Direct paymentsIsle of Wight
Direct payments in Isle of Wight
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. Isle of Wight 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.
16 self-employed carers within about 45 minutes of Isle of Wight
An hour of care in Isle of Wight
- A self-employed carer near youTypical rate on PrimeCarers, our fee included
- £20.00
- The council’s agency rateWhat the council allows for agency care, 2026 - 2027
- £26.24
- The council’s personal assistant rateFor someone you employ yourself, 2026 - 2027
- £20.49
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 Isle of Wight
These are the rates Isle of Wight 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homecare services, all client groups - hourly | £26.24 an hour | 2026 - 2027 | iow.gov.uk |
| Employed PAs including employer on-costs - accessing the community (£12.82 to the PA) | £16.04 an hour | 2026 - 2027 | iow.gov.uk |
| Employed PAs including employer on-costs - personal care (£14.52 to the PA) | £18.17 an hour | 2026 - 2027 | iow.gov.uk |
| Employed PAs including employer on-costs - complex care (£16.42 to the PA) | £20.49 an hour | 2026 - 2027 | iow.gov.uk |
| Self employed PAs - accessing the community | £12.82 an hour | 2026 - 2027 | iow.gov.uk |
| Self employed PAs - personal care | £14.57 an hour | 2026 - 2027 | iow.gov.uk |
| Self employed PAs - complex care | £16.47 an hour | 2026 - 2027 | iow.gov.uk |
| Homecare services, all client groups - sleep-in rate for a 9 hour night | £15.85 an hour | 2026 - 2027 | iow.gov.uk |
| Homecare services, all client groups - wakeful rate for a 9 hour night | £19.76 an hour | 2026 - 2027 | iow.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 PrimeCarers13 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.
- An agency, at the council’s rate9.5 hours
At £26.24 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 £20.49 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. Isle of Wight 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 Isle of Wight
Isle of Wight Council allows a direct payment to pay a self-employed carer, with conditions. With a direct payment you can choose to directly employ a personal assistant or use a self-employed personal assistant, and you have the choice to request a DBS check, public liability insurance and Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR) evidence for your personal assistant.
“You have the choice to request a DBS check, Public Liability Insurance, and Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR) evidence for your PA(s).”
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 Isle of Wight
What the council publishes about paying the money, getting help and getting in touch. Each card links to the page we checked it against.
What the scheme is called
In Isle of Wight you will see it called the Direct Payment Support Service (DPSS).
How the money is paid: Prepaid card
The council's preferred way of paying a direct payment is a prepaid card issued by EML Payments, which works like a debit card and cannot go overdrawn.
Provider: EML Payments
How the money is paid: Managed account
Where someone needs the council to manage the money, Adult Social Care runs a managed account known locally as the Direct Payment Support Service.
Provider: Isle of Wight Council Adult Social Care Direct Payment Support Service
Where the council points you to find a personal assistant
Worth knowing
The council reviews a new direct payment after six weeks to check that it is working.
Worth knowing
If you employ a personal assistant rather than use a self-employed one, the council covers the payroll provider costs within the direct payment.
Who is available
Self-employed carers in Isle of Wight
16 carers are based within about 45 minutes of Isle of Wight. You can see their rates and experience, and message them, before committing to anything.
16 private carers are based within about 45 minutes of Isle of Wight
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 Isle of WightStep 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 Isle of Wight
Yes. With a direct payment you can choose to directly employ a personal assistant or use a self-employed personal assistant, and you have the choice to request a DBS check, public liability insurance and Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR) evidence for your personal assistant. 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.
Isle of Wight Council publishes £20.49 an hour for a personal assistant and £26.24 an hour for agency care for 2026 - 2027. 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 £20.00 an hour against £26.24 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.
Isle of Wight Council's direct payments team on 01983 823073 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 Portsmouth
- Direct payments in Hampshire
- Direct payments in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole
- Direct payments in West Sussex
- Direct payments in Dorset
- Direct payments in Brighton and Hove
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 Isle of Wight that is NHS Hampshire and Isle of Wight.
Council details were read from Isle of Wight 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 Isle of Wight
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.