Direct paymentsSuffolk
Direct payments in Suffolk
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. Suffolk 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.
10 self-employed carers within about 45 minutes of Suffolk
An hour of care in Suffolk
- A self-employed carer near youTypical rate on PrimeCarers, our fee included
- £20.00
- Local home care agenciesMedian of 6 agencies nearby that publish a price
- £32.70
- The council’s personal assistant rateFor someone you employ yourself, 2026-27
- £18.81
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 Suffolk
These are the rates Suffolk County 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| To employ a Personal Assistant (employer on-costs such as tax and National Insurance paid in addition) | £14.10 an hour | 2026-27 | suffolk.gov.uk |
| To pay a self-employed Personal Assistant (including Community Catalysts), tax and National Insurance included in the rate | £18.81 an hour | 2026-27 | suffolk.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 PrimeCarers16 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 £32.70 an hour. The median published by 6 agencies near you. The agency sends whoever is on its rota.
- A personal assistant you employ17 hours
At £18.81 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. Suffolk 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 Suffolk
Suffolk County Council allows a direct payment to pay a self-employed carer, with conditions. A direct payment can be used to pay staff who are said to be self-employed, but you must undertake the full employment status checks required by HMRC and give the council proof of this on request.
“I agree to undertake full employment status checks as required by HMRC if I use the direct payment to pay staff who are said to be self-employed.”
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 Suffolk
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
If you choose a direct payment, the council will open a Pre-Paid Card Account for you and its supplier Allpay will send the card to you in the post, with the money paid into the account every four weeks in advance.
Provider: Allpay
Worth knowing
You may hold a contingency of up to eight weeks of your weekly direct payment in the account, and anything above that must be returned to the council.
Worth knowing
The council does not currently have a contracted provider for direct payment support services, although several organisations have a local presence.
Worth knowing
The council will include the cost of a DBS check for staff you employ in your direct payment where this is needed.
Who is available
Self-employed carers in Suffolk
10 carers are based within about 45 minutes of Suffolk. You can see their rates and experience, and message them, before committing to anything.
10 private carers are based within about 45 minutes of Suffolk
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 SuffolkStep 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 Suffolk
Yes. A direct payment can be used to pay staff who are said to be self-employed, but you must undertake the full employment status checks required by HMRC and give the council proof of this on request. 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.
Suffolk County Council publishes £18.81 an hour for a personal assistant for 2026-27. 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 £32.70 for agency care, so a budget worked out at the agency rate buys more hours from a self-employed carer. If your budget was worked out at the personal assistant rate of £18.81, it buys fewer.
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.
Suffolk County Council's direct payments team on 01473 264853. 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 Norfolk
- Direct payments in Essex
- Direct payments in Cambridgeshire
- Direct payments in Southend-on-Sea
- Direct payments in Havering
- Direct payments in Thurrock
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 Suffolk that is NHS Norfolk and Suffolk.
Council details were read from Suffolk 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 6 agencies near Suffolk that publish a price. Carer rates are what carers near you advertise, read live.
Find a carer in Suffolk
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.