DLA renewal. Disability the same, circumstances changed.

Lum

My partner's DLA renewal isn't up for quite some time yet, we only got it in November. She gets the higher rate for both care and mobility. I just have one thing worrying me right now.

A big thing on the form was the problems she has moving about the house, needing supervision on the stairs or making it from the bedroom to the toilet, needing assistance getting up if the falls etc.

Which is fine, except we've managed to find an accessible house. She'll be able to move around indoors in her chair, transfer to her car on her own etc. We're using a chunk of the DLA money to cover the increase in rent to allow us to live there (It's £125/month higher, council tax will be higher too, but not sure how much yet)

Which is why I'm worrying about the renewal. As we stand currently (in the non-accessible house) PIP wont be a problem, but in the new house she could, technically, survive for a few days even if I wasn't there. Does this mean that the care component would be withdrawn?

If this happens we'd have to move into a cheaper, non-accessible, house at which point she'd need the care I currently provide and we could re-apply due to the change of circumstances and move back!

Obviously I don't really want to do it that way. Can anyone tell me how this is likely to work and what I should put on the form?

rogerblack

Lum wrote: »

Which is why I'm worrying about the renewal. As we stand currently (in the non-accessible house) PIP wont be a problem, but in the new house she could, technically, survive for a few days even if I wasn't there. Does this mean that the care component would be withdrawn?

A couple of issues.

Firstly - HRM is explicitly for moving around outside.
Inside doesn't count.
Secondly - it's more than just 'survive' - care that is 'reasonably required' counts too.

Otherwise, it could be argued that simply sticking the person naked in a properly heated shower, with a stack of mars bars next to it is adequate care.

Needs related to social activities - going out - can count towards 'attention'.

Lum

Yes the mobility component is currently used to pay off the bills for the rather specialist wheelchair we have. Not too worried about the mobility component, no matter what changes she's still all but unable to walk (13 meters on a good day, on crutches, then has to sit or fall, can't even stand)

However the indoor mobility issues created a significant care need, stairs are incredibly dangerous, moving around indoors is dangerous, so supervision needed for night time toilet runs etc. Now that she will able to transfer from bed to chair and go on her own safely, the care need is reduced.

She still wouldn't be able to cook a meal for herself on bad days, but might be able to on good days if we installed a low level table in the kitchen. On bad days the shakes and lack of fine motor control would make using a knife, for example, incredibly dangerous. But if I had to go away for a few days and I stocked the fridge with microwave meals.

Since the only person providing care is me; and frankly I don't really have the spoons or the strength to do it properly, I just do it anyway and suffer for it; we're spending the care money on an adaptation that reduces my workload.

Thing that worries me is the DLA confirmation letter explicitly mentioned the night time toilet issue as a factor in their decision, and we've fixed this with the accessible house.

Lum

We haven't moved yet, so nothing to inform of yet. There has been no change to her actual disabilities either, there is unlikely ever to be, apart from it getting worse over time.

I still need to help her get up in the morning, make sure she remembers to go to bed. I still need to feed her on bad days and make sure she takes her medication on time. I still need to do all the cooking and housework, with the one exception of she can now use the microwave. Only real difference is I don't need to provide supervision and assistance moving around as she can now use a wheelchair indoors. I suspect I'll still need to help on days when she's bad enough that doing a transfer is risky.

Oh and perching stools are only really useful for very short periods of time before they become too painful. She uses one for brushing teeth and washing in the morning, but in the new place there is a low level sink so she'll just use the chair again. Still couldn't use one for cooking even if she could safely wield cooking implements.

This move basically takes some of the load off me so that we wont have to bring in a paid carer, something we're both rather uncomfortable about doing for various reasons. Take away the care component and we wouldn't be able to afford it and would end up back in a place where suddenly all this additional care is needed again!

rogerblack

One additional comment.
If the house has been 'substantially adapted' for the needs of a disabled person, you may be eligible for reduced council tax band, due to that adaption.

Lum

It has not been substantially adapted. It's just an old bungalow that happens to have been built with level access everywhere. Really lucky find on my part!

sunnyone

If you need a wheelchair indoors and have to have a larger home because of this you get a band reduction in council tax or IIRC a 10% reduction of the lowest council tax band but since the larger houses we are able to wheel around are rarely in band it I doubt that many people who are able to claim this discount for just that reason are in band A.

There are other criteria for this reduction but from what you have posted this one is applicable to you as a couple, the council will vist you to verify she uses a wheelchair indoors, they even look at the "evidence" left by indoor wheelchair use and you will be amazed how quick you get carpet tracks, scraping of the fabric of the home etc. They do check each year that you are still eligable but most years its just a form.

Have you measured the doorways? A standard wheelchair wont go through standard doors easily repeatedly, what size wheelchair is she in?

I must admit though we bought a very old property mostly due to the extra door width and for the larger room sizes to accomadate my wheelchairs, if your new home has the wider doors we have you need to be aware that the new doors cost considerably more than modern doors and it is entirely possible they could be damaged by the wheelchair. Luckily mouldings etc. which are also often damaged come in lengths so the wider doors only cost extra in that they cost inches more per frame.

Lum

It's a privately rented place (no way can we afford a deposit in this day and age!) but no we didn't measure anything, we just tested every doorway when viewing the place! She can just about fit through all of them

The chair is 25 inches wide, slightly narrower if we remove the power assisted wheels and put normal ones on. We're probably going to run with separate indoor and outdoor wheelchairs as although the short walk on crutches will be uncomfortable and painful for her, it's necessary for her to try and use her foot a little and it also saves one load/unload cycle of her chair, which is also an uncomfortable and painful process.

That said, it's the short walk on crutches that has me worried. Even though she can only do 13 metres people just assume that all wheelchair users are paraplegics and therefore the fact that she is able to stand to do this instantly brands us as cheats and fakers.

I was actually thinking of putting something down on top of the carpet to protect it from the wheelchair... don't want to end up paying for it's replacement at some point down the line and not sure that wheelchair related damage counts as "normal wear and tear" given how watered down the disability rules are when it comes to housing.

I'm glad you mentioned the council tax thing though, I didn't think we were eligible unless we needed a special room specific to the disability (e.g. a room with a dialysis machine in it) and I was fretting about the council tax as this is still an unknown quantity.

sunnyone

Would it be worth paying for a 16 inch basic chair just for indoors if that might make door frames easier or (my preferance since she does not have one yet) have a NHS wheelchair assessment?

I live in a house with four levels but I can only access two, the ground floor with my powerchair and the first floor with my little chair as Im lucky my bedroom/ensuite is directly off the stairlift so I can be assisted in my bedroom easily without a powerchair.

I mentioned the doors/carpets because you are in rented accomadation, when you need a wheelchair indoors some damage is inevitable and from your posts she will need to wheel around indoors to save her spoons for other less accessable areas of her life.

There are sticky back plastic type things for carpets which might help with wheelchair tracks in carpets, the clear plastic runner type affairs dont work though, I tried them in a relatives house when visiting.

Just post if you have any concerns where I might be able to help with being an indoor wheelie, Ive been in hospital a canny bit since the begining of April but Im hopeing to be out till the end of June at least.

sunnyone

I understand the para comparisons, I was given my first wheelchair post accident 20 years ago and I hated it so I hid my dirty little secret (that I was disabled and not just "injured") by dragging my useless legs around using crutches for over a decade.

Even some of my records say Im a para and I have to fight to get them amended, I have loss of use of lower limbs but Im not a para but most people cant see the diffrence.

Lum

sunnyone wrote: »

Would it be worth paying for a 16 inch basic chair just for indoors if that might make door frames easier or (my preferance since she does not have one yet) have a NHS wheelchair assessment?

The NHS wheelchair scheme works a little differently in Wales than in England. In England they decide that you need a chair and you get a choice of certain models and if none are suitable then you get a voucher toward a chair of your choice.

The NHS scheme in Wales is the same only if none are suitable you get nothing.

There are no NHS wheelchairs that will fit in her car that I am also capable of lifting.

So we didn't bother and just got a chair privately, and a spare chair that is lighter but more awkward to use with her car. Assuming both are working it is this spare chair that will remain indoors with the non-powered wheels attached. When we go out together then that chair will come with us along with the powered wheels.

I live in a house with four levels but I can only access two, the ground floor with my powerchair and the first floor with my little chair as Im lucky my bedroom/ensuite is directly off the stairlift so I can be assisted in my bedroom easily without a powerchair.

The current house is not suitable for a stairlift as the staircase is too narrow, also the upstairs doors are notably narrower than a standard door, so even if we got a stairlift it would be mostly pointless.

I mentioned the doors/carpets because you are in rented accomadation, when you need a wheelchair indoors some damage is inevitable and from your posts she will need to wheel around indoors to save her spoons for other less accessable areas of her life.

There are sticky back plastic type things for carpets which might help with wheelchair tracks in carpets, the clear plastic runner type affairs dont work though, I tried them in a relatives house when visiting.

Got any recommendations for a specific kind? One concern we have about the new place is that the carpet may be too thick to be able to easily use the non-powered wheels. This is still nothing compared to the current crap we deal with and there really aren't any alternatives.

Just post if you have any concerns where I might be able to help with being an indoor wheelie, Ive been in hospital a canny bit since the begining of April but Im hopeing to be out till the end of June at least.

It's appreciated. Thank you for your help. This is still all new to me, only really been a carer since October.