Over 65 Any Help With Getting New Windows?

hartcjhart

What type of heating do you use?

Fenris

Mojisola wrote: »

Have you thought about trying a dehumidifier? It sounds as if damp air is the problem rather than the windows.

My parents have been helped by these people - www.anchor.org.uk/OurServices/At-home/Home-improvements/AnchorStayingPut/Default.htm
They were given a grant to get work done in the house so it would be worth contacting them.

We did borrow a dehumidifier from a friend last year to dry out our bathroom floor (very long story regarding the poor plumbing work carried out by the previous owners.) but the thing took so much electricity to power we had to stop using it. I've never seen the digits on the meter move so fast! Currently we're using those little ones you get from Poundland and putting them on the windowsils. They work after a fashon.

I did notice last night that the window in my bedroom has developed a drafty spot now. *Sighs*

Thanks for the link, they've now been added to my list of places to phone on Tuesday. :T

hartcjhart wrote: »

What type of heating do you use?

It's central heating. It's possible you're likely to be thinking that we should turn it down, which we have done, but along with Mum's osteoarthritis she also has a low platelet count which means she gets very cold this time of year. So, whilst I walk around in shorts and a T-shirt because I'm boiling, Mum's wrapped in a blanket hugging a hot water bottle! It's a very odd sight, I can tell you!

lilac_lady

Fenris, if you've succeeded in getting a higher payment from DWP after a year's wait, won't you be due a back payment? You could check and perhaps you'll have enough to replace some of the windows.

Fenris

lilac_lady wrote: »

Fenris, if you've succeeded in getting a higher payment from DWP after a year's wait, won't you be due a back payment? You could check and perhaps you'll have enough to replace some of the windows.

I hadn't thought of that. It is possible, yes. As it happens, it turns out that Mum was taken off Pension Credit in 2003, so that's far longer than she originally thought. I don't know if we'd be able to claim that far back, but I will be trying my damndest!

It's no wonder so many elderly people are living on the bread-line is it? I mean, I've got Internet access and I thought I'd done all I could to ensure that my Mum was getting all she's entitled to and it turns out she's not and hasn't been for several years. It's only because of the people who've responded to this thread that we're now aware of that fact. Imagine, then, what it's like for elderly folks who don't have Internet access, or don't have family who can help them out with getting this kind of information. How many of them are loosing out because they're simply not aware of what they're intitled to? It's no wonder that MP's can afford to claim expenses on duck houses and moats is it?

Rant over!

Thanks again for all the useful replies. :T

anmarj

Fenris wrote: »

I hadn't thought of that. It is possible, yes. As it happens, it turns out that Mum was taken off Pension Credit in 2003, so that's far longer than she originally thought. I don't know if we'd be able to claim that far back, but I will be trying my damndest!

/QUOTE]


good luck in that, you would have to prove that the assesement was wrong and why it has taken her this long to even think of appealing. Did she have savings at that time that she no longer has? If it is, the she would have to apply to get Pension Credit again and she would only get maximum backdating if allowed (3 months) as it up to her to make enquires to reapply sooner

Fenris

anmarj wrote: »

good luck in that, you would have to prove that the assesement was wrong and why it has taken her this long to even think of appealing. Did she have savings at that time that she no longer has? If it is, the she would have to apply to get Pension Credit again and she would only get maximum backdating if allowed (3 months) as it up to her to make enquires to reapply sooner

Thanks. We don't know what the reason was, they just said that she was no longer entitled and that it would stop March 2003. We assumed it was because she was getting her Army pension alongside the State one. This is the reason we haven't re-applied. :rolleyes:

I'm actually really angry about it now. I wasn't living here at the time it was stopped, I was in Milton Kyenes (I moved to Norfolk in October 2005 when Mum started being a frequent hospital visitor) so there wasn't much I could do about it at the time. Because we thought it was all to do with the Army pension we've done nothing more about it since as we thought she just wasn't entitled. One up to the Govenment for keeping pensioners in the dark about what they're entitled to! :mad:

anmarj

Fenris wrote: »

Thanks. We don't know what the reason was, they just said that she was no longer entitled and that it would stop March 2003. We assumed it was because she was getting her Army pension alongside the State one. This is the reason we haven't re-applied. :rolleyes:

I'm actually really angry about it now. I wasn't living here at the time it was stopped, I was in Milton Kyenes (I moved to Norfolk in October 2005 when Mum started being a frequent hospital visitor) so there wasn't much I could do about it at the time. Because we thought it was all to do with the Army pension we've done nothing more about it since as we thought she just wasn't entitled. One up to the Govenment for keeping pensioners in the dark about what they're entitled to! :mad:

that explains it then , in March 2003 Minimum Income Guranteed (MIG) was the benefit NOT Pension Credit, so basically if her income went over the minimum amount laid down then she would not be entitled to MIG. Pension Credit did not start until 6 October 2003.

sorry just seen the bit about her being 68. she may not of been entitled to Pension Credit until her 65th birthday when Savings credit would of kicked in (has to be 65 or over) so she should of reapplied in 2006, so I think you have very little chance of getting more than the standard 3 months backing, using ingornace would not work as the response would be that there are plenty of advertising for it and it is up to the pensioner to apply. There was also a major campaingn for a short period where we were calling pensioners who had not claimed and to see if we could encourage them to claim, but as you can image what a lot of the responses were.

meerkat2007

Fenris, I don't know if this will be of any help to you, but I thought it might be worth a mention.

You say that your Mum owns the house, you live with her, and she gets Council Tax Benefit. I'm assuming that no one else lives there? In my case, I own the house and my mother lives with me. I don't qualify for Council Tax Benefit, but I do get Second Adult Rebate for my Mum, which is 25% of the bill.

I don't know how much your Mum's Council Tax Benefit works out at percentage-wise, but it might be worth making enquiries to see if she can get Second Adult Rebate with regard to you?

Fenris

anmarj wrote: »

that explains it then , in March 2003 Minimum Income Guranteed (MIG) was the benefit NOT Pension Credit, so basically if her income went over the minimum amount laid down then she would not be entitled to MIG. Pension Credit did not start until 6 October 2003.

sorry just seen the bit about her being 68. she may not of been entitled to Pension Credit until her 65th birthday when Savings credit would of kicked in (has to be 65 or over) so she should of reapplied in 2006, so I think you have very little chance of getting more than the standard 3 months backing, using ingornace would not work as the response would be that there are plenty of advertising for it and it is up to the pensioner to apply. There was also a major campaingn for a short period where we were calling pensioners who had not claimed and to see if we could encourage them to claim, but as you can image what a lot of the responses were.

Thanks for the info. We had a look at the letters she was getting yesterday. As far as I can tell, she was sent a form in October 2006 regarding Pension Credit. She filled it in and sent it off, but we've got so many differing letters that we don't know why she didn't get it. I'm leaving it until Tuesday and I'll see if we can find someone who can look at all the correspondance and see if there's anything that can be done.

I can assure you, Mum never had a phone call, and I have no knowladge of any TV advertising and I'm a TV-aholic! :rotfl: Had Mum had a call she would have been interested in getting what she's entitled to and I doubt very much she would have simply hung up knowing that she might be a few quid a week better off.

By your use of the word "we" can I assume you work for the DWP? Hope you don't mind my asking.

meerkat2007 wrote: »

Fenris, I don't know if this will be of any help to you, but I thought it might be worth a mention.

You say that your Mum owns the house, you live with her, and she gets Council Tax Benefit. I'm assuming that no one else lives there? In my case, I own the house and my mother lives with me. I don't qualify for Council Tax Benefit, but I do get Second Adult Rebate for my Mum, which is 25% of the bill.

I don't know how much your Mum's Council Tax Benefit works out at percentage-wise, but it might be worth making enquiries to see if she can get Second Adult Rebate with regard to you?

Mum doesn't have to pay any CT because of both our circumstances, but thanks anyway.

anmarj

Fenris wrote: »

Thanks for the info. We had a look at the letters she was getting yesterday. As far as I can tell, she was sent a form in October 2006 regarding Pension Credit. She filled it in and sent it off, but we've got so many differing letters that we don't know why she didn't get it. I'm leaving it until Tuesday and I'll see if we can find someone who can look at all the correspondance and see if there's anything that can be done.

I can assure you, Mum never had a phone call, and I have no knowladge of any TV advertising and I'm a TV-aholic! :rotfl: Had Mum had a call she would have been interested in getting what she's entitled to and I doubt very much she would have simply hung up knowing that she might be a few quid a week better off.

By your use of the word "we" can I assume you work for the DWP? Hope you don't mind my asking.



Mum doesn't have to pay any CT because of both our circumstances, but thanks anyway.

correct.;)