direct payments anyone ?

Heycock

If DLA and ESA are now accepting evidence from Social Services assessments, or even accepting GP assessments, then they have certainly relaxed their procedures and that seems to go against the anecdotal evidence that they're getting even stricter and even less welcoming of 3rd party opinion.

nannytone_2

a GP/consultant.socia; sevices report odnt an 'assessment'.

but if the DWP disreguard what these professionals opinions are .... why would they contact them in the first place?

i choose for the DWP to contact my social worker, rather than the hospital consultant.

this is vecause the hospita; consultant is ignoramt, patronising and doesnt listen. any report from him would be meaningless ( and he also wont write a reprt unless he is paid a fee?

my social worker knows me an awful lot better and has far more insight into how my condition affects my day to day needs

Heycock

Nannytone...It doesn't do any harm at all to get a social worker on side. Politically a social worker will be closer to a fellow Guardian reading DWP clerk than to a Telegraph reading Oxbridge educated Consultant! LOL!!! Tongue firmly in cheek. We actually have a fantastic consultant.And his whole team.
But in essence, you're right. Social workers come in for a lot of stick but their opinion frequently counts.

BTW does your PC translate text into sound?

nannytone_2

i can read for a short time ( with mega large font!) but i also use 'jaws' that allows me to listen instead. i dont know if its me or the programme .... but it allows me to make an awful lot of mistake without bothering to let me know lol.

my social worker is fantastic, but he is partially sighted himself, so has a much greater awareness of the problems i face .... even if he doesnt use the technical terms that my highly educated, p0erfect sighted consultant does!

mumx3

tessie_bear wrote: »

we have been offered the direct payment route to pay for care for our son...is it a lot of faff ? has anyone used them ?

thankyou

Yes I receive DP for my son, they are a life saver, they sound very complicated but really are very simple, you will have to get someone to do your Payroll, Tax etc etc. But your social worker should be able to point you in the right direction. Mine charge £7.50 for 1 carer, or £12.00 for 2 for this they sort out all the tax, NI and just send me the pay slips each month, I then write out the cheque and pay the carers each month.
You will also need to buy insurance each year to cover any accidents that may happen whilst your son is out with carer, this is about £77.
All of these 'extra' costs should be taken into account when the amounts of DP are worked out.

over_flo

The biggest problem with DP for me is recruiting carers.
I only have to submit timesheets once a month - payroll take care of all the other stuff from our personal budget payments paid into a holding account.
carers only actually get 7.50 per hour which is then taxed.
I'm embarressed that our carer walks over a mile to our house in all weather for 2 hours pay - only £12 after tax.
Some people are even worse as they have funding for only an hour or in some areas a half hour visit.


Our SW said it is impossible to recruit in many rural areas .

nannytone_2

its up to you what you pay your carer. I pay mine £9.50 an hour, and there is no personal care involved, just supervision outdoors and help with things i struggle to do indoors.
i receive a buget of just over 1k every 4 weeks.
wages , insurance and my NI contributions add up to about £900 a month.

the excess sits in the account until i either need an 'aid' or just in case i need emergency extra care.

mumx3

its up to you what you pay your carer

This is what I thought as well, I pay one of mine £7 per hour and the other £7.50, I know of some paying over £10.

nannytone_2

i get 25 hours a week, and am budgeted for £10 an hour.

but because i yuse a payroll company, i need to budget this in too.

my social worker says as lomg as i pay minimum waage and dont beat my PA ( except on sundays) its up to me!

hope he was joking about the beating part lol

[Deleted User]

I provide a payroll service for a few clients in receipt of DP. My Company is on Social Services approved list. We charge £7.50 per payslip per month plus £30 for a Year End. You also need to pay for Employers liability Insurance, on the whole it's a good scheme.