Direct paymentsThurrock
Direct payments in Thurrock
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.
179 self-employed carers within about 45 minutes of Thurrock
An hour of care in Thurrock
- A self-employed carer near youTypical rate on PrimeCarers, our fee included
- £19.50
- The council’s agency rateWhat the council allows for agency care, With effect from 1st April 2026
- £25.20
- The council’s personal assistant rateFor someone you employ yourself, With effect from 1st April 2026
- £15.82
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 Thurrock
These are the rates Thurrock 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hourly rate for care bought from an agency through a direct payment | £25.20 an hour | With effect from 1st April 2026 | thurrock.gov.uk |
| Hourly rate for care bought from a micro provider through a direct payment | £23.06 an hour | With effect from 1st April 2026 | thurrock.gov.uk |
| Personal assistant hourly rate paid through a direct payment | £15.82 an hour | With effect from 1st April 2026 | thurrock.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 PrimeCarers12.5 hours
At £19.50 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 rate10 hours
At £25.20 an hour. What the council allows for an hour of agency care. The agency sends whoever is on its rota.
- A personal assistant you employ15.5 hours
At £15.82 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. Thurrock 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 Thurrock
Direct payments in Thurrock 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 Thurrock 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 Thurrock
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
If you manage the direct payment yourself you need a separate account used only for the direct payment, so spending is easy to evidence.
How the money is paid: Managed account
A company contracted by the council can hold the money and make the payments while you still choose who provides your support and what they are paid.
How the money is paid: Prepaid card
The Thurrock support service says direct payments are made to a disabled person, or a representative of their choosing, into a bank account or onto a prepaid card.
Help with running it
Thurrock Direct Payment Support Service, provided by Purple (Purple DPSS). The Thurrock Direct Payment Support Service is provided by Purple (Purple DPSS) and supports people in Thurrock who use a personal budget through a direct payment. Purple runs online support drop-ins and 30-minute face-to-face appointments at local Thurrock Talking Shops for direct payment holders and their representatives.
Visit Thurrock Direct Payment Support Service, provided by Purple (Purple DPSS)
Worth knowing
When you start employing a personal assistant the council pays one-off start-up costs of £135 for employers liability insurance, £44 for each DBS check needed and £150 towards advertising.
Worth knowing
If you have had any issues, or are within your first two years of having a direct payment, you need to send in details of how the money was spent every six months. If there have been no issues after two years, returns are only needed every 12 months.
Worth knowing
A direct payment cannot normally pay a spouse, partner or close relative who lives in the same household, although a service manager or strategic lead can agree an exception.
Who is available
Self-employed carers in Thurrock
179 carers are based within about 45 minutes of Thurrock. You can see their rates and experience, and message them, before committing to anything.
179 private carers are based within about 45 minutes of Thurrock
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 ThurrockIn their words
Families near Thurrock on the carers they chose
“Always on time and with a lovely smile for my mum. Theresa is kind and sensitive to my mum's needs.”
Anthea D., 2020
About Theresa L.Carer based in Greenhithe · 3 reviews“She was always cheerful and looking for ways to stimulate my mother. She became her "friend" and provided best care always.”
Julie G., 2021
About Lynette V.Carer · 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 Thurrock
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 Thurrock Council's own wording on self-employed carers, so ask the direct payments team what checks it wants before anyone starts.
Thurrock Council publishes £15.82 an hour for a personal assistant and £25.20 an hour for agency care for With effect from 1st April 2026. 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 £19.50 an hour against £25.20 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 £15.82, 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.
Start with Thurrock 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 Havering
- Direct payments in Barking and Dagenham
- Direct payments in Bexley
- Direct payments in Greenwich
- Direct payments in Redbridge
- Direct payments in Newham
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 Thurrock that is NHS Essex.
Council details were read from Thurrock 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 Thurrock
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.