Hi there,
I know this may not be relevant to you but if you could help with any
advice or point me in the right direction of where i could get help with
this issue I would be very grateful. I really don't know where else
to go and I feel as if I am banging my head against a brick wall.
Just to cut a long story short, we need your help with our battle
with the council.
We have a 6 year old disabled child, Riley, with Dandy Walker Syndrome, and we bought our first house last year which needed adapting in order for Riley to be able to access everywhere. We applied for a DFG for this to happen, which we thought would be simple and stress free as its the council who have
handled it all. We have had a through the floor lift installed, a ramp
installed, the garden path redone, 2 ceiling track hoists installed, a
doorway widened, a new boiler and finally a shower room installed
upstairs.
Whilst we are of course grateful that we have not had to pay for
this, which amounted to over £30,000, the work standard has been
appalling. We had a live wire hanging from a ceiling, water running out
under the door of the shower room instead of towards the drain, boxing
put in over pipes which have made it impossible for Riley to use the
sink in the shower room (which was supposed to be purpose built for
him), we were left with no washing facilities for Riley and the list
goes on and on and on.
After an 8 month battle we finally had a different contractor
coming in to repair some of the work but the council are still refusing
to do all the repairs and refusing to pay for specialists to check for
damage that we cannot see but they are specialised in looking for, for
example, a structural engineer to check the joists under the shower room
as the floor outside of it is not sealed and water has been leaking out
there, under the door.
We were advised by a structural engineer (that we were paying for to
check other joists in Riley's bedroom) to get it checked as there was a
possibility the water may have caused dry rot in the joists due to the
floor not being sealed. The fault lies with the previous contractor who
did not level the floor properly to make the water run towards the drain
and therefore, as it was their contractor we feel they should have to
pay for these checks. The risk is too great to not get the checks done
but they are still refusing to pay for it, and this is just one example.
The contactor turned up yesterday to start the work and within 10 minutes walked back out saying it was worse than he thought and wasn't willing to do the work so we are back at square one!!
We complained to the Home Improvement Officer, then to his manager,
then his manager and finally to the MP who forwarded it onto the Chief
Executive and we still can't get anywhere. I am at my wits end because
we are still no closer to getting this sorted and we are running out of
time because I am 25 weeks pregnant and we can't have a newborn in this
building site. The council are of course aware of this but it makes no
difference to them, for example, I am still having to carry Riley up and
down the stairs. It is dangerous for me to do so with being pregnant but
we have no other option.
We have no idea where to go next and are feeling completely lost with it all. Riley doesn't have a bedroom because that's where they are supposed to be working, I have a building site for a house, a place not ready for a baby as it should be and I have been warned by the midwives to not lift Riley and to try to keep the stress levels down but I dont see how?!
Any ideas?