Opinions Please- Direct Payments

Hello All- I don’t want to make the wrong choice - option one local council deal with everything and choose care agencies - option two- be an employer, deal with time sheets, bank accounts, quarterly returns- being in more control to employ a personal assistant or care agency or both or option 3- let a charity (employed by the council) deal with everything but still have to deal with time sheets.

Hi i have had direct payments for years. its changed over the years now and is now so much better. You have to log in to an online goverment portal where your money is sent and you can have money directed into it if yo have to pay towards it.

I have a self employed care worker who had to supply invoices for time worked. I dont have to do time sheets now, as i deal only with self employed basis. she isnt from a company, she does her own little business and deals with her own payments and tax. Its so easy now. before it was a nightmare with time sheets and things.

I didnt want to be an employer again. this way i get my care work and she does all the hard work. the council send in me money which pays her the bulk and i have to pay 45.00 a week to top up which i do out of my PIP. I have 7.5 hours which is fine with me since i moved probably more then enough.

No dealing with the timesheets, holidays etc was hard work lol, i still have a folder full of stuff. gave me a headache.

If DP in your area are willing to let you use DP to employ someone, go for it. As long as you are confident with the admin. DP were paying for my care with an agency. But they would only pay for PERSONAL CARE. Oh no, we don’t do domestic or socialisation… Long story short - DP are now paying for 3 hrs personal care with an agency and I employ a PA for 2 hrs for socialisation. Thats self funded, cuz I could face fighting with SS over it. This gives me flexibility in what we do and where we go.

If you want advice on the admin side try Employing personal assistants

You can, and I reccomend, use a payroll provider to handle the finance side of things Penderels Trust - Opening the Door to Independent Living

Those links should be helpfull.

My partner (not MS but on home dialysis) got nada from SS and DP, so we took the step of employing a PA for 3 hrs a week for him - with both being disabled, there are tasks we BOTH struggle with. We wrote the advert, advertised (on Gumtree as well as other free sites), found someone who is a fantastic fit. She goes over and above the job and we could not manage w.o. her and her partner, whom we also employ as the 2nd PA. So my advice - go for it!!

Hi Charlotte

I’ve been using DP for years, and it’s a doddle. I really like the fact it lets you choose who does the work, so I’ve always had friends do it. I much prefer that than having a random person from an agency.

The way it works for me is different from Crazy Chick. I opened a normal bank account where the money gets paid in to. Every month my PA gives me his completed timesheet to sign, and he emails it to Penderels Trust. They then send me a payslip, and I simply pay my PA with the money in my DP bank account. Every so often Penderels Trust send me an invoice for processing the timesheets, which I pay out of the same account. Every 6 months I have to send bank statements to the council, so they can audit it and check I’m spending the money correctly. The only other thing I need to do is pay for employer’s liability insurance. The probably sounds a bit scary, but really isn’t. It’s just a policy I have with a company called Fish Insurance, and gets paid for from the DP money.

If you have any questions then feel free to ask :slight_smile:

Dan

Hi dan that is how i USED to do it. just like you with penderals.

then now they have changed it and its far more flexible. its called something else now too. I have a portal i go into where the money is sent, and a sort of bank card which can be loaded up. whether its just my area if it is fair play its easy peasy lol. They put in their contribution, i add mine through my bank, and each week it goes to my PA on direct debit, no timesheets or special bank account, she had to show so many months invoices and i have to keep them if they want to check them.

Its made so much easier for everyone. I will find out more later as its on my downstairs machine.

even my care worker pays her own liability insurance. Before i had to do it all, even holidays and stuff just like you.

1 Like

Interesting. I’ll wait to see if it’s something that gets rolled out to other places, or if it’s just depends on the council…

Dan

2 Likes

Hi Dan, thanks for replying, I’m all over the place, it’s a lot to get my head around so to speak, I feel that I used to be quite astute, but am losing my ways!!

Don’t worry Charlotte, you’ll pick it up quick enough. When I started I thought it might be a little daunting, But I soon got the hang of it. If you do use something like Penderels Trust, they’ll happily answer any questions you have

Dan

Charlotte if you have to go the penderals trust route, its easy peasy honestly, they supply everything you just have to send the timesheets they are easy enough to fill in. i used to do mine over the internet. you DONT need to worry about paying tax, holiday etc, they work it out for you and it gets taken out of your money. also you have to get a liability insurance and they recommend a company who are pretty reasonable.

I am just glad where i live (i thought it was rolling out nationwide), i dont do anything, and besides which you can choose who you want to do your care, so if you opt for a carer who is self employed you dont have to do all the timesheets, as your not effectively an employer, you are just hiring services.

i decided why have penderals trust they were cost me. You have to pay them. so when i had to change PA i went self employed route.

If you notice its a personal budget. in the above it says you can be paid through several ways.

  • paying it directly into a bank, Post Office, building society or National Savings and Investments account
  • sending you a pre-paid card

Mine is classed as a pre-paid card.

This is the system i have, its in gloucester so i am sure its rolling out over the country. Direct payments and prepaid cards | www.wirral.gov.uk

I found other links for other counties.

ask if they do the pre paid card hun. If not no stress you will be fine with penderals trust they will help you through all the paperwork.

1 Like