeling like wearing jeans, rather than pj's, is an achievement in itself lol) or drying myself with a plank of wood for a towel.

Anyway, on Friday I finally felt well enough to wash some clothes - you'd think I had to take them down the Clyde and beat them with a rock, not just load them into a machine & switch a button :rolleyes:, the way I feel some days, it'd be as easy to go down the Clyde.

All washed and shoved into the dryer, I felt fine to go back to bed...

Wakened up an hour or so later and walked into the kitchen and realised the dryer wasn't as noisy as it should be. It was still producing heat (nearly collapsed by the heat when I opened the door, wish I could have stored it up to save on the gas bills lol) but the drum wasn't spinning. :mad:

Searched the internet high & low for money saving ways of fixing it, spent about 2 hours reading how to change the belt, fuses, drum etc and drew the conclusion - I need a new dryer.

For anyone who's still reading this (well done) I was wondering if there's anywhere out there that sell "essential" white goods for disabled - given that goods for disabled are supposed to be VAT free?. :rolleyes:

Sorry for the long winded post but I didn't fancy just posting: "Sleep loads and get the sh*ts all the time, loads of washing needing done, where can I buy a dryer pure cheap, by ra way..."

Cheers

Lou xx

munchings-n-crunchings

Hello Lou,

As nice as it would be, I don't think you will find a tumble dryer as an 'essential item'.
A tumble dryer, can be used by anyone, and they are not adapted for disabled use, so will not be exempt from VAT.
And, as lovely as they are, they are not classed as essential :rolleyes:

I have found a furniture project that might be worth a try.
http://www.morethanfurniture.org.uk

It also seems to be know as the Ruchill Furniture project.
Often these projects have lovely white goods, in used condition, at good prices.
Depending on your circumstances, their website have a list of grants that could be applied for.
If these don't have what you're looking for, try putting furniture project into Google, and see if any other come up.

The other option is look at Freecycle, also can be found from Google.

Good luck

Munchie

purplecatlover

try a community care grant or budgeting loan to buy one?

dmg24

purplecatlover wrote: »

try a community care grant or budgeting loan to buy one?

Assuming that you fulfil the benefits related criteria, you should be able to get a CCG. Tumble dryers are deemed an essential household item for those with a high turnover of washing for medical reasons.

Edit: Have just noticed that you are in Scotland. You'll need to double check that the same criteria apply there.

Lou76

Hi guys, thanks for all the replies. Sorry for the delay in replying, been sleeping, more or less, since I posted. :rotfl:

Munchie, I didn't really think a tumble dryer would be classed as an essential item, hence the "essential" although it seems you worked that out. Thanks for the link to that site though, I've bookmarked it for future use. :beer:

The bank of Mum & Dad have offered me the money, I decided to take them up on their offer, but only on the basis that it's a loan, as I quite like the 0% interest rate I negotiated.

Have ordered a new Hotpoint (same make as the old one which must be about 13 years old by now, I've had it for 7 so it hardly owes me anything) from John Lewis. They were not only offering the best price (£169 incl delivery) but they also give a 2 year guarantee, rather than the standard 1 year offered elsewhere.

Just thought I'd mention that incase anyone is on the lookout for a new dryer/ washing machine.

Cheers again

Lou x

foxxymynx

freecycle? maybe a long shot but worth a try

Lou76

foxxymynx wrote: »

freecycle? maybe a long shot but worth a try

Hi Foxxy, I did consider Freecycle as I've given loads of stuff away on there before, never yet requested anything so it should've been ok to ask, but it would leave me the problem collecting it & getting rid of the old machine.

I live in a top floor flat (3 floors up) and sadly I don't have access to a van/ large car to collect it or a couple of big burly men to do the lifting for me.

Thanks though for your suggestion, hopefully it'll help someone else in the future. :beer: