Is there likely to be any help available to buy a replacement fridge

HurdyGurdy

Sorry - not sure if this is the right forum. Please move if not.


My daughter is a single parent. She moved into her first home just under a year ago, and bought the majority of her "stuff" second hand. Including a fridge freezer.

She has just rung me in tears, saying that she thinks the fridge is broken. There is no internal thermostat (which I told her to check, and make sure she'd not knocked it accidentally) but there is a button to check the temperature of each "zone". The freezer is showing as -22 degrees, and the fridge as +23 degrees, so it's not looking good.

She cannot afford to buy a new fridge at the moment - not even a second hand one. Unfortunately, I am not in a position to be able to help her either.

The major problem is that she is insulin dependent diabetic, and needs to store her insulin in a fridge.

Given this medical need, is she likely to be able to get any kind of grant towards paying for a replacement fridge, or maybe a crisis loan? Would crisis loans cover this kind of thing?

She is in receipt of income support and tax credits, and doesn't work.

elantan

Freecycle may be an option

meritaten

If she is on benefits then she may have a centre near her where she can buy a 'reconditioned' or second hand fridge for a very reasonable price.
As she is insulin dependent and 'needs' a fridge - I would suggest she contacts a Charity for Diabetics - who may know how she can get one free?

anonmum

hi,

Since she is on Income Support could she look at maybe getting a crisis loan from the dss?

https:// www . gov . uk / crisis-loans

(remove spaces - new user cant post link)

Also maybe one of the diabetes charitys may be of help?

Perhaps a friend with a catologue could order one and she could pay for it monthly?

kind regards

anonmum x

con1888

She could apply for a crisis loan, you don't actually need to be on benefits to receive one.
https://www.gov.uk/crisis-loans/overview

con1888

or a budgeting loan https://www.gov.uk/budgeting-loans
only for those on benefits.

PoorCharleyBear

As a previous poster suggested Freecycle is excellent for the most surprising things.

Get her to put out a 'wanted' ad, or look through the offers and it is probably surprising what response she will get/

VfM4meplse

Don't panic, insulin can generally be kept outside of the fridge for 4-6 weeks - ask your DD to check the packaging to confirm how long it is safe for at room temperature. That will buy some time.

If a fridge cannot be secured in this time, asking her pharmacist to dispense future prescriptions in response to her extreme circumstances may elicit some sympathy.

Fire_Fox

Charity shops like British Heart Foundation have second hand fridges cheap, but she should be able to get a crisis loan.

cheepskate_2

Could she maybe sell something to get the money , her tv, computer etc as fridge would be more importaint

HurdyGurdy

Thank you all. In our panic last night, I'd forgotten all about freecycle!

She bought her present fridge/freezer through Noah Enterprises, and her sofa through British Heart Foundation. She got her washing machine from a Facebook selling page, and her daughter's bedroom furniture from Preen Furniture bank (she has no wardrobe herself. She uses a couple of very cheap hanging rails from Argos for her clothes until she can afford to buy wardrobes). Her daughter's cot/bed came from Ebay, her own bed and cooker were bought from a friend of a friend who was moving home.

So she's pretty good at sourcing second hand stuff. It's just unfortunately, she cannot afford to buy anything at the moment, even second hand. Due to having a really small kitchen, she would need to get another fridge/freezer as although her present freezer seems to be ok, there isn't space to keep that and just get a new fridge.

Cheepskate - her TV is a loaned one from a friend, she has no computer and the only thing of value she has is her mobile phone, and that's not a posh one. And she must have that, as it's the only way we can contact her, as she doesn't have a landline, and with her being diabetic, she needs to be contactable.

Thank you all for replying. I will put a wanted ad on Freecycle this morning, and keep everything crossed. I will also give her the links to the crisis and budgeting loans, so she can go to the library and use the internet there to research.