Objection to WMO rejection of stair lift | Legal Aid Office

Questioner

I applied for a stairlift for my 94 year old mother under the WMO. This application was rejected with the following reason. We believe that there is no need to make an emergency provision. Given your age and living situation, it is stated that it was foreseeable that a home adjustment or a move to a ground-floor home might be necessary. In this situation, you as the applicant also have your own responsibility to look for alternative solutions in a timely manner. This decision is based on art.4 WMO, articles 7,9,24, and 25 of the Regulation on social support facilities Municipality of Reimerswaal 2012. My mother broke both hips within two years, making it virtually impossible and irresponsible to walk up stairs without much help. She has lived in a rental property from the housing association for a long time and has the shower upstairs. Her only income is AOW. In order to be able to shower every now and then, a stair lift would be a solution. How can I best approach an objection to this decision?

Lawyer

If you look at article 4, section 2 of the WMO Act, it does indeed say that the municipality may take into account the age and the need for a possible change in this. But in addition, the applicant's capacities to provide for measures themselves from a cost perspective must also be taken into account. I would indicate that your mother cannot afford this given her age and the costs and circumstances that a move entails, while the costs of a stair lift are cheaper. Another argument could be that, if there is no stairlift, your mother may no longer be able to live properly and take care of herself and would therefore have to go to a care institution. That costs society much more money than that stairlift. However, the money for the care institution does not come from the WMO, but from the AWBZ. So a different pot, with which the municipality has nothing to do.