Direct paymentsCoventry
Direct payments in Coventry
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.
188 self-employed carers within about 45 minutes of Coventry
An hour of care in Coventry
- A self-employed carer near youTypical rate on PrimeCarers, our fee included
- £19.00
- The council’s agency rateWhat the council allows for agency care, from 1/04/25
- £22.67
- The council’s personal assistant rateFor someone you employ yourself, from 1/04/25
- £17.60
A budget worked out at the agency rate buys more hours from a self-employed carer. Employing a personal assistant costs less an hour again, but makes your family the employer. What a weekly budget buys each way is set out below.
What the council pays
Direct payment rates in Coventry
These are the rates Coventry City Council publishes for direct payments, with a link to where each one appears. Your budget is set in your support plan and can differ from them.
| What the rate is for | Rate | Applies | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Care Agency rate (hourly) | £22.67 an hour | from 1/04/25 | coventry.gov.uk |
| Personal Assistant rate (hourly) | £17.60 an hour | from 1/04/25 | coventry.gov.uk |
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 PrimeCarers11.5 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.
- An agency, at the council’s rate10 hours
At £22.67 an hour. What the council allows for an hour of agency care. The agency sends whoever is on its rota.
- A personal assistant you employ12.5 hours
At £17.60 an hour. The council’s rate for employing someone yourself. Your family becomes the employer, with payroll, holiday pay, pension and insurance to arrange.
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. Coventry 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 Coventry
Direct payments in Coventry 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 Coventry City Council'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 Coventry
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
A prepaid card that the council sets up is the default way of receiving a direct payment, and the council loads money onto the card for you to spend on your care and support needs.
Provider: Prepaid Financial Services
How the money is paid: Separate bank account
In a small number of cases people may be asked to open a bank account to receive the direct payment instead of using a prepaid card, and will then be asked to send bank statements and complete forms usually every six months.
Help with running it
Penderels Trust. Is an organisation paid by the council to support people with managing their direct payments, and can be contacted on 024 7651 1611.
Worth knowing
Where one off payments are necessary for Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks, £66 is paid to the direct payment recipient to cover these costs.
Who is available
Self-employed carers in Coventry
188 carers are based within about 45 minutes of Coventry. You can see their rates and experience, and message them, before committing to anything.
188 private carers are based within about 45 minutes of Coventry
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 CoventryIn their words
Families near Coventry on the carers they chose
“If you bump into her in the night on her way to the bathroom she will still inquire how you are and if everything is alright.”
Caroline C., 2024
About Mary K.Carer based in Coventry · 5 reviews“Mum took to her instantly, and they forged an immediate bond.”
Julia S., 2023
About Kerry-Ann M.Carer based in Coventry · 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 Coventry
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 Coventry City Council's own wording on self-employed carers, so ask the direct payments team what checks it wants before anyone starts.
Coventry City Council publishes £17.60 an hour for a personal assistant and £22.67 an hour for agency care for from 1/04/25. The full list, with links to where the council says so, is on this page. Your own budget is set in your support plan and can differ, for example if your needs include nights or two carers.
Usually it buys more hours. Carers near you typically charge £19.00 an hour against £22.67 for agency care, so a budget worked out at the agency rate buys more hours from a self-employed carer. If your budget was worked out at the personal assistant rate of £17.60, it buys fewer.
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.
Coventry City Council's direct payments team on 024 7527 0960 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 Warwickshire
- Direct payments in Solihull
- Direct payments in Birmingham
- Direct payments in Sandwell
- Direct payments in Walsall
- Direct payments in Dudley
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 Coventry that is NHS Coventry and Warwickshire.
Council details were read from Coventry 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. Carer rates are what carers near you advertise, read live.
Find a carer in Coventry
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.