Emergency grant to replace boiler for 72 disabled pensioner PLEASE HELP

Chop

(Apologies if this is the wrong board, wasn't sure where to put it)

My mum is 72 and has chronic MS and a back injury so is wheelchair and housebound. She is also in serious financial trouble (that's another story).

And now her boiler has packed up, she still has central heating (thankfully) but no hot water. She massively relies on hot baths each night to help relax her muscles and control the pain.

British Gas say it'll be around £2-£3k to replace the boiler. I have tried speaking to the Warm Front people who say she would def by eligible and the earliest they could send an assessor is March and it could then take up to 6 months for installation. There's apparently no way round this as it's a queueing system only. They were far from sympathetic. :mad:

She can't live without hot water for 7 months but at the same time can't afford a new boiler. Does anyone know of any grants or charitable funds or anything that could help? Or anything else we could try before I have to take a loan to try and cover the cost?

Am so stressed and desperate about this any advice would be very very much appreciated.

Thanks

capita_guy

Have you tried your local council? Some councils have funds for peoplw on benefits to keep their home habital. What area are we talking about?
Good luck.

zarazara

Is there anyway she could go and live with you until the boiler is sorted by the Warm Front people?

becky_rtw

Warm front is not a boiler fixing service - its a replacement scheme for working but out of date boilers, thats why there's no jumping the queue...its not their fault they are just delivering the service that the government have contracted them for.

Hope you get something sorted though!

cattie

Although Warm front say it could take up to 6 months, that doesn't mean she'll have to wait 6 months for installation. They have quoted you the maximum wait there could possibly be.

Often work is carried out far quicker & once the assessor has been he should be able to give a more realistic figure of what the wait in your area is likely to be.

The boiler is obviously functioning if it's still giving heating to the radiators, so can you not look into getting some kind of repair to tide her over for the short term? If British Gas has told you it's not repairable, take no notice, phone round a couple of local registered gas fitters to get repair quotes from them.

Also if you do decide to pay for a replacement boiler rather than wait for Warm Front, again no need to go with British Gas as they will be the most expensive. Find yourself an independent local registered installer & it will be much cheaper.

silvercar

Get a second opinion. If her boiler is still providing central heating and BG haven't turned it off as dangerous, it is still functioning. Find another registeresd gasSafe engineer.

simpywimpy

If its definately not working, Im sure british gas would organise a payment scehdule for you. They don't take the money up front but send you an invoice. Might be worth trying

rachbc

as others have said get quotes from others rather than BG and see if it can be fixed until warmfront comes through

gas4you

Contact Age Concern first thing in the morning.

I have done work with my local one. They asked for a quote from me, then arranged various charitable grants that paid for the work.

Cheques were sent to me direct for payment.

It isn't instant, but one hell of a lot quicker than that farce called Warmfront.

Another outside chance would be if your father used to be in the forces, in which case I have done work that has been paid for via the British legion funds.

My local council also offer a 'care & repair' for the elderly or infirm.

Could be worth checking if your council has a similar scheme.

If all else fails, tell the council she has just moved here form an eastern bloc country. She will have a new boiler within a week:mad:

Chop

Thanks to everyone for replies so far, much appreciated. Mum is in Weston-Super-Mare which is part of North Somerset Council. Will try and get hold of the social workers today.

Her house is specially adapted for her disability so she can't move anywhere else unfortunately or even go somewhere else for a bath.....if only.

The big prob is speed of getting this sorted, she's been without hot water for 3 days now and without a bath so is in agony. So we have to sort it as soon as we can, which is why I may need to take a loan for it. It's a specially adapted bath so will take a hell of a lot of kettles to fill. :-(

Thanks again to everyone who took the time and trouble to respond.

Owain_Moneysaver

The boiler is working for the central heating, so no need to replace the boiler. British Gas people tell porky pies because their staff are on commission for replacement boilers.

If it's a combi boiler (heats the hot water on demand, no hot water cylinder) then the hot water flow sensor / diverter valve inside the boiler is faulty. This can be replaced. The valve is generally not motorized and a variety of mechanisms are used to operate it, e.g. wax pellet expansion, water flow venturi etc. Prices will vary depending on the boiler make and cost of the part.

If it's a conventional boiler (hot water cylinder) then the motorised valve has failed, this may be somewhere near the pump or in the bottom of the airing cupboard. They can be usually be manually moved with a lever on the side to change over and trigger the water heating circuit. That will give you hot water temporaily, slide the lever back to get heating again. They look like this:



You may also have an electric immersion heater on the cylinder. Be careful the thermostat on that is not too high (or has failed 'on') or the water could be dangerously hot.

As a backup, an instant electric shower could be fitted over the bath - it will take for ages to fill a bath (and be really steamy) but would give warm water for hygiene. A bath seat is quite cheap to buy or local social work occupational health may be able to arrange a free equipment loan.

Any competent local gas safe engineer should be able to fix the boiler, any half decent plumber should be able to change the motorised valve.