DVA gutter cleaning services

Gutter cleaning under Household Services

Gutter cleaning may be included when DVA has approved it as a reasonably required household service. The determination sets the funded scope and frequency. DVA's policy lists gutter cleaning and solar panel cleaning as household services, alongside lawn mowing and gardening.

A Gold or White Card doesn't by itself mean DVA will pay for gutter cleaning. It has to be approved in your written determination, which sets out the tasks, the amount of help and the dates it covers. Being assessed, or having sent in a claim, isn't the same as being approved.

Government help with gutter cleaning for veterans

For veterans, DVA can pay for gutter cleaning through two programs:

• Household Services, when a condition DVA has accepted as linked to your service stops you cleaning the gutters yourself
• Veterans' Home Care (VHC), for Gold Card holders and some White Card holders, whose home and garden maintenance includes cleaning gutters

Other government and community programs can also fund help at home, including the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), My Aged Care and local councils. The same help can't be paid for twice. If you get gutter cleaning through one of them, tell DVA when you claim.

Who is eligible for Household Services

You may be eligible if you can't clean your gutters safely because of a condition DVA has accepted as linked to your service, and DVA assesses that you reasonably need help. From 1 July 2026 all new claims are assessed under the MRCA. If you already have an approval under the DRCA, it carries on for the period it was approved for.

What gutter cleaning can include

The service may include clearing accessible gutters and downpipes and removing debris created by the work. Roof condition, height, access and safe working requirements affect whether a provider can complete the job.

Gutters usually need cleaning a few times a year rather than every week. DVA's policy says jobs that come up every so often have to be written into your approval with how often they can happen. DVA's own example is pool cleaning approved up to three times a year. Raise the number of gutter cleans you need at your assessment so it's written into your approval.

Solar panel cleaning is listed alongside gutter cleaning in DVA's Household Services policy, so it can be approved on the same basis if you used to do it and your accepted condition now stops you.

Two-storey homes and roof access

Height and access decide whether a gutter clean can be done safely. When you enquire, tell us how many storeys your home has, what the roof is like and how we get to the gutters. We confirm what's possible before booking.

What DVA won't pay for

DVA's policy treats home maintenance and repairs as outside Household Services, even if you always did them yourself. That includes plumbing, painting, anything to do with trees, including lopping or trimming branches over the roof, and taking away big rubbish. More generally, DVA won't fund work a householder would normally hire a professional for.

If your gutters need repairs or a tradesperson, that has to be arranged outside your DVA approval. We only do work your approval covers.

The job has to be one you did yourself

Household Services replace work you used to do yourself and can't manage any more because of your accepted condition. If you always paid someone to clean your gutters before your injury or illness, DVA won't take that over. DVA also looks at whether it's really your condition that stops you. It won't approve gutter cleaning because of ageing on its own, or because a job was always unsafe and would normally go to a professional.

When you claim, say that you cleaned the gutters yourself, how often, and what stops you doing it safely now.

How to apply

Claim with DVA form D9319, Claim for Household Services Compensation. Describe the jobs you need help with and how your condition affects each one, in everyday terms. You can email it to [email protected] or post it to Department of Veterans' Affairs, GPO Box 9998, Brisbane QLD 4001. Send it only to an address DVA has approved, because a claim emailed anywhere else doesn't count as lodged. You can also make the claim by phone, and it's dated the day you make it.

DVA also considers who else lives in your home and what they could reasonably do, though it doesn't expect them to give up work, study, sport or community commitments.

Read how DVA Household Services work

The assessment

After you claim, DVA may arrange an assessment of how you manage at home. It's normally done by an occupational therapist (OT), a health professional who looks at how you manage daily tasks. DVA has to request the assessment itself. If you book a private one, DVA has no way to pay for it. Tell the OT about any gutter cleaning you already get through another program.

Reading your approval

DVA's decision comes as a written determination with your review rights. DVA's policy is that new approvals and renewals run for five years, although a shorter period can apply. Before any gutter cleaning starts, check four things:

• the task, for example gutter cleaning
• the amount of help, as hours, visits or a limit
• how often, such as a number of times a year
• the start and end dates

Keep separate limits separate. Unused hours for one task can't be moved to another, and missed visits can't be saved up, unless your approval says so.

Gutter cleaning with AusVeterans

Under Household Services you choose your own provider, and DVA pays for the help it has approved. We invoice DVA directly through its Provider Upload Page, within your approval, so you don't pay. Once your approval includes gutter cleaning, send us an enquiry with:

• your DVA file number
• your claim reference
• your TRN
• a copy of your current approval letter

Visits can only go ahead while your approval is current, because DVA can't pay for work done without a current determination. We also do window cleaning and lawn mowing and gardening when your approval includes them.

When your situation changes

Tell DVA if you go into hospital or respite care or are away from home, because your services are put on hold while you're not living at home. You can ask DVA to review your approval if your condition gets worse. DVA's policy is to give you at least 28 days' notice before it reduces or stops approved services.

Household Services or Veterans' Home Care for gutters

VHC home and garden maintenance includes cleaning gutters and windows, up to 15 hours in a 12-month period, with a small co-payment. VHC has its own assessment, and its services are delivered by providers DVA contracts for the program. You can't use both programs for the same work: once DVA approves Household Services for you under the MRCA, you can't also get VHC home and garden maintenance. If DVA decides you don't need Household Services, you can ask for a VHC assessment on 1300 550 450. Compare Veterans' Home Care and Household Services.

Read DVA's Household Services information