Direct paymentsBristol
Direct payments in Bristol
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. Bristol City Council says a direct payment can pay a self-employed carer, with some checks first. Below is what the council publishes about its rates and rules, and what an hour of care costs near you.
61 self-employed carers within about 45 minutes of Bristol
An hour of care in Bristol
- A self-employed carer near youTypical rate on PrimeCarers, our fee included
- £20.00
- Local home care agenciesMedian of 5 agencies nearby that publish a price
- £29.00
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 Bristol
Bristol City Council 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 PrimeCarers14.5 hours
At £20.00 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 £29.00 an hour. The median published by 5 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. Bristol City Council 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 Bristol
Bristol City Council allows a direct payment to pay a self-employed carer, with conditions. A direct payment can pay a self-employed personal assistant, and the recipient must make sure the person has a Unique Tax Reference number (UTR) from HMRC that is shown on their invoices. The council also recommends checking that things like an enhanced DBS check, right to work, insurance and references are in place, and it is the recipient's responsibility to decide whether a personal assistant is employed or self-employed.
“If a PA is self-employed the Direct Payment recipient must ensure they have a Unique Tax Reference number (UTR) from HMRC and that it is referenced on their invoices.”
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 Bristol
What the council publishes about paying the money, getting help and getting in touch. Each card links to the page we checked it against.
What the scheme is called
In Bristol you will see it called the Bristol Direct Payment Account (BDPA).
How the money is paid: Prepaid card
The Bristol Direct Payment Account is a prepaid account with a debit card issued by Prepaid Financial Services, and the council prefers to pay direct payments into it.
Provider: Prepaid Financial Services (PFS)
How the money is paid: Separate bank account
Direct payments must be paid into a separate bank account, and if a Bristol Direct Payment Account will not work for you the council can discuss other arrangements.
Help with running it
The council points people to the West of England Centre for Independent Living (WECIL) for help to manage direct payments.
Worth knowing
Recipients are expected to hold a contingency fund of about four weeks of the weekly direct payment to cover costs such as tax, insurance and emergency cover.
Worth knowing
The cost of employer's liability insurance is included in the direct payment for the first year, after which it has to come out of the contingency fund.
Worth knowing
Guideline direct payment rates are reviewed once a year separately from care or financial reviews, and a higher rate can be requested with evidence of need and approval from a Service Manager.
Who is available
Self-employed carers in Bristol
61 carers are based within about 45 minutes of Bristol. You can see their rates and experience, and message them, before committing to anything.
61 private carers are based within about 45 minutes of Bristol
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 BristolStep 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 Bristol
Yes. A direct payment can pay a self-employed personal assistant, and the recipient must make sure the person has a Unique Tax Reference number (UTR) from HMRC that is shown on their invoices. The council also recommends checking that things like an enhanced DBS check, right to work, insurance and references are in place, and it is the recipient's responsibility to decide whether a personal assistant is employed or self-employed. The checks a council asks for are usually the carer's employment status for tax, their insurance and their DBS certificate. Carers on PrimeCarers are self-employed, hold an enhanced DBS and are insured while they work, and they invoice for the hours worked.
We could not find a rate that Bristol City Council 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 £20.00 an hour against £29.00 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.
Bristol City Council's direct payments team on 0117 903 7066. 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 South Gloucestershire
- Direct payments in Bath and North East Somerset
- Direct payments in North Somerset
- Direct payments in Newport
- Direct payments in Monmouthshire
- Direct payments in Torfaen
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 Bristol that is NHS Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire.
Council details were read from Bristol City Council'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 5 agencies near Bristol that publish a price. Carer rates are what carers near you advertise, read live.
Find a carer in Bristol
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.