Access to Work and care: what the grant covers, and help at home

For somebody who is employed, what they earn and what they have in savings make no difference. A self-employed person needs an annual turnover of at least £6,500. The grant can be claimed alongside most benefits as long as the person works more than an hour a week, and somebody on Employment and Support Allowance can have both if they work less than 16 hours a week. Civil servants are the exception: their employer arranges their support instead. The GOV.UK eligibility page sets all of this out, and in Northern Ireland the scheme is Access to Work (NI) on nidirect.

This guide is part of our section on disability care at home. There are also guides to MS and work for younger adults and to going back to work as a younger stroke survivor.

An employer may be asked to share some costs. The GOV.UK guide to reasonable adjustments explains what an employer must provide in any case.

The working day itself can include some personal care. The Access to Work staff guide, which the Department for Work and Pensions publishes on GOV.UK, tells case managers to consider where personal care is needed when they set a support worker award. Help with the toilet at work, for example, sits on the work side. The same help at home before work sits on the home side.

For the home side, the first step is a needs assessment from the council. It is free, and if the council agrees the person is eligible for support, it can pay the money as a direct payment so the person chooses who helps them. How direct payments work explains how to ask, and local authority funding covers the assessment and the means test. Personal Independence Payment is a separate benefit for the extra costs of a condition, and GOV.UK says it can be claimed while working.

Some people pay for the home side themselves, or top up what the council funds. Carers on PrimeCarers charge £18 to £25 an hour with our fee included, against £28 to £35 an hour at an agency. If the help you need is an hour before work and an hour in the evening, you can search for carers near you and compare their rates before you speak to anybody. PrimeCarers is an introductory service, not an agency: carers are self-employed, and before a profile appears we check identity and right to work, confirm an enhanced DBS check (or PVG in Scotland, Access NI in Northern Ireland) issued within the last 18 months, and interview the carer online. We do not check qualifications, training or references. Every visit booked through PrimeCarers is insured, by the carer's own policy or by cover we arrange where they do not hold one. How carers are checked explains each step.

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The staff guide says a person can use family or friends as a support worker, on the same rules as anybody else. Nothing in that guidance stops a support worker also helping at home, but the two are paid for separately. Access to Work claims ask for the dates of support and invoices or receipts, so keep the working hours and the home hours on separate records. If you plan to use somebody you have found yourself as a support worker, ask the Access to Work case manager before they start, because the decision letter sets out what the grant will pay for. Personal assistants and direct payments explains the difference between employing somebody and engaging somebody self-employed, which matters on both sides.

1. 1

   Talk to the employer first

   Before you apply

   Ask what they will change as a reasonable adjustment, and agree who at work can confirm the job. Access to Work will not contact them without permission.
2. 2

   Apply online or by phone

   Helpline 0800 121 7479

   You need the workplace address, how the condition affects the work, the support you think would help, a workplace contact if employed, a Unique Taxpayer Reference if self-employed, and a National Insurance number. The helpline is open weekdays, 9am to 5pm.
3. 3

   Someone from Access to Work gets in touch

   After you apply

   They may ask more about the job and the condition, ask to speak to the employer, or arrange an assessment by phone, video call or in person. If you already know what support you need, you may not need an assessment.
4. 4

   A letter with the decision

   Then claim

   The letter says how much the grant is and what it pays for. Claims are made online or by post, with the dates of support and the invoices or receipts, within 9 months. Ongoing support, such as a support worker, has to be renewed, and you can apply to renew 12 weeks before the grant ends.

GOV.UK does not publish how long a decision takes, so apply as early as you can: up to 12 weeks before a new job starts. Tell the helpline if the job, the workplace or the condition changes, because the award may change with it. If you disagree with the decision, you can ask for it to be reconsidered once by a different case manager. The factsheet explains that the amount of an award cannot be appealed, but you can complain through the Department for Work and Pensions if a claim has been handled badly. Apply on GOV.UK, and read what happens after you apply.

If the family member who helps at home also works, they can ask for a carer's assessment of their own, and balancing work with caring covers the rights they have at their own job.