Hi, my name is Farley! How to challenge a DFG decision?

Farley

Hi everyone, just joined as help and advice needed regarding going through DFG funding for my wife who has terminal cancer.

What we have been offered so far doesn't meet her needs or the rest of the family which includes my son (33) who has Autism, my daughter (30) who has ME. 

Advice from the general help line has been great although having had issues with our local council in the past any complaint will be ignored or not actioned appropriately. 

janer1967

Hi and welcome 

I am sorry to hear about your situation I don't know much about dfg 

Glad you have had some advice from the helpline,  do you have any specific questions we can help with 

Maybe mcmillan or other cancer charities can help support you with this or your local mp 

Hope you get something sorted 

chiarieds

Hi @Farley - & welcome to this supportive community. I'm very sorry to read about your wife, & the problems with your children too. Scope has some info about DFGs. Please see: https://www.scope.org.uk/advice-and-support/disabled-facilities-grant-home-adaptations/

As Jane mentions, Macmillan Cancer Support may be able to advise:

https://www.macmillan.org.uk/cancer-information-and-support/impacts-of-cancer/benefits-and-financial-support/grants-and-loans

I also hope you manage to get something put into place, & don''t hesitate to stay in touch here, & let us know if there's any way we can help support you, & your family.

Farley

My original enquiry was how we challenge what the local authorities OT  decided would work for my wife, part of her decision was that their was no immediate need which meant that we had to wait 7 months for anything to be done. As a terminal cancer patient there is no guarantee my wife will be here in 7 months. Having got that changed the plan for the bathroom adaptation is simply not practical but seems to be the cheapest option rather than what would meet her needs and take into account the rest of the family.

Cher_Alumni

Hi @Farley and a warm welcome to our online community.  I'm sorry to hear about your wife and my thoughts are with you and your family during this difficult time.

In addition to the above, you might be able to access other housing grants to help with aids and adaptations if the DFG isn't enough.  This Disability Rights UK webpage advises to approach your local housing department for help to:

• get accommodation;

• adapt, improve or repair accommodation;

• demolish accommodation; or

• replace accommodation that has been demolished.

And this would fall under the Regulatory Reform (Housing Assistance) (England and Wales) Order 2002 which each local authority should have a policy on.  Although it sounds like you've unfortunately had problems with them in the past, is this something you've enquired about? 

Just to add, as not to confuse you I've slightly tweaked the title of the post to help others spot it easier and moved it to our Housing and independent living category. 

Cher_Alumni

@Farley Apologies, I didn't see your most recent post before I submitted my reply.  To appeal the decision, your first step would be to directly contact your local council to ask for a review.  If this is unsuccessful, then you can complain to the Local Government Ombudsman who's helpline number is: 0300 061 0614 - open Monday and Tuesday, between 10am and 12 noon and Wednesday to Friday between 10am and 4pm.

Please let us know how you get on and good luck. 

Farley

No this is  new area for us to navigate We haven't asked or had any help from anyone over the years, we have just struggled  along on our own. But I don't have the funds available for the work needed, We do own our property which is a bungalow that we moved into some time ago anticipating the fact that as the wife's condition worsened we would need a change in where we lived to avoid stairs etc.  

Sandy_123

Hi @Farley welcome to the forum, I'm sorry to read about your wife and the difficulty you are having with DFG. Have you contacted your local council and raised the issues and requested another assessment. Might be worth getting in touch with your local citizen's  advice too. Hope you can get all this sorted. You may find the link below useful too.

https://www.which.co.uk/later-life-care/financing-care/financing-home-adaptations/disabled-facilities-grant-dfg-ac7sw2x8gsp3