Large compo payout and ESA / DLA stuff

Ames

I'd move to a bungalow now, or at least in a few months when you've settled down from the stress of fighting for the compensation.There's no sign of house prices falling, so your money will go further now than it will in a few years. And moving is hard, if your health is going to get worse it makes more sense to move now than struggle even more in a few years.

GlasweJen

I would be careful with the locking it up plan. My sister had a medical negligence pay out as a child and it was locked in a trust fund that needed 2 signatures plus a solicitors letter to withdraw money. The two signatures were my mum and biological father, one day bio dad decided to walk into the bank and cleared the account, he didn't even forge the other signatures!

In the process of suing the bank for the money back (there was a messy divorce so parents were not talking at all except through solicitors) mum found out that it's actually fairly common for people to scam money out of disabled peoples trust funds or cast judgement on what the disabled person wants to spend their money on, you don't want that noose round your neck. If you want to buy an adapted motorbike to enjoy a midlife crisis you don't want some stuffy solicitor insisting you need to save for care when you're older and you're never going to get the DWP to agree to ignore money that can be signed out by 2 family members.

I'd buy your bungalow while the property market is at a lull. You shold still get DLA and ESA if you're on contributions based which I think you said you were? You'd get a discount on your council tax if you're using a wheelchair indoors and have widened doors or lowered counters.

GlasweJen

Oh and don't stress about holidays, it will get easier. I know we've been on wheels for roughly the same amount of time but before I joined the wheelie club I was on oxygen which is a major headache to transport so holidays have been a stress for most of my life.

I take my cheapest wheelchair (an eBay special) but best cushion, cushion stays with me and wheelchair goes in the hold when I'm in my seat. I won't fly from airports that take you onto the Tarmac as the hoist thing they use is bloody scary. I usually fly out of Glasgow which uses the tunnel. If visiting Florida I fly into Orlando, never Sanford - I call the airlines who fly the routes I'm interested in and ask them how they board paraplegic passengers and how they disembark us at the other side. Different airlines have different facilities at the same airports, easyjet for example don't use the tunnels at Glasgow airport and board people via stairs on the Tarmac.

You will find places you like at the other side and you'll build up a wee repertoire of reliable holidays. I like Geneva (now that I've learned not to get trapped in the tram lines), Interlaken, Berlin, Orlando (the buses are amazing for wheelies), going to brave a new destination for honeymoon, it's between California, Tokyo or Shanghai. I've been checking travel forums and blogs for the destinations and I'm fairly sure California will be the easiest of the three options.

Cruises are a hit with other wheelchair users, I've never fancied it but people say they're ideal for a wheelchair user.

LoveLifeAgain

Ames wrote: »

I'd move to a bungalow now, or at least in a few months when you've settled down from the stress of fighting for the compensation.There's no sign of house prices falling, so your money will go further now than it will in a few years. And moving is hard, if your health is going to get worse it makes more sense to move now than struggle even more in a few years.

That is exactly what I thought. Buy the bungalow now and then settle in and get anything needed before the possibility of worsened health. Lot of good luck and wishes to you and glad you have got something although no amount of money can compensate for ill health as we all know.

teddysmum

You may also get a bargain ready adapted bungalow, as estate agents tell people to expect less for an adapted property, if they don't wish to return it to it's original condition.

TBagpuss

As others have said, I would get very specific advice from a specialist, and double check with DWP before you tie anything up. Also be aware that anything which genuinely protects your assets so that the DWP can't take them into account will also limit your own choices and could create a situation where you could not access money for a purpose you wanted.

I'd also second the suggestion to think about your longer term housing needs - none of us knows what will happen to property prices or other types of investment, but generallyspeaking, property has tended to increase faster than other assets, so you might find that you end up unable to buy in the future. Presumably the compensation wasn't limited to funding housing? Could you buy a property and invest the remainder (or most of it).

Or if you are wary of locking up most of the money in a property it might be worth looking into whether there are any Housing Associations in your area which may offer a part buy/part rent property, which might allow you to buy a % of a property so you have the security of investing your money and giving you security in terms of your housing, but would not necessarily tie up all of your compensation. There are pros and cons of part owned properties but it might be worth considering.

If you qualify for means tested benefits you could claim housing benefit for the rental portion if you needed to.

Good luck.

Savvy_Sue

Here's another vote for looking round for your own property now. My reasoning goes that moving house isn't going to get any easier, and as with old age, it's so much easier to think about it and do it before you absolutely HAVE to.

And you've got a window of opportunity:

pmlindyloo wrote: »

As regards your compensation money this is disregarded for 52 weeks so you have time to make decisions.

So that's a year to look round, find somewhere you like (not just the first possible place you see), get any adaptations made on the new place, decorating etc before you move in. And all while you're still 'just about' agile enough to cope with your current place.

Parva

teddysmum wrote: »

You may also get a bargain ready adapted bungalow, as estate agents tell people to expect less for an adapted property, if they don't wish to return it to it's original condition.

I never thought of it like that, I've seen a couple with wetrooms fitted already that seemed to be a decent price. And I'm definitely hunting for one now. The financial adviser agreed when I explained that the danger of waiting 5+ years is that I'll have frittered a chunk of the money away and house prices will have risen and I'd end up stuck.

I'd rather get a place that is suitable now than risk being stuck in this house for the rest of my natural because it isn't easy getting out from here. There's a flight of steps outside the front door and being situated on a steep hill with no shops anywhere near means I rely on a weekly groceries delivery from Morrisons and family and friends for anything inbetween.

Thanks for the tips also Jen. I did go to Cyprus last year and it was far easier than I expected it to be. Actually getting around outside of the hotel was the biggest problem, but wasn't impossible.

Cheers for all the advice guys and gals.

Savvy_Sue

Parva wrote: »

I'd rather get a place that is suitable now than risk being stuck in this house for the rest of my natural because it isn't easy getting out from here. There's a flight of steps outside the front door and being situated on a steep hill with no shops anywhere near means I rely on a weekly groceries delivery from Morrisons and family and friends for anything inbetween.

Oh gosh, definitely go for it now: wait five years and getting out of the house isn't going to be any easier, plus you might have just got into the habit of not going out!

kingfisherblue

It sounds like a house move would be advisable Parva. At least if you start to look now, you won't rush into making the wrong decision. You have some time to find a property to suit you.

If you currently have any adaptations to your house that were financed by a Disabled Facilities Grant, you may have to pay some or all back to the council if they put any time constraints on them. We have a wetroom, and when it was built, the council told us that if we moved within five years we would have to repay the full amount. It's worth checking, just in case.