Direct Payments For Carers and Care Seekers 2024 | Eligibility and How To Apply

If you’re assessed as needing funding support from your local authority to pay for care, you’ll be given a personal budget. Your local authority can either spend this to arrange care for you, or they can directly pay you this money, allowing you to arrange your own care. This is a direct payment. Carers can also use direct payments to benefit their wellbeing, such as arranging holidays and paying for memberships.

This article explains how direct payments work in 2024 for carers and people who need care, along with how much they’re worth, the benefits, whether you’re eligible and how to apply.

---

In this article:

1. What is a direct payment?
2. Personal budgets
3. How much is a direct payment worth?
4. What’s the benefit of direct payments?
5. Am I eligible for a direct payment?
6. How to apply for a direct payment
7. Find care near you

---

What is a Direct Payment?

If you or someone you look after has been assessed as needing care and support, you might be offered a direct payment instead of your local council or trust (in Northern Ireland) arranging this care for you.

Direct payments can be made to carers or care seekers, and these both work slightly differently.

If you choose a direct payment, your local authority or trust will send the money in your personal budget by either:

• Paying it directly into a bank, post office, building society or national savings and investments account
• Sending you a pre-paid card

You can then spend direct payments on your care and support, provided it matches your agreed-upon care plan.

Direct payments for carers

A direct payment for a carer is usually a one-off payment to support them in some way. A direct payment for carers is often used to benefit their wellbeing, such as taking a holiday, getting a gym membership, paying for equipment or buying relevant services.

A direct payment for a carer can also be used to help care for the person you look after, such as employing someone to support you in providing care (such as a personal assistant).

A direct payment isn’t classed as income, so it won’t affect benefits such as Carer’s Allowance.

Direct payments for care seekers

A direct payment for somebody needing care is an alternative to having care services provided directly by a local council or similar body. For example, somebody who needs care could use a direct payment to pay for a carer to regularly look after them, either on a permanent or short-term respite basis.

---

Personal Budgets

A personal budget is the amount your local council will pay for the care and support you need. This is worked out after you have a care needs assessment and financial assessment.

The amount is based on the specific care you require, how much it’ll cost and what you can afford to contribute.

Your local council can look after your personal budget for you, they can directly pay this to a care provider such as a care home or home care agency, or they can directly pay you or someone else to look after it (this is a direct payment).

---

How Much is a Direct Payment Worth?

A direct payment must be enough to cover the care services you need. The exact amount you’ll get will vary from local authority to local authority (or from trust to trust in Northern Ireland).

The amount you get is also based on the results of your care needs assessment or carer’s assessment.

---

---

What’s the Benefit of Direct Payments?

Some carer seekers prefer using direct payments, as it gives them more choice and independence over how their care and support package is arranged and provided when searching for care. You can choose carers matching your specific requirements, such as those who have experience with specific care needs and who are available when you need them.

---

Am I Eligible For a Direct Payment?

To be eligible for direct payments, you must be aged 16 or older and be classed as having mental capacity. You also need to provide care or have been assessed as needing care (this is determined through a carer’s assessment or care needs assessment).

Direct payments can be made to:

• Disabled people aged 16+ with short or long-term care needs
• Carers aged 16+
• Older adults who need support services or community care services
• Someone who manages direct payments for somebody who doesn’t have the ‘mental capacity’ to consent to them

Who isn’t eligible for direct payments

Some people can’t get direct payments, such as those receiving treatments for drug or alcohol dependence.

You also can’t be given direct payments if you don’t have ‘mental capacity’. However, in this case, someone can be appointed to manage direct payments for you.

---

How To Apply For a Direct Payment

You can apply for a direct payment in England, Scotland and Wales through GOV.UK.

You can apply for a direct payment in Northern Ireland through your Health and Social Care Trust. If applying for the first time, direct payment options should be discussed with you during a care needs assessment.

Getting a care needs assessment or carer’s assessment

Depending on whether you need care or provide care, a care needs assessment or carer’s assessment will be carried out, followed by a financial assessment. This works out what support your local authority can provide.

If eligible for local authority funding, you can then ask your local authority (or trust in Northern Ireland) to:

• Manage your personal budget for you
• Pay the money to an organisation such as a care home or home care agency to manage for you
• Give you or someone else the money as direct payments

---

Find Care Near You

You can use Lottie to search for home care near you. We’re partnered with the UK’s largest home care agencies, including Dove Home Care, ENA Care Group, Helping Hands, Hometouch, Promedica24, The Good Care Group, Trinity Homecare and Visiting Angels.

To ease your search, you can also request a free list of home care agencies in your area, where our care experts will send you home care providers in your area matching your specific requirements.

You can also use Lottie to find a care home near you, or get a free list of care homes catering to the type of care you need and your budget.

---

Lottie matches care seekers with the best home carers for their care needs. You can request a free list of home care agencies, where we’ll find you home care providers with availability in your local area.