Direct paymentsCounty Durham
Direct payments in County Durham
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. Durham County 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.
49 self-employed carers within about 45 minutes of County Durham
An hour of care in County Durham
- A self-employed carer near youTypical rate on PrimeCarers, our fee included
- £19.20
- Local home care agenciesMedian of 5 agencies nearby that publish a price
- £17.87
A self-employed carer here costs about the same as the agency rate or more, so the reason to choose one is who comes, not the price. The detail is below.
What the council pays
Direct payment rates in County Durham
Durham County 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 PrimeCarers9 hours
At £19.20 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 £17.87 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. Durham County 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 County Durham
Durham County Council allows a direct payment to pay a self-employed carer, with conditions. A direct payment can pay a self-employed carer provided they have checked their employment status with HM Revenue and Customs, are registered with HMRC and hold liability insurance, a copy of which must be given to the direct payments team, with a DBS check and a written contract also advised.
“If they are confirmed as being self-employed, they must be registered with HM Revenue and Customs and have the appropriate liability insurance cover. You must provide the Direct Payments team with a copy of their liability insurance for our records.”
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 County Durham
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 opens a Direct Payments Card Account for you and pays the funding onto a prepaid card issued by Prepaid Financial Services, which can be used for chip and PIN, telephone, online, direct debit and standing order payments.
Provider: Prepaid Financial Services (PFS)
How the money is paid: Managed account
With a managed account, your chosen payroll company opens a bank account on your behalf that is used only for your direct payments funding and is accessible only by them, and if you are an employer it makes wage payments to your personal assistants, payments due to HMRC and pension payments, and ensures your employer's liability insurance is paid each year.
How the money is paid: Separate bank account
Some people hold their own separate direct payments bank account, and must provide bank statements for audit and repay any surplus by invoice.
Worth knowing
A direct payment in County Durham can cover things other than hourly care, including clubs or groups, technology for daily living and a one-off payment used instead of respite care.
Worth knowing
After 12 to 16 weeks the council will contact you to see how your direct payments are going, and will check the payments made from the bank account to make sure the account is working as it should.
Worth knowing
When surplus money is recovered after an audit, the council leaves an appropriate contingency amount in the account along with money for unpaid wages or invoices.
Who is available
Self-employed carers in County Durham
49 carers are based within about 45 minutes of County Durham. You can see their rates and experience, and message them, before committing to anything.
49 private carers are based within about 45 minutes of County Durham
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 County DurhamIn their words
Families near County Durham on the carers they chose
“Petty introduced herself to Mum every time she was caring for her and responded very quickly to Mum if she was distressed in the night.”
Judith W., 2026
About Petty Tutsirai C.Carer based in Newton Aycliffe“Amy even pushed me on the beach in a beach wheelchair. I managed to let small baloon off in memory of family and friends who are no longer with us.”
Roy A., 2025
About Amy S.Carer based in Trimdon StationStep 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 County Durham
Yes. A direct payment can pay a self-employed carer provided they have checked their employment status with HM Revenue and Customs, are registered with HMRC and hold liability insurance, a copy of which must be given to the direct payments team, with a DBS check and a written contract also advised. 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 Durham County 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.
It depends on the rate the council used. Carers near you typically charge £19.20 an hour. Divide your weekly budget by that to see the hours it buys, and remember that bank holidays are charged at one and a half times the usual rate.
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.
Durham County Council's direct payments team on 03000 268 200 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 Sunderland
- Direct payments in Gateshead
- Direct payments in Hartlepool
- Direct payments in Darlington
- Direct payments in South Tyneside
- Direct payments in Newcastle upon Tyne
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 County Durham that is NHS North East and North Cumbria.
Council details were read from Durham County 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 County Durham that publish a price. Carer rates are what carers near you advertise, read live.
Find a carer in County Durham
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.