Direct payments

Snowbird

Can someone explain direct payments payments to me please.
Can you claim direct pAyments in addition to attendance allowance and pips or dla?
Are direct payments means tested?

nannytone_2

direct payments are not a set amount and are awarded after an assessment by social services.
usually they award you on the basis of a set amount of hours,that they consider to be the minimum you require.
although not means tested, you are usually expected to contribute towards the cost from household income, disability benefits and savings ( each council has their own savings threshold and co funding charges.
my council take 70% of DLA/PIP.

if awarded direct payments, you them become an employer and need a dedicated bank account for the money to be paid into, and have to ensure that tax, national insurance and pension provision is made.
you also have to keep records of hours worked,( timesheet) account statements and hold liability insurance.
i used to have to send everything to the council every month, but now they occasionally ask for specific months in order to audit me.
all paperwork must be kept for 6 years.

i use a payroll company to process wages/pension etc and have no access to the direct payments account ( by choice)

kingfisherblue

In my area, you don't contribute to DP from household income or benefits. You are awarded a set amount, a set number of hours, and an annual payment for insurance. If you cannot or do not wish to do the paperwork yourself, the council pay a specific firm to do this.

nannytone_2

kingfisherblue wrote: »

In my area, you don't contribute to DP from household income or benefits. You are awarded a set amount, a set number of hours, and an annual payment for insurance. If you cannot or do not wish to do the paperwork yourself, the council pay a specific firm to do this.

so no cofunding payment at all?
blimey ... thats rare nowdays

kingfisherblue

Nope, no founding. That could change with all the cuts though. You can also pay less per hour than you receive, providing you pay at least minimum wage. That way, you can get additional hours for the person receiving DP. So, if you get £10 per hour and have ten hours per week, you get £100. If you pay £8 per hour to your employee, you can get twelve hours a week and the remaining £4 carried forward. Some parents 'save' towards extra hours in school holidays by doing this. It all shows on the paperwork, and our council allows this, at least at the moment. The council also allows TAs to be DP employees, even though this means that some weeks they work seven days.

Snowbird

So if you require 24 hour care, and so receive the highest rate of dla or aa you could also get £10 per hour say, and not need to go I to residential care?

nannytone_2

ive never heard of anyone receiving direct payments to cover 24 hour care, but I'm not saying it wouldn't happen.

at £10 an hour that would cost almost £1,750 a week which is probably way beyond what most councils can afford to provide.

i am reviewed yearly, and because i have had no changes, the amount i receive has stayed the same. my social worker said that if my needs increase, then my budget would be likely to be cut as they would look at the whole package again, rather than just 'rubber stamping' it.

if someone needs such a high level of care, then it is possible that direct payments will be refused and some kind of supported living would be more appropriate

Nual

Direct Payments are for people who are assessed by Social Services as needing social care. As nannytone says, DPs are a way for people to have more control over their own care. They can be used to employ a Personal Assistant or could be used to buy care from a domiciliary care agency.

Most ( all?) Local Authorities will require a means tested contribution to the cost of DPs, and will work out how much after doing a financial assessment. This varies depending on the LA/ what part of the country you live in. For example the weekly contribution is capped at £65 a week in Wales. The money has to be spent on the care the person is assessed as needing.

There are some pilot areas in England where DPs are being trialled for chronic health needs where instead of the NHS providing the care, people are given the cost of this to arrange themselves.

Snowbird

Many thanks for these replies.
My brother is a vicar and he and some other vicar in various parts of the country send out a newsletter e r which consists of news from the parishes and useful info.
He has asked me to research it and do a small article on who qualifies and how much.they have lots of elderly and other disabled parishioners who struggle to attend church.
It's helpful to know who can get it and how bad you need to be.

kingfisherblue

Your local council website or carer's centre should be able to give information that is accurate for your area.

Snowbird

kingfisherblue wrote: »

Your local council website or carer's centre should be able to give information that is accurate for your area.

The thing is that it goes to a few parishes so there are more than one country involved.
We know a young lady who has some quite profound physical disabilities and she employs a team of carers and has managed to travel as far as thailand with them. She is remarkable and it was her that was the inspiration for my brother to want to get something out in his newsletter. She is not in residential care but needs someone 24 hours a day.
I think she is plAnning to go to university. It's not really appropriate to ask her too many questions about her finNces.
So, in summary
It is means tested and
Depends on what social services think your «need» is.
Is there generally a cap on how much you need to pay towards it?