surplus hours on direct payments due to staffing issues

usernamenotrecognised

I have direct payments, 13.5hours per week. I have been asking how to pay for over a year, so obviously now face a big bill but this is what I dont understand.
I have well over 200 surplus hours due to staffing problems; the payroll company were unable to find suitable PAs for my situation plus one took so many sick days it was ridiculous.
Today I have really pushed to find out how to pay - and have been told I have to pay my full payment for the hours i have been unable to use due to the staffing issues.
Is this correct? Do I have to pay for services that I have been unable to use through no fault of my own.
Social services are terrible - took over 1 year to do a financial assessment. In January I called for an urgent assessment (after being seriously ill in hospital) and they didn't call me back until the 2nd week of April. they are disgraceful with communications.
How can it be justified that I am being told I have to pay for services I was unable to use. I am in tears and genuinely wish I was dead. I cannot find any information online about surplus hours 

usernamenotrecognised

a hopeful bump in case anyone can help me, I'm feeling quite desperate for some help and don't know who to ask. I really appreciate you reading my post, thank you.

Spoonie_Turtle

usernamenotrecognised said:

I have direct payments, 13.5hours per week. I have been asking how to pay for over a year, so obviously now face a big bill but this is what I dont understand.
I have well over 200 surplus hours due to staffing problems; the payroll company were unable to find suitable PAs for my situation plus one took so many sick days it was ridiculous.
Today I have really pushed to find out how to pay - and have been told I have to pay my full payment for the hours i have been unable to use due to the staffing issues.
Is this correct? Do I have to pay for services that I have been unable to use through no fault of my own.
Social services are terrible - took over 1 year to do a financial assessment. In January I called for an urgent assessment (after being seriously ill in hospital) and they didn't call me back until the 2nd week of April. they are disgraceful with communications.
How can it be justified that I am being told I have to pay for services I was unable to use. I am in tears and genuinely wish I was dead. I cannot find any information online about surplus hours 

I don't know whether many members here have experience of direct payments at all, let alone in a similar situation.  Have you posted on other forums that are wholly focused on disability?  If not, I'd recommend finding some and posting there. 

I don't know of this is the kind of thing Citizen's Advice Bureau may be able to help with or not.  Do you have a disability help/resource centre anywhere near you?  If so there should be a team who can help.  The only reason I specify 'near you' is that they may only be able to help people in their local area and not further afield, although it can't hurt to ask any that you might find online, just in case. 

I hope you're able to find someone who can advise, this sounds a terribly stressful situation. 

beanielou

My understanding is that direct payments are paid into your DP bank account by the council on a monthly basis.
You then use it to pay the people on your payroll.
So if you make a contribution to your care that will be assessed based on what your monthly income is & what your charge woulde be based on the number of hours you have been allocated.

poppy12345

beanielou said:

My understanding is that direct payments are paid into your DP bank account by the council on a monthly basis.
You then use it to pay the people on your payroll.
So if you make a contribution to your care that will be assessed based on what your monthly income is & what your charge woulde be based on the number of hours you have been allocated.

Yes that's correct but you've misunderstood the question asked.

OP if you haven't received the support from a PA and you have accumulated hours then you shouldn't have to pay a contribution to hours that are not used. You should only be paying for hours that you've used.

If you don't get any joy trying to contact your local council regarding this then i would be contacting my local MP or councilor.

M00minMama

Hi there
apologies in advance for the long post. I’ve been in a similar position to you, direct payments can be really confusing but you can ask for help to manage this. This is not a problem of your making. 

Surplus hours go into your direct payment account until the council reassess your account. It is acceptable to have a percentage of unused money in the direct payment account (each council is different). If you have lots of unused money in the account they may decide to stop the direct payment for a while and use the surplus in the account. Remember, you are assessed at the minimum amount of care you need to live basically. 
Its important to tell social services and the finance department you are not receiving the care and ask for help finding alternatives to meet your needs. 

Regarding contributions vs direct payment vs top up

 the way I had it explained to me is the you are assessed for any contribution you have to pay and then receive your direct payment. 

Your contribution always pays for the First part of the care and then the direct payment is used to pay towards the rest. If the care you have chosen is above the contribution plus the direct payment amount that Is paid into a dedicated bank account, then you have to pay a top up amount yourself.
Eg If your assessment says you should be able to get your care for £400 pw
your contribution may be £100 pw
the direct payment received would then be assessed at £300 pw
however if the care you choose cost £450pw then your top up would be £50pw.

if you use fewer hours than normal your contribution still needs to be paid in full, unless you receive less care. Eg if you only got £50 of care but your contribution was £100pw you can then reduce your contribution.

I hope this helps