Direct paymentsGreenwich
Direct payments in Greenwich
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. Royal Borough of Greenwich says a direct payment can pay a self-employed carer. Below is what the council publishes about its rates and rules, and what an hour of care costs near you.
424 self-employed carers within about 45 minutes of Greenwich
An hour of care in Greenwich
- A self-employed carer near youTypical rate on PrimeCarers, our fee included
- £19.00
- Local home care agenciesMedian of 83 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 Greenwich
Royal Borough of Greenwich 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 83 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. Royal Borough of Greenwich 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 Greenwich
Royal Borough of Greenwich allows a direct payment to pay a self-employed carer. The council's direct payments booklet lists self-employed carers, alongside a personal assistant you employ and an agency, as ways of buying personal care with a direct payment.
“Personal care from a Personal Assistant you employ or an agency or self-employed carers.”
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 Greenwich
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 account works like online banking, and because the team can see the transactions you do not have to send in statements.
How the money is paid: Managed account
With a managed or holding account the council holds the funds, makes payments on your instruction and can run the payroll for staff you employ.
How the money is paid: Separate bank account
You can open a bank account that is separate from your personal one, receive the direct payment into it and make all the payments yourself.
Help with running it
Royal Borough of Greenwich Direct Payments Team. The council's own team gives advice, helps recruit staff and find local services, runs an in-house payroll and manages accounts and financial monitoring.
Where the council points you to find a personal assistant
Greenwich Local Labour and Business (GLLAB)
Worth knowing
If the council runs the payroll for someone you employ, you are charged the lower of £300 or 15% of your annual direct payment budget.
Worth knowing
Greenwich requires personal assistants to be paid above the London Living Wage for waking hours and tells recipients the rate each year, while sleep-in shifts are paid at National Minimum Wage for eight hour shifts.
Worth knowing
The council builds the cost of a DBS check into the budget and either funds or buys employer liability insurance for people who employ a personal assistant.
Who is available
Self-employed carers in Greenwich
424 carers are based within about 45 minutes of Greenwich. You can see their rates and experience, and message them, before committing to anything.
424 private carers are based within about 45 minutes of Greenwich
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 GreenwichIn their words
Families near Greenwich on the carers they chose
“Her warmth, kindness, and reassuring manner immediately put us at ease, while her clear and thoughtful communication ensured we always felt informed and supported.”
Carol A., 2026
About Barbara U.Carer based in unknown · 3 reviews“She has shown true empathy towards my mother and has made her life a little easier and brighter every day.”
Beryl W., 2024
About Mubo N.Carer based in Welling · 2 reviews“She Administered My Medications With Advanced Pharmaceutical Knowledge”
Solomon A., 2021
About Nalini C.Carer based in Welling · 2 reviews“My son who he is caring for automatically welcomed Andres and can be heard laughing & having fun with Andres.”
Stephanie W., 2020
About Andres Felipe C.Carer based in LondonStep 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 Greenwich
Yes. The council's direct payments booklet lists self-employed carers, alongside a personal assistant you employ and an agency, as ways of buying personal care with a direct payment. 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 Royal Borough of Greenwich 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.
Royal Borough of Greenwich's direct payments team on 020 8921 5706 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 Bexley
- Direct payments in Newham
- Direct payments in Lewisham
- Direct payments in Barking and Dagenham
- Direct payments in Southwark
- Direct payments in Bromley
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 Greenwich that is NHS South East London.
Council details were read from Royal Borough of Greenwich'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 83 agencies near Greenwich that publish a price. Carer rates are what carers near you advertise, read live.
Find a carer in Greenwich
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.