Stairlift

[seelie]

Applying for a grant from the Council entails a means test. Depending on your income and savings does anyone know what savings you are allowed. Have never done a means test before have always worked for a living therefore I have never applied for or been given anything. My husband needs a stair lift - thinking of cancelling the appointment because if the means test.

[bednobs]

why? all it will do is tell you if the council are going to fund or part fund. Why don't you just ring them and ask what their threshold is?

[bednobs]

I should have added or not fund into the first line

[woofgang]

From memory, there is no absolute savings figure as the assessment looks at your total income and expenditure. The means test is absolutely confidential. If you have been given an appointment and your husband needs the stairlift, then surely it wouldn't be sensible to cancel the appointment? you may wait a long time for another one.

[hc4361]

You will need to provide proof of your average weekly income, taking account of any savings above £6,000 and certain benefits.
Some benefits relating specifically to a person’s disability are not taken into account.

Don't be frightened of the means test.

[seelie]

Thank you all for your advice. I've always been a very private person so don't want to account for every penny to someone I don't know. so maybe renting seems the best option. Call it pride. Thanks again.

[bednobs]

renting is a good option if for example there is a possibility of an improvement, or indeed, the likelihood of the person not surviving for a year. You can usually only rent if you have straight stairs, although some companies are now doing rental for curved stairs. I rented a stairlift for a year when I was awaiting a hip replacement, and it was £500 for the year. Where in the country are you? I could definitely recommend the (local) company who rented mine

[seelie]

Live in North East. Seen a rent for £350 per year so think it's a good option. I've heard lately of people who have bought and cannot get anyone to maintain their stair lift and also cannot get rid of them when they no longer need them. I was urged by someone to apply for the grant but I honestly do not think we would qualify. So that is why I was beginning to have second thoughts about it.

[alavahalf]

The charity I used to work for had case workers who visited the client regarding the funding of the project. They needed to see everything regarding savings and income. If you had more than £6k in savings, you had to contribute towards the project, whether it was a stairlift, a wet room or a whole building extension. Surprisingly enough you wont know how many benevolent funds there are out there just waiting for someone to apply for support. The caseworkers would find out where you and your husbands careers paths had taken you and then approach the benevolent fund on your behalf. If you or your husband have spent one day in the armed forces, then SSAFA or the British legion will definitley contribute. Whatever you do dont approach a stairlift company directly, find yourself a local home improvement agency to do it for you. They will be better equipped to deal with salesmen.
.... as to getting rid of them, the best example I can remember is when a local lady had one installed by one of the best known installers. It was for her husband who had just gone into hospital, she was getting prepared for his return. The lift cost approx £12k ... sadly he didn't return. The stairlift company would not return to remove the unused lift. She said they could have it for nothing, but they weren't interested... I went along and removed it for nothing and just put it on the local tip.

[Tilly2]

That is very sad, Alav.

[alavahalf]

It wasn't an isolated incident .. I was forever preparing a property to suit an individuals disabilities or needs so that someone could be released from hospital.
On many occasions they never actuaally enterd the property.

[237SJ]

In my experience, stairlift companies have no obligation to come and remove the stairlift when it is longer used unless it is rented.

[alavahalf]

They dont have an obligation .. but come on, surely if you are dealing with the vulnerable and making sustantial profits in the process, then part of your service would be to remove the lift when it is no longer needed..Even if you charged a removal fee ?

[237SJ]

I don't know. It's no different to someone buying a riser recliner chair for £800 and then the family being left with it when no longer needed (and the resale price is abysmal) I don't see why the company that sold the recliner would have any obligation as to what happens to it after that. I foresaw that that situation when I chose to rent from Stannah rather than buy.

[alavahalf]

It's one thing putting a recliner in your boot and taking it to the tip .. it's another dismanting the everage 4.5mtr. stairlift and popping that in your boot.
So in your opinion renting is the way forward .. that's fine if it suits you .. I didn't say it wasn't.
Lets hope that seelie finds something useful in our input.

[237SJ]

I was replying to you Alavahalf. No way would I have got a riser recliner in my boot. In fact, when my Mum died I chose to give it away on Freecycle rather than sell it for money in my pocket. A woman bought it for her 83 year old Mum and her relatives came to take it away from my late Mum's house as a surprise. They sent me a photo of their Mum sitting in it which was hugely pleasing to me.

[237SJ]

"took " it, not "bought" it

[alavahalf]

Very nice gesture indeed 237 .. In my job I was forever being offered things to take away or dispose of. On one occasion a lady who was very 'well off' asked me to remove her very nice curtains and perhaps drop them into a charity shop (as I had fitted new ones for her).
A few days earlier I had visited a lady who couldn't afford curtains and had old bed sheets hanging in her windows. Guessing the length of her sheets I took the curtains home and my wife altered them and made some tie backs to suit. I then approached the poor old lady a few days later and hung her new curtains for nothing.. Went home with a warm glow that day.

Sorry for hijacking your thread seelie.

[237SJ]

The thing is, these mod cons that make the lives of the elderly easier cost a lot of money and their resale price is way out of proportion (for example, an £800 riser recliner with a resale of less than £100 shortly afterwards) Market forces say that you have no choice but to purchase them and market forces say that you have no choice to sell them when the time comes.