Boiler woes for FiL - 86 and diagnosed with cancer 11 October 2021 at 5:07PM in Disability money matters 5 replies 461 views

Tunstallstoven

Hi all

It never rains but it pours...

My FiL was recently diagnosed with cancer which is untreatable, and has been given 3-6 months.  He was in hospital for 10 days or so but is now back home.  Had his gas "back boiler" serviced today and it has been condemned.  

He has a state pension and two small private pensions (one he inherited from his wife).  We are going to claim for Attendance Allowance.  It's not in payment yet but the application is logged and will go through the fast track route. 

I know this information will be available on the web, but we're so busy getting wheels in motion and juggling everything else in our lives that finding the time to look and understand it is hard.  I wondered if any kind souls could explain whether there are any options for a boiler grant given his age and/or his diagnosis?  And also whether they are means tested or not? 

Huge thanks  

  

jefaz07

Can’t tell you too much of the finer details but look at the ECO3 scheme. Attendance allowance is one of the benefits to qualify I think. 

Sorry to hear of your sad news. 

LippyDoodle

I'm so sorry to hear about your father in laws condition and my heart goes out to him along with you and your family. 

You could try contacting the citizens advice and explain things to them. They were really good with my mum. I was able to go through all the necessary paperwork with an adviser over the phone (before covid) and they put in the application for attendence allowance and it all got sorted really quickly. I was also asked if there was anything that mum needed. I mentioned a couple of things. I was told they were apply for a grant with Macmillan. Mum had a cheque from them for £400. While I understand that is nowhere near the amount needed for your FiL I'm assuming that the amount will reflect whats needed. Either way it's worth looking into. Citizens advice will know of any other grants etc. 

If there is anyway the money can be found in the mean time, I think it might be the option to get the boiler sorted because it's obviously needed asap. 

Take care 

Brie

So sorry about the sad news - you are right about "never rains, but pours".

On a practical side - as time is limited what is the likelihood that he will stay at home?  I know he probably wants to as long as possible but depending on what is happening with him perhaps a hospice move sooner rather than later would be a good idea?  Maybe not.  Just thinking that while it may not be ideal at least he would be warm.  

Did the boiler service person have any ideas??  Potentially they can act very quickly when they know they are dealing with someone who is vulnerable.  Maybe you are able to sub the cost of a new boiler and FiL can pay you back should a grant come through.  Although, cruelly, that might put him to the back of the queue as his heating problem has been fixed.

Don't forget to look after yourselves as well - these things can be very draining.

knightstyle

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And see if you can get a boiler under the ECO3 scheme.

Tunstallstoven

I'm so sorry, with everything going on I totally forgot to return to this and say thanks to everyone for the kind and helpful responses.  

In the end, he used some of his savings to just get a new boiler installed.  He needed the heat ASAP, and looking into whether he would qualify for a grant etc was just too much of a headache with everything else going on.  

Thanks all the same though for the replies and advice.