Disability Facilities Grant — Scope | Disability forum
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Disability Facilities Grant

carol3
carol3 Community member Posts: 2 Listener
Hello. I have joined the community because my brother in law had MS and it had progressed to the point that he is now unable to carry out and day to day activity by himself. My husband and I support them ( him his wife and son).

My question is whether anybody knows the means testing criteria for this grant? 

They have recently applied for a DFG to adapt the garage extension into a wet room and bedroom  ( he already sleeps in there) because the hoist he now needs to use does don’t fit into the wet room they currently have. The OT has supported this but they have been told that they need to pay the first £33k of the work ( we had our own survey and it will cost about £18k.) we are surprised at this because their only income is a private pension, PIP, careers allowance and a very small wage from my sister in laws part time job. None of this adds up to more than £25k a year. The application didn’t ask for any details of outgoings. 

They expected to pay some of the cost but not all of it. Any information anybody has would be very welcome. They are very distressed about the outcome.
Many thanks


Comments

  • atlas46
    atlas46 Community member Posts: 826 Pioneering
    Hi carol3

    A warm welcome.

    Each local authority apply their own means test, so check direct with his local authority.

    His PIP and CA should not count as income.

    I would seek assistance from a welfare rights officer and contact the MS society helpline
  • atlas46
    atlas46 Community member Posts: 826 Pioneering
    Hi carol3

    Some further information.

    From what you explain about their joint income and after deducting PIP and CA, they would not pay anything.

    The £33,000 charge you were informed about is none sense, the max grant is £30,000. 

    Bit of good news, as your brother in law is using the garage as a bedroom NOW, he can claim a council tax reduction for "disabled reduction". He needs to contact the council tax department and ask for form.

    They will send a visiting officer to check.

    Following which his council tax will reduce by a band, roughly £200 pa, he can get this back dated, upto 6 years (though they won't tell him this).

    If he is getting by example pension credit, there is no charge for grant. Do you know what benefits he gets? Like ESA.

    Hope this helps.
  • carol3
    carol3 Community member Posts: 2 Listener
    Hi
    Thanks so much for your help. They live in Wales so the maximum grant is £36k. I will check about the benefits but he is 57 with a workplace pension so I dont think he qualifies for pension credit. I am pretty sure they receive nothing else apart from PIP and CA. They have a direct payment for carers and pay the maximum £80 themselves. 

    The info about council tax is really helpful so I will pursue that. We intend to challenge the decision because the current situation is untenable and there has to be an alternative solution. if I discover anything that could be helpful to other people in the process I will share it.

    Thanks again. 

  • atlas46
    atlas46 Community member Posts: 826 Pioneering
    Morning

    Just a few further points.

    He should be entitled to working age benefits, he should claim them, even though no money might be paid.  But he would get NI credits that ccntribute to his state pension. I did this for 10 years, as a consequence get a full state pension.


    He should seek help from Age Cymru tel 0800 022 3444 and seek a home visit from a WRO. So they can assist him with the grant and benefits check.

    The DFG is a mandatory grant, the council must fund it.

    Make sure he includes cost of all fees for the building work - building control, cost drawing up plans and anything related. These are an hidden costs, which are funded by the grant.

    Hope this helps.

    Best wishes

Brightness