Direct paymentsHampshire
Direct payments in Hampshire
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. Hampshire 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.
34 self-employed carers within about 45 minutes of Hampshire
An hour of care in Hampshire
- A self-employed carer near youTypical rate on PrimeCarers, our fee included
- £20.00
- Local home care agenciesMedian of 10 agencies nearby that publish a price
- £28.28
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 Hampshire
Hampshire 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 PrimeCarers14 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 £28.28 an hour. The median published by 10 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. Hampshire 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 Hampshire
Hampshire County Council allows a direct payment to pay a self-employed carer, with conditions. A direct payment can pay a self-employed personal assistant, but the employment status has to be determined properly and the personal assistant must be registered with HMRC, handle their own tax and National Insurance and arrange their own insurance.
“For more information on self employed PAs including guidelines for determining employment status visit the Hampshire PA Finder website”
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 Hampshire
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: Other arrangement
The council's preferred method is the Virtual Wallet, an online account that the council sets up and pays the direct payment into, and there is no fee for the recipient.
Provider: Virtual Wallet
How the money is paid: Separate bank account
Instead of the Virtual Wallet, the direct payment can be paid into a bank account opened only for that purpose.
How the money is paid: Managed account
People who need help with the financial side of their care can have a supported account, which replaced what used to be called a managed account.
Provider: Virtual Wallet
Help with running it
You can contact the Direct Payment Support Service (DPSS) for assistance or further information, but it cannot help with setting up a direct payment; to arrange one you need to make a request to the adults' social care team.
Where the council points you to find a personal assistant
Worth knowing
The direct payment is paid in advance as a fixed amount every four weeks, which gives thirteen equal payments across the year.
Worth knowing
Because payments are made in advance, the account is expected to hold six to eight weeks of funds, and anything above that with no evidence it is needed must be repaid to the council by invoice.
Who is available
Self-employed carers in Hampshire
34 carers are based within about 45 minutes of Hampshire. You can see their rates and experience, and message them, before committing to anything.
34 private carers are based within about 45 minutes of Hampshire
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 HampshireIn their words
Families near Hampshire on the carers they chose
“I cannot recommend Prisca highly enough, she is one in a million.”
Emily B., 2024
About Prisca S.Carer based in Southampton · 2 reviews“Samuel is an incredibly kind;conscientious and effective carer. My husband looks forward to his visits”
Jill O., 2025
About Olabode Samuel O.Carer based in Eastleigh · 4 reviews“She paid so much care, attention, and loving duty towards him, that she made his life extra special in his last few years”
David H., 2023
About Marites A.Carer based in Southsea · 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 Hampshire
Yes. A direct payment can pay a self-employed personal assistant, but the employment status has to be determined properly and the personal assistant must be registered with HMRC, handle their own tax and National Insurance and arrange their own insurance. 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 Hampshire 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.
Usually it buys more hours. Carers near you typically charge £20.00 an hour against £28.28 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.
Hampshire County Council's direct payments team on 0370 779 1300. 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 Portsmouth
- Direct payments in Isle of Wight
- Direct payments in West Berkshire
- Direct payments in Wokingham
- Direct payments in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole
- Direct payments in Reading
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 Hampshire that is NHS Hampshire and Isle of Wight.
Council details were read from Hampshire 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 10 agencies near Hampshire that publish a price. Carer rates are what carers near you advertise, read live.
Find a carer in Hampshire
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.