Direct paymentsSomerset
Direct payments in Somerset
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. A direct payment can usually pay a self-employed carer, on the council's conditions. Below is what the council publishes about its rates and rules, and what an hour of care costs near you.
24 self-employed carers within about 45 minutes of Somerset
What the council pays
Direct payment rates in Somerset
Somerset 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.
Choosing your carer
Paying a self-employed carer in Somerset
Direct payments in Somerset work under the Care Act 2014. A direct payment can usually pay a self-employed carer your family has chosen, as well as a personal assistant you employ or an agency. We could not find Somerset Council's own wording on self-employed carers, so ask the direct payments team what it wants to see before anyone starts.
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 Somerset
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: Separate bank account
The direct payment is paid into a separate bank account that the person sets up and uses only for their direct payment money.
How the money is paid: Managed account
The council has asked the market about direct payment services including holding accounts, also known as managed accounts, alongside advice and guidance, scheme set up and payroll.
Help with running it
Direct Payment Advisory Scheme. Independent advisory services are available to support people who have a direct payment, and anyone having one for the first time should meet or talk with one of the experienced advisers. They can visit you at home, explain your responsibilities, help you set up a direct payment bank account, help you recruit and employ staff, set up a system for tax and National Insurance, offer a payroll service and explain how to keep financial records.
Worth knowing
Before spending direct payment money on specialist equipment, families are asked to check whether it can be supplied free through Somerset's community equipment and home improvement service.
Worth knowing
The council has set out plans for an extra support option known as DP Plus, with capacity for around 50 people.
Worth knowing
The 3.56 per cent fee uplift for 2026/27 is added to direct payment amounts, and the person holding the direct payment then has to meet any price rise asked for by their care provider.
Who is available
Self-employed carers in Somerset
24 carers are based within about 45 minutes of Somerset. You can see their rates and experience, and message them, before committing to anything.
24 private carers are based within about 45 minutes of Somerset
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 SomersetStep 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 Somerset
Usually, yes. A direct payment can pay a self-employed carer your family has chosen, employ a personal assistant, or buy agency hours. We could not find Somerset Council's own wording on self-employed carers, so ask the direct payments team what checks it wants before anyone starts.
We could not find a rate that Somerset 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.
It depends on the rate the council used. Carers near you typically charge £20.00 an hour. Divide your weekly budget by that to see the hours it buys, and remember that bank holidays are charged at one and a half times the usual rate.
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.
Start with Somerset Council's adult social care team, whose direct payments page has the current details. If you do not have a care assessment yet, ask for a needs assessment first.
Direct payments in nearby council areas
- Direct payments in North Somerset
- Direct payments in Vale of Glamorgan
- Direct payments in Bath and North East Somerset
- Direct payments in Cardiff
- Direct payments in Bristol
- Direct payments in Newport
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 Somerset that is NHS Somerset.
Council details were read from Somerset 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 Somerset
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.