Community Care Grant - Removal Costs

saintscouple

Hi, can anyone give advice on the timing and process for applying for a community care grant to pay for removal costs?

My wife and i are council tenants and have found a mutual exchange so we can be close to family to help care for my disability needs.
The mutual exchange forms have just been signed, so no date for moving has been set yet, which removal companies seem to ask for.

Being on benefits we have no funds to pay for the removals ourselves, thus need help from the comunity care grant but need the money before we move to pay the removals company upfront as they will require.

Should i be getting quotes from removal companies now with an 'antisipated date of move'?

Should i get a few quotes and include them with our community care grant application?

Will the community care grant people pay the removal company direct, or pay us and then we pay them?

How long will it take for the community care grant to be paid out?

If anyone has any experience of the same thing we are trying to do, can they please share their experience?

We are finding the whole moving process very stressful, yet we are at the early stages, and would appreciate any advice available.

We are worried that a date will be set to move and the community care grant wouldn't have yet been processed.

Many Thanks in advance.

Oldernotwiser

I've moved lots of times and never paid the removal company upfront - I don't think it's normal practice.

saintscouple

ahhh, see i'm not used to moving and made an incorrect assumption.

In that case when are they paid? is it end of the day when everything is moved, or invoice x amount of days later?

Cheers

DX2

I would be getting quotes right now as removal companies generally tend to be very expensive! I certainly wouldn't bank on a community care grant paying all the costs either.

Once the CCG is approved they pay the amount into your bank account that you tell them about on the claim form. I must also say it can take IIRC it can take up to 12 weeks to process.

bunny999

When I have moved the removal people have always had to paid once they have moved your stuff. I can't imagine anyone being willing to wait 12 weeks for payment!

Oldernotwiser

I've always paid on completion of the move.

Even locally, a proper professional removal would be very expensive - you may well be better with a man and van or renting a van and getting your family to help you move.

saintscouple

I have phoned the community care grant people this morning and explained the situation.
They said from what i've told them i would qualify for a grant, and they're sending me a claim form and asked me to return it with quotes from 3 different removal firms.
They also said it could only take 2 weeks to process as long as our new landlord can confirm we are moving in to their property. (this would be verified with the mutual exchange forms).
So they are sending me the community care grant application form today.

I have found removal companies online that can give online quotes, so have started with them, so at least i will have a few quotes to include with my application.

Hopefully i'll then get the decision on the community care grant prior to moving and will then know better where i stand.

The man and a van is a good idea, only problem is we need to move in one go, as people our moving in to our place the same day, and these man and van people don't seems to have big enough vans.

So thinking of a back-up plan would be to get a Luton van with taillift, but would the contents of a 2 bed house fit in a Luton?
I'm also weary of load weight limits of the van and exceeding it. Especially when travelling for nearly 3 hours.

Oldernotwiser

You might find it cheaper than a professional move to combine the man and van with independent van hire. Get all the figures and see how they pan out.

(Don't forget that moving can be a great time to cull some of your belongings to sell on Ebay or to donate to charity.)

saintscouple

nice idea, better still if i can find 2 x man and a van, with Luton's, that would work better as we would have an extra pair of hands and we can follow them down in our car with the cats. Thanks