Disabled Facility Grant

Abi222

Hi there,

Our son is 30 years old and we have recently requested a new shower/changing table.  Our OT has suggested we apply for this through a Disabled Facility Grant as she said they were quite expensive.   
Please can someone advises me if the grant will be based on household income (myself and my husband included) or our son`s income. Our OT was very vague and said it should be just our son`s income but would know more once we submit the forms she was going to forward to us.   We really would not be able to contribute to a grant at present with the escalating cost of living we all are enduring. 

Any advice on this would be most welcome

Thanks

Abi

Ross_Alumni

Hello @Abi222

Thanks for posting, 

Sorry to hear that your OT was vague about it, perhaps they just weren't sure but either way I appreciate it isn't convenient.

Scope have an information page about DFGs which is well worth a read, it contains lots of useful details. You can find the page here, and below is a snippet about means testing for DFGs:

Means-testing and ‘household income'
This will look at your household income and savings over £6,000. Savings includes ISAs and Premium Bonds.
Savings rules for under 60s, what counts as savings? (entitledto)
If you are receiving another means-tested benefit, the grant will probably cover the whole cost. If you are not, your local authority may ask you to pay for some or all the cost.
Local authorities calculate ‘household income’ in different ways. They should not include disability benefits such as Personal Independence Payment (PIP).
Local authorities have different rules about what they count as a disability cost. For example, you might spend £1,000 on:

• paying for social care
• the extra cost of heating your home, because of your condition

If your local authority agrees these are extra costs, they would not count this £1,000. If your household income was £16,000, it would be £15,000 for means-testing.

There is also some information about small adaptations (under £1000( which may be of use to you:

Local authorities and small adaptations

Most local authorities will pay for adaptations under £1,000, if they decide you need it and are eligible.

These adaptations are usually not means-tested. Local authorities' waiting lists vary. 

WarningAsk about small grants

If you need a small adaptation, ask the local authority if they can fund this for you. Sometimes local authorities will pay for smaller adaptations if you ask. These could include things like grab rails that make it easier for you to get in and out of the bath.

Ask about small grants even if:

• you cannot find information about small grants on your local authority’s website
• your local authority tells you how to pay for small adaptations yourself

You may still need an OT assessment for small adaptations to make sure they are necessary, appropriate and will meet your needs.

Abi222

Hi thank you for the above,

Just to double check.. both myself and my husband will be required to show our earnings from our employment and be required to pay to wards the adaption my son has been assessed to need and it is not just his income taken into account as an adult living with his parents.

Thanks

Abi

Tori_Scope

Hmm, as our page does say that local authorities calculate household income in different ways, I'm wondering whether it'd be worth asking your local authority about that @Abi222? Perhaps you could tell them what the OT said, and check whether this is correct? 

The cost of living crisis is certainly a concern for many of us. How are you finding things at the moment?

poppy123456

As your son is an adult and the DFG is for his purpose then it will be based on his sole income and not household income.

Juli1t

I am following this thread, because we are going through exactly the same thing with my adult daughter who lives with us. OT approved the grant application for a new shower room for her, but we received a ‘Test of Financial Resources’ letter from the Local Authority on Friday, requesting the details of all income and savings of both my husband and myself and any benefits my daughter receives. I’m going to ring round various help lines next week to clarify. 

Tori_Scope

Thank you for sharing that with us @juli1t Please do let us know how you get on!