Hoping Someone Can Help Me?

Penny-Pincher!!

Hello

I posted a thread about 2 weeks ago about being assessed for extra help around the home and personal care etc as Im disabled.

I have been initially granted 2-3 hours per week for domestic cleaning. The lady was very kind and said that if I looked at the list of services offered, I could basically choose what I would like(shopping, laundry, bathing, etc). I dont want to be greedy as any help offered is most welcome as we have been struggling for so long! Anyway, another lady came to help fill in the financial assesment form and we honestly thought we wouldnt receive any help. Today we have been informed that our contribution will be NIL and will not have to pay a penny :eek:

The help on offer from a care service working with our local council want £9.55 per hour :eek: Now I understand that we dont have to pay for this, but I have read on this forum somewhere about something called "direct payments". Would this be relevant for me & hubby? I would much rather vet someone myself than to have a different person in each week etc-is this possible? I dont like the idea of a different stranger in my home each week and as I suffer with mental health problems too, this may be a problem.

How do the "direct payments" work exactly? I am sorry if I sound a bit dense but if anyone could help me, I would truly apreciate it! Also, when they offer help with laundry or shopping-what does this mean exactly-anyone know?

Thanks in advance.

Penny-Pincher!!
xxx

Bendybops19

Hey, i remember your orignally post a few weeks back - SO glad you have been offered some help!! I cant help you on some bits of your post, but on the notes of the shopping-
My friends mum has MS and has a lady that comes and does her shopping for her. In her case, she writes out a list and gives the lady enough money for it, the lady does the shopping and brings the receipt back to cover them both.
With the laundry, i would assume that the lady would take it away and do it? I'm not certain on that one though - so if i'm wrong, i apologise.

As for being greedy, take everything you can that will help you !!!!!! You deserve it!

Ted_Hutchinson

direct payments Government information

NCIL National Council for Independent Living useful website with a forum for asking questions and getting answers from professionals and other Direct Payment users.
Direct Payments Housing options.(written for those with learning difficulties but that makes it easier for those new to the system)
Direct Payments Counsel and Care [written for older people]

The above links give an idea of managing Direct Payments. Many people needing full care packages find the system leaves them with a lot of administration and constant hassles with the local authority to ensure sufficient money to pay support properly however others are very happy managing their own care package.

Penny-Pincher!!

Hi

Thanks for the quick replies and thanks for your nice comments :j

How do they work out the hourly rate if i was to choose Direct Payment? An amount of £9.55 has been quoted if I were to accept the help via the council run one. Is this the rate that would be given? Im quite confused but thats not difficult..lol

I normally do my shopping online and use vouchers where possible from this website , so i think shopping would be a miss as I can save more money doing it by myself with hubby online. The laundry Im not sure about. Basically we do at least 2 loads a day and there is only my hubby, myself and daughter :eek: I wet the bed most nights..sometimes worse :eek: I use towels/blankets etc underneath me through the day on top of the normal washloads for us. It would be a weight off if they could help with this-but unsure how they would proceed. It is embarrasing enough being only 30 and going through this and husband washing this-let alone a stranger

Thanks so much

Penny-Pincher!!
xxx

Savvy_Sue

Penny-Pincher, I do feel for you, but am really glad you have got some help offered!

I don't know anything about the direct payments, and can see what you say about vetting someone yourself and having the same person each week. But you might also think through the advantages of using the help provided by the council.

* you may well get the same person each week - at least usually - especially if you explain how important this is because of your MH needs, and when they are on holiday or sick it will be the council's responsibility to see you get the help you need. If you employ someone direct, you will either have to have more than one person with each covering for the other - probably easy enough to arrange for holidays, but harder if someone is ill. Plus if someone is ill or on holiday you'll still have to pay them and whoever is covering for them!

* if you have any difficulty with the person sent, you will have someone to turn to. If you employ someone direct and have a disagreement, you will have to sort it yourself. You will have to agree a contract, enforce its terms if necessary etc etc etc.

* you will not be resonsible for paying them, making sure NI and tax are properly dealt with etc. If you employ someone direct, this will all be down to you and your DH! Just to think ahead, you will have to think about when/whether a pay rise is in order, whereas this will all be taken care of for you.

* the council will have taken up references and carried out police checks, and while these are by no means fool-proof you as an individual may have more difficulty getting a police check on someone you want to employ.

This is really me spelling out what Ted may mean by "a lot of administration"! some of the points could be easier to deal with if the person you appointed was 'self-employed' rather than employed by you, but you would have to become aware of employment law to a certain extent, even so.

I think what I'm saying is that it may be worth going with the help through the council initially, which IMO should be easier and therefore quicker to put in place. I could be quite wrong about this, but if you start with that and hate it, at least you'll have some idea what to look out for if you want to go over to the Direct Payments. Plus you'll get an idea how much time it takes to do what you want done. 2-3 hours pw is not a lot, so please don't feel you're being greedy!

penrith

Penny-Pincher!! wrote:

Hi

Thanks for the quick replies and thanks for your nice comments :j

How do they work out the hourly rate if i was to choose Direct Payment? An amount of £9.55 has been quoted if I were to accept the help via the council run one. Is this the rate that would be given? Im quite confused but thats not difficult..lol

I normally do my shopping online and use vouchers where possible from this website , so i think shopping would be a miss as I can save more money doing it by myself with hubby online. The laundry Im not sure about. Basically we do at least 2 loads a day and there is only my hubby, myself and daughter :eek: I wet the bed most nights..sometimes worse :eek: I use towels/blankets etc underneath me through the day on top of the normal washloads for us. It would be a weight off if they could help with this-but unsure how they would proceed. It is embarrasing enough being only 30 and going through this and husband washing this-let alone a stranger

Thanks so much

Penny-Pincher!!
xxx

Hi there,.

pleased to hear you are getting the help. Did you get my private message i sent you about this?

ANyway If the council assess you as needing 3 hours help a week and their rate is £9.55, then if you opted for a direct payment you would get 3x£9.55 = £28.65 a week. If you hired a person at £10 an hour then you would have to put the difference to the direct payment amount. Alternatively if you were able to hire someone for £7 and hour, then you'd have a surplus, you could then build up the surplus and every so often have an extra hour of domestic help.

If you decide to actually employ someone then you need to remember you are responsible for sorting out tax, nation insurance, holidays, sick pay etc etc. You need to make sure all this is covered in the £9.55 per hour you are getting otherwise it'll end up costing you. Some poeple find this works for them, some find it alot of hassle. For only 3 hours a week it may end up being a lot of hassle (do you think you'd actually be able to hire someone for up to 3 hours a week domestic help?)

Another way of doing it is to approach a cleaning/domestic help company. Ask them what their rate is and pay them to come in on a weekly/fortnightly basis. The advantage of this is that they sort out their own tax/national insurance/sick pay/insurance etc etc so all you need to do is get a receipt for the amount you pay each week. The amount the firm charges is the amount you pay. end fo story. BTW, most cleaning firms would send you the same cleaner every week and most reputable firms will police check their employees.

If i may give you an example of a relative i know. The hourly rate for direct payments in our council is £8.70. My relative has been assessed as getting 2 hours a week (=£17.40 per week). They employ a cleaner from a local firm. They get the same cleaner weekly for 2 hours a week. A very nice lady, police checked, very good worker. The rate from this firm is £7 an hour. So my relative pays £14 a week for the domestic help they need but get £17.40 a week from the council. Because there is a surplus of £3.40 a week it means that every few weeks they have enough money to pay the cleaner to come in for an extra hour to do an 'occasional job', for instance, cleaning the windows inside.

Hope that helps

Penny-Pincher!!

Hi

Thanks for more great advice! :T

What happens if the person says they are self-employed? Could I get a receipt book and they sign each week etc-as proof/back up for me?

Thanks
Penny-Pincher!!
xxx

Penny-Pincher!!

Hi Penrith

I have PM'd you.

Thanks

Penny-Pincher!!
xxxx

Savvy_Sue

Penrith's suggestion seems to solve all the problems I identified with direct payments and may give the best of both worlds! Hope you get the help actually sorted soon, you deserve it (and so do your family!) So stop feeling guilty about it!

penrith

Penny-Pincher!! wrote:

Hi

Thanks for more great advice! :T

What happens if the person says they are self-employed? Could I get a receipt book and they sign each week etc-as proof/back up for me?

Thanks
Penny-Pincher!!
xxx

As i understand it, if the person you are getting to do a job is self-employed or employed by an agency then all you do is pay the amount they ask and obtain a receipt. The complicated bit comes when YOU actually employ someone. If you are employing someone then you have to sort out tax/NI/sick pay/hols pay etc etc. Personally, if you were wanting 24 hour care then maybe it would be worth it, however for a few hours cleaning a week, then i'd tend to steer clear of actually becoming an employer and try to arrange someone to come in from an agency and request the same person every week for continuity and say that you prefer regular people coming into your home.

katiepops_2

If you're only going to get 2-3 hours a week you want to make sure that you're getting the maximum amount of cleaning done, in the most important areas of the house - like having a top to bottom clean of the kitchen and bathroom - both things which take a little time to do properly, whereas putting on a load of washing takes five minutes - and if your hubby doesn't have to worry about cleaning the kitchen and bathroom every week then he'll have more time to spend with you.

And you know, you shouldn't be embarrassed about your continence problems - we're all different and we all have things that we think are embarrassing. I'm sure your hubby loves you regardless of your health problems, as does your daughter, and whoever you do get to come in and help, be they council employed or someone you find yourself, they are there to help and not to judge - if you didn't care about people and emphathise with their problems then you couldn't do the job ... certainly the carers don't do it for the money!

I'm really pleased that you're getting some help though ... I hope it makes a real difference to you.

Kate