Direct paymentsHarrow
Direct payments in Harrow
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. London Borough of Harrow 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.
310 self-employed carers within about 45 minutes of Harrow
An hour of care in Harrow
- A self-employed carer near youTypical rate on PrimeCarers, our fee included
- £20.00
- Local home care agenciesMedian of 74 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 Harrow
London Borough of Harrow 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 PrimeCarers12.5 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 £25.00 an hour. The median published by 74 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. London Borough of Harrow 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 Harrow
London Borough of Harrow allows a direct payment to pay a self-employed carer, with conditions. Harrow allows a direct payment to buy support from a self-employed personal assistant, but the council can check that the person is registered with HMRC, has a unique tax reference number and holds liability insurance, and it warns that HMRC rarely treats a personal assistant as self-employed.
“LBH retains the right to check that any self-employed PA is registered with the HMRC and holds Liability Insurance.”
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 Harrow
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 virtual prepaid card and account is normally the default way new direct payment recipients receive and manage the money, and existing recipients are invited to switch to one.
How the money is paid: Separate bank account
To receive a direct payment you must open a dedicated bank account, used only to receive the direct payment, to pay for the assessed care needs in the care and support plan and to pay the assessed personal contribution.
Help with running it
Harrow Association of Disabled People (HAD). The council says information, advice and support on direct payments is available through voluntary organisations such as Harrow Association of Disabled People.
Worth knowing
Money can be held back for flexible use, but the account must not build up more than four weeks of the regular direct payment plus any agreed contingency, and surplus above that has to be repaid.
Worth knowing
As well as the regular payment, Harrow can make a one-off payment, an annual lump sum for costs such as employer liability insurance, or an advance payment at the start.
Worth knowing
Regular direct payments are usually paid monthly and in advance, arriving around the twentieth of each month.
Who is available
Self-employed carers in Harrow
310 carers are based within about 45 minutes of Harrow. You can see their rates and experience, and message them, before committing to anything.
310 private carers are based within about 45 minutes of Harrow
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 HarrowIn their words
Families near Harrow on the carers they chose
“We still (over two years later) see Rose as part of our extended family and invite her to our celebrations.”
Sara N., 2026
About Rose M.Carer based in unknown“My disabled brother gets on well with her and looks forward to her visits. She is patient and a wonderful carer!”
Gabi M., 2021
About Kim L.Carer based in Edgware · 5 reviews“Angela has been a godsend for our 96yr old mum. She is honest, kind, thoughtful and is a good time keeper”
Elaine P., 2025
About Angela s.Carer based in EdgwareStep 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 Harrow
Yes. Harrow allows a direct payment to buy support from a self-employed personal assistant, but the council can check that the person is registered with HMRC, has a unique tax reference number and holds liability insurance, and it warns that HMRC rarely treats a personal assistant as 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 London Borough of Harrow 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 £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.
London Borough of Harrow's direct payments team on 020 8736 6700 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 Brent
- Direct payments in Hillingdon
- Direct payments in Camden
- Direct payments in Kensington and Chelsea
- Direct payments in Hounslow
- Direct payments in Westminster
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 Harrow that is NHS West and North London.
Council details were read from London Borough of Harrow'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 74 agencies near Harrow that publish a price. Carer rates are what carers near you advertise, read live.
Find a carer in Harrow
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.