Direct paymentsBarking and Dagenham
Direct payments in Barking and Dagenham
If the council has agreed to pay towards care at home, you can take the money as a direct payment and choose who provides the care. A direct payment can usually pay a self-employed carer, on the council's conditions. Below is what the council publishes about its rates and rules, and what an hour of care costs near you.
268 self-employed carers within about 45 minutes of Barking and Dagenham
An hour of care in Barking and Dagenham
- A self-employed carer near youTypical rate on PrimeCarers, our fee included
- £19.00
- Local home care agenciesMedian of 74 agencies nearby that publish a price
- £25.00
A budget worked out at the agency rate buys more hours from a self-employed carer. What a weekly budget buys each way is set out below.
What the council pays
Direct payment rates in Barking and Dagenham
London Borough of Barking and Dagenham does not publish its direct payment rates anywhere we could find. Your budget is set in your support plan, from the cost of meeting your eligible needs less anything you are assessed to pay yourself. Ask the council which hourly rate it used, because that decides how many hours the budget buys.
Hours for the money
What a weekly budget buys
A direct payment is a sum of money, so the useful comparison is how many hours of care it pays for. Move the slider to your own weekly budget.
Starts at ten hours a week at the agency rate. Move it to match the budget in your support plan.
- A self-employed carer on PrimeCarers13 hours
At £19.00 an hour. The typical rate near you, our fee included. The carer invoices for the hours, and that invoice is your record for the council.
- A local home care agency10 hours
At £25.00 an hour. The median published by 74 agencies near you. The agency sends whoever is on its rota.
Hours are rounded down to the half hour. Bank holidays are charged at one and a half times a carer's rate and Christmas Day at twice, so leave room in the budget for them. London Borough of Barking and Dagenham decides what your direct payment can be spent on, and your support plan is the final word.
Choosing your carer
Paying a self-employed carer in Barking and Dagenham
Direct payments in Barking and Dagenham work under the Care Act 2014. A direct payment can usually pay a self-employed carer your family has chosen, as well as a personal assistant you employ or an agency. We could not find London Borough of Barking and Dagenham's own wording on self-employed carers, so ask the direct payments team what it wants to see before anyone starts.
Councils tend to ask for the same few things before a direct payment pays a self-employed carer:
- the carer's employment status for tax, which HMRC's Check Employment Status for Tax tool on gov.uk works out in a few minutes
- proof that the carer is insured
- a DBS certificate
- an invoice for the hours worked, which becomes your record of how the money was spent
How direct payments work covers asking for one, what the money can buy and the records councils want back, and self-employed carer or employee? explains the tax question.
The council's arrangements
How direct payments are run in Barking and Dagenham
What the council publishes about paying the money, getting help and getting in touch. Each card links to the page we checked it against.
How the money is paid: Prepaid card
The council's main way of paying a direct payment is a pre-payment account set up by the council, used like a debit card in shops, by phone or online.
How the money is paid: Managed account
You can agree to use a pre-payment account that is set up, operated and managed by a payroll provider on your behalf.
How the money is paid: Separate bank account
A person can instead ask to use a separate bank account opened solely for the direct payment.
Help with running it
Vibrance. The council has commissioned Empower to support residents in finding the right care and support, to connect residents with personal assistants, and to help employers and PAs feel confident in their role. Empower can be contacted on 0208 059 3635 or at [email protected].
Worth knowing
The council allows a direct payment recipient to keep an agreed reserve of 8 weeks of direct payment money in their direct payment account at any one time.
Worth knowing
In exceptional cases the council can make a one-off direct payment for things such as respite, equipment or carer support if it is set out in the support plan.
Worth knowing
People who use a separate bank account rather than the pre-payment account are usually asked for statements about every six months by the Brokerage Team.
Who is available
Self-employed carers in Barking and Dagenham
268 carers are based within about 45 minutes of Barking and Dagenham. You can see their rates and experience, and message them, before committing to anything.
268 private carers are based within about 45 minutes of Barking and Dagenham
Filter by what they charge, who drives, who does nights, and who speaks your language, then message the ones you like. Free, and nothing is booked until you say so.
See private carers for Barking and DagenhamIn their words
Families near Barking and Dagenham on the carers they chose
“She is a safe pair of hands and her years of experience certainly shine through.”
Christine O., 2025
About Noami B.Carer based in Barking · 4 reviews“She built an amazing rapport with my mum and took care of her until she died. I am forever grateful for Sally”
Lucy S., 2023
About Sally C.Carer based in Romford · 2 reviewsStep by step
Using a direct payment for a carer you choose
- Get the assessment and the support plan. The council assesses the care needed and works out the budget. Say at this stage that you want a direct payment and would like to choose your own carer.
- Check what the council allows. Ask the direct payments team whether it will pay a self-employed carer and what it needs to see from them.
- Find carers and talk to a few. Search carers near you, compare rates, experience and reviews, and message your shortlist. None of that costs anything.
- Agree the hours and rate in writing. Match them to the support plan, and keep within the budget once bank holidays are allowed for.
- Keep the records. Invoices and statements are what the council looks at when it reviews how the direct payment is being used.
Questions
Questions about direct payments in Barking and Dagenham
Usually, yes. A direct payment can pay a self-employed carer your family has chosen, employ a personal assistant, or buy agency hours. We could not find London Borough of Barking and Dagenham's own wording on self-employed carers, so ask the direct payments team what checks it wants before anyone starts.
We could not find a rate that London Borough of Barking and Dagenham publishes. The amount is set in your support plan, worked out from the cost of meeting your eligible needs, less anything the financial assessment says you pay yourself. Ask the council how it calculated the hourly figure, because that decides how many hours the budget buys.
Usually it buys more hours. Carers near you typically charge £19.00 an hour against £25.00 for agency care, so a budget worked out at the agency rate buys more hours from a self-employed carer.
In England a direct payment cannot normally pay the person’s husband, wife or partner, or a close relative who lives in the same household, unless the council considers it necessary. That is the direct payments regulations rather than this council's own rule, so ask the direct payments team how it applies it. Can my mum pay me to care for her? covers the other routes.
Only if you employ somebody. Paying a self-employed carer or an agency does not make anyone an employer. Taking on a personal assistant does, which brings payroll, holiday pay, sick pay, pension enrolment and employer's liability insurance. HMRC's Check Employment Status for Tax tool on gov.uk tells you which applies.
London Borough of Barking and Dagenham's direct payments team on 020 8227 2915 or at [email protected]. If you do not have a social worker or care assessment yet, start with a needs assessment from adult social care.
Direct payments in nearby council areas
- Direct payments in Redbridge
- Direct payments in Havering
- Direct payments in Newham
- Direct payments in Greenwich
- Direct payments in Bexley
- Direct payments in Hackney
If the care needed is mainly about health, the NHS may pay for all of it through Continuing Healthcare, decided by the NHS rather than the council. In Barking and Dagenham that is NHS North East London.
Council details were read from London Borough of Barking and Dagenham's published pages and checked against them on 17 September 2026. Councils change their rates each April, so check the linked page before relying on a figure. The local agency figure is the median of 74 agencies near Barking and Dagenham that publish a price. Carer rates are what carers near you advertise, read live.
Find a carer in Barking and Dagenham
See self-employed carers near you with their hourly rates, experience and reviews, and talk to the ones you like for free. Check with the council what your direct payment can pay for before you book.