Free loft insulation if your child is disabled!

[meltedmarsbars]

Or so the guy from the loft company who came today to assess our insulation said.
I have to provide dd2's NI number, and they apply for a grant and insulate the roof void - hopefully. Anyone interested?

Very interested!

We need our cavity walls done and possibly loft and have been putting it off because of the cost. Do you just need to prove you get DLA and carers or something?

Let me know how you get on. I spoke to someone from the council about this last year and she told me we had to be receiving other benefits too.

Do you know what other benefits you need to be getting?

I think it was the income support and family tax credits if I remember rightly. It seems like forever ago now.

we had a new boiler put in instead of loft insulation. Its the 'warm front' initiative i think - could be wrong tho

and we got it because DS5 gets DLA.

I've just looked at our council website and they have a 'warm front' initiative and it says you can have:

"packages of insulation such as loft and/or cavity wall insulation, draught proofing, gas wall heaters, dual element foam insulated immersion tank, heating repairs and replacements"

Households who receive a disability benefit are eligable for up to £1500 grant.

Will give them a call tomorrow.

Got very excited then but then read this:

?Please note a Disability Living Allowance award for a child or non-dependent in your household will not qualify for the Warm Front grant.

Gutted.

Oh no, where did you see that? I was all excited about having a warm house

Me too - I looked on Warmfronts own site
Here-
www.warmfront.co.uk/do-i-qualify.htm

It's at the bottom in bold

Oh that's really pants

I know. It is not good. Surely if an adult who gets DLA is entitled to be nice and warm then a child who gets DLA should too!

I agree. I'll get the blankets out then!

I know thats what it says, but i rang up and enquired about getting some work done. They sent someone round, and all he wanted was proof of the DLA itself - didnt care whose name was on it. He barely even looked at it, just looked to make sure the adress was right.

I think its worth having an assessor round, and if he/she doesnt mention it, then kinda be lenient with the whole truth.

There are lots on here who have had work done thru their childs DLA (and BTW NO-ONE asked me if it was a childs DLA, they just asked if the household was in receipt of DLA) and there have been no comebacks. We had the work done 2yrs ago and no-one has ever checked up on us.

The company doing ours have said that they have to do 4 paying households then one grant-aided one, and they took my daughters' NI number and have rung me since and said its fine. She gets higher rate care and mobility DLA and a council tax reduction.
They apply for the grant, not us.

They're coming on Thursday if my dd2 is not still ill.

I got free loft insulation and cavity wall. I had one with DLA at the time of applying. I now have two on DLA (I'm not collecting them honest!). All I had to give was my NI number. No one asked to see any documentation even though I offered the DLA letter. It's the govt that fund it so I can't see why it should vary from area to area.

Warning - the cavity wall insulation thingy is very very noisy and very dusty - particularly outside while it is happening. If you have noise sensitive children or any with asthma I'd keep em out of the way for the day. The loft stuff was really quick - only took an hour and hour loft is big.

I'll give them a call tomorrow and see if we can. Our house is already cold and it's only September. Thanks everyone.

Well we had the assessor round today and we got the grant. He asked to see the DLA and carers letters then took my NI number and that was it. We get the full grant to do the loft, cavity walls, boiler, anything we need basically and the grant runs out in 2011. Definately worth applying!