Walk in shower

[BrokeAunt]

Not been on this board before as both parents died before getting elderly. However, I'm concerned about my aunt.

She has mobility issues now which is making using her over bath shower difficult. It’s an accident waiting to happen.

She and her husband live on state pensions and a small private pension. Is there any government help available towards the cost of installing a walk in shower?

Anyone got any idea of the cost as I might end up paying and don't have much cash to spare!

Ask for a bathing assessment from their local authority OT department. They may simply provide a bath board for free or make a referral for a disabled facilities grant for a shower adaptation.

We paid £6k 3 years ago in SE for:

• removal of bath and replacement with a rectangular shower tray
• fold down shower seat
• extra grab rails
• half height shower surround (so carer could help shower but stay dry) (Impy, was quite pricey iirc)
• tiling where the bath had been
• tiled floor (relatively large area as had once been a small bedroom)
• job to be done v quickly

Toilet, basin and shower fitting unchanged

Ask Adult Social Care to do a care needs assessment, to which she is entitled. They will refer to OT.

Do they own their own home? If not, if it's rented from a Housing Association it might be worth contacting them as well as Adult Social Care Services at the council.

Also, if they do own it and you end up paying, get something signed in writing that it's a loan and the intention is it will be paid back to on the eventual sale of the house with adjustments for inflation. From personal experience sometimes elderly people say they are poor pensioners but they also have £100K rainy day funds so make sure they genuinely can't afford it before bankrupting yourself!

Thanks for replies.

They own their home and I know they have no savings (long story!).

I don't think they would agree to an OT assessment as they are the "fiercely independent" type. Well they are at the moment but I think they've suddenly got anxious about how quickly old age has taken them over.

Good idea about this being a loan from me to be repaid when house is eventually sold.

Occupational Therapy is all about helping people who are independent, but starting to struggle, to remain independent for as long as possible. I struggle to see why accepting a 'loan' from you would be preferable to having an OT visit to make a recommendation for what may be a straightforward and cheap adaptation of piece of a equipment instead. They arent obliged to accept anything the OT recommends but it will give them an idea of the available options.

You asked if there is government help towards bathroom adaptations - there is but you need to go via the OT department to get it.

If either of them were in the armed forces then contact SSAFA.

I struggle to see why accepting a 'loan' from you would be preferable to having an OT visit to make a recommendation for what may be a straightforward and cheap adaptation of piece of a equipment instead.

I suppose because the OT is a stranger and I am their niece.

I'd read that these adaptations can be exempt from VAT but I suppose that would require OT input.

I'm trying to get an idea of cost before I make the offer. £6k is doable but I can't manage much more.

https://www.gov.uk/disabled-facilities-grants

they may be eligible for a grant from the council

Only lend if you can afford to not get it back. They may end up needing to sell their home for future care costs.

Could still be lent with agreement to repay if house sold or on death.

Why would you end up paying?

Get them to apply for a grant! I wouldn't be paying for it.

Have a look at this.

https://www.gov.uk/disabled-facilities-grants

There may be a certain limit, like if you have too much income/savings you can't get a grant, but then if they're loaded they can pay for it themselves!

Sorry, I see @71Alex already posted this! 😬

The builder an fill in a form to get the project vat exempt. You just write their disability on the form. We just did this with my FIL builder when he had a wet room installed. We had had ot input but the timescale to get it done urgently was a year and he actually only live another couple of months.

Also if the ot department did it they put restrictions on the title for 10 years after saying you couldn't rent the property out if you wanted.

I agreed with previous poster that simplest immediate solution would likely be a shower board across the bath. She can sit back into it and lift her legs in and just stand up with she wants to rinse off soap/ shampoo etc. They are not expensive but do come in different lengths so they would need to measure from wall to outside edge of bath. They also need to rest on either edge of bath so no good if bath is set into the wall with no edge showing. If they go this route, a grabrail on the wall to help them stand to the shower is also handy.

Does anyone on here roughly know how long it takes to get approval for a wet room once its gone to the housing associations asset management team?

Asking for a friend who has had a OT assessment back in August and got the paperwork result of the assessment in October

As pp have said go to adult social care at the council, ask for a neeðs assessment. It is better to get these things in place now imo as it is easier to increase adaptions/care should she require it if you are already known to them. Nice if you to look out for her.

If the adaptations are on health grounds, they are exempt from VAT. You don't need an OT for that, the bathroom fitter will know this. I had to sign an HMRC form with the medical reasons, I think it took about six weeks to process and approve.

There is government help towards the cost of installing a walk in shower/wet room but it will have to involve an assessment.
6k will not be enough.
You have to be realistic.
Good luck, it's a hard path, especially when facing "fiercely independent" people.
Got the tshirt.

Thanks for replies and links. Much appreciated.