Renovator2 / Renovator2Plus

Local Authorities have a duty to provide grants to enable disabled persons to have adaptations to their homes in respect of their disability. To do so they must carry out a test of resources in accordance with the Housing Renewal Grant regulations, and are subject to audit in respect of the accuracy of their determination.

Home Improvement Agencies and Registered Social Landlords are often called upon to give advice about grants and often act on an agency basis for local authorities.

The Solution?

Renovator2 is the latest incarnation of Ferret’s calculation and advice system for Disabled Facility Grants, designed to help determine a client’s grant, and any contribution towards the cost of works, for Disabled Facility adaptations in England and Wales.

Renovator2 makes use of the latest technologies and extends the original capabilities of the industry-leading Renovator program to bring a modern feel to the updated Renovator2 calculator, guiding the user through a comprehensive series of questions about their family and financial circumstances.

The questions in Renovator2 help in identifying common and unlikely financial and familial situations, thus helping to complete a client’s means-test quickly.

Renovator2 Input Screens

Renovator2 provides an easy-to-use dialogue, to assist with information collection which will allow assessments to be made by members of staff who are not necessarily specialists.

Renovator2 Output Screen

Renovator2 then carries out detailed calculations to accurately deliver the Applicable Amount and Income for Disabled Facilities Grant applications, and finally provides the user with an accurate figure for any grant payable and the client contribution, if any.

To ensure that Renovator2 is kept up-to-date, Ferret monitors legislation for any changes that might have any impact on each client’s circumstances, and produces updates for you to keep your software up to date at the click of a button. So all you need to do is gather the client’s relevant informtion and enter it into the application.

Renovator2’s dialogue is enhanced by context sensitive help. The help system is extensive, and is accessible independently of the calculation program.

Renovator2 /Renovator 2 Plus Help Screens

The Renovator2 output screens for the Grant Calculation section show the breakdown of the calculation into several sections, including Applicable Amount and Assessable Income, and these are brought together in the Grant Summary to show how the final grant/contribution figures are reached.

Renovator2 detailed output Screen

Benefits of the Calculator

• Enables an authority to easily assess the client’s disabled facilities grant payable and their level of contribution quickly and accurately
• Prompts the user to ask for all the relevant details required, so nothing is omitted
• Has an easy to use and intuitive dialogue supported by a context sensitive and detailed help facility
• Eliminates errors that can easily occur in manual calculations due to the complexity of the process.
• Mobile access can enable the user to give comprehensive advice on site at the preliminary assessment stage
• Can be networked to serve multiple users
• Can be up and running in a matter of hours
• Regular updates keep the application accurate and up to date
• Access to the renowned Ferret Helpline service which is there to help with system support, benefits and DFG legislation queries
• Output results are displayed in your usual browser (eg Chrome, Edge) and saved from there in a variety of formats, including PDF. Reports can also include a summary of input details for each case, if required.

Ferret's DFG calculators are in use in over 60% of local authorities in England and Wales.

Renovator2 / Renovator2Plus’s data can be transferred to and from standalone PC, laptop, tablet and network installations and can be saved, loaded and amended as required within your organisation.

Renovator2 / Renovator2Plus is supplied for use on computers with a currently supported Windows operating system.

Renovator2 / Renovator2Plus comes as a subscription package, which includes regular updates to the application, and access to the renowned Ferret Helpline service which is there to help with system support, and benefits and DFG legislation queries.

If you would like to receive a free time-limited demonstration program for evaluation purposes, then please contact us.