Direct paymentsKensington and Chelsea
Direct payments in Kensington and Chelsea
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 Kensington and Chelsea 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.
365 self-employed carers within about 45 minutes of Kensington and Chelsea
An hour of care in Kensington and Chelsea
- A self-employed carer near youTypical rate on PrimeCarers, our fee included
- £20.00
- Local home care agenciesMedian of 84 agencies nearby that publish a price
- £24.98
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 Kensington and Chelsea
Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea 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 £24.98 an hour. The median published by 84 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 Kensington and Chelsea 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 Kensington and Chelsea
Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea allows a direct payment to pay a self-employed carer, with conditions. A direct payment can be used to engage a self-employed personal assistant, but the council will check that the request is supported by evidence of the correct employment status and that all necessary checks have been completed.
“The council will check that any requests to engage a self-employed PA is supported by evidence of the correct employment status and that all necessary checks have been completed.”
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 Kensington and Chelsea
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
The direct payment is loaded onto an RBKC prepaid card issued by Prepaid Financial Services Limited, and you cannot withdraw cash from it.
Provider: Prepaid Financial Services Limited (PFS)
How the money is paid: Managed account
A managed payroll service can also be used, where the person does not hold the direct payment funds and payments are made to a separate bank account held by an independent organisation.
How the money is paid: Separate bank account
A separate bank account used only for the direct payment is allowed only where the council agrees that a prepaid card is not suitable.
Worth knowing
A 6% contingency fund is included in the direct payment weekly budget.
Worth knowing
Where someone is planning to employ a personal assistant, the council will usually make a one-off payment to cover start-up costs in addition to the ongoing weekly direct payment budget.
Worth knowing
A direct payment cannot normally be used to employ a partner (married, unmarried or in a civil partnership) or a close relative living in the same household, though exceptional circumstances are considered case by case.
Who is available
Self-employed carers in Kensington and Chelsea
365 carers are based within about 45 minutes of Kensington and Chelsea. You can see their rates and experience, and message them, before committing to anything.
365 private carers are based within about 45 minutes of Kensington and Chelsea
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 Kensington and ChelseaIn their words
Families near Kensington and Chelsea on the carers they chose
“She has an unusual combination of kindness and firmness, is quite unflappable, physically strong, extremely savvy”
Hiram S., 2025
About Janet F.Carer based in London · 3 reviews“Maria has been absolutely amazing with my father, she has help to maintain his weight and put a smile back on his face.”
Kirsty E., 2024
About Maria Jose F.Carer based in London · 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 Kensington and Chelsea
Yes. A direct payment can be used to engage a self-employed personal assistant, but the council will check that the request is supported by evidence of the correct employment status and that all necessary checks have been completed. 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 Kensington and Chelsea 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 £24.98 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 Kensington and Chelsea's direct payments team on 020 7361 3013 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 Westminster
- Direct payments in Camden
- Direct payments in Wandsworth
- Direct payments in City of London
- Direct payments in Islington
- Direct payments in Brent
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 Kensington and Chelsea that is NHS West and North London.
Council details were read from Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea'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 84 agencies near Kensington and Chelsea that publish a price. Carer rates are what carers near you advertise, read live.
Find a carer in Kensington and Chelsea
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.