Direct paymentsWarwickshire
Direct payments in Warwickshire
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. Warwickshire 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.
142 self-employed carers within about 45 minutes of Warwickshire
An hour of care in Warwickshire
- A self-employed carer near youTypical rate on PrimeCarers, our fee included
- £19.30
- Local home care agenciesMedian of 23 agencies nearby that publish a price
- £27.50
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 Warwickshire
Warwickshire County 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.
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 PrimeCarers14 hours
At £19.30 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 £27.50 an hour. The median published by 23 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. Warwickshire 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 Warwickshire
Warwickshire County Council allows a direct payment to pay a self-employed carer, with conditions. The council does not recommend using self-employed personal assistants and will expect you to confirm employment status with HMRC, for example through the Check Employment Status for Tax tool, and to see the worker's insurance, or the direct payment may be stopped.
“Your Direct Payment may be suspended or end if the council is not satisfied that the arrangements in place comply with HMRC requirements.”
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 Warwickshire
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
Direct payments can be loaded onto a prepaid card account provided by the council and EML, which you can view and manage online or by telephone.
Provider: EML
How the money is paid: Separate bank account
If you decline the prepaid card, the council will ask you to open a separate bank account to receive the money and to send in copies of all bank statements regularly.
How the money is paid: Managed account
You may receive support through a third party financial managed account provider, Penderels Trust, with the council paying the money into the managed account and the provider paying bills and invoices as you direct.
Provider: Penderels Trust
Help with running it
The council has a contract with Penderels Trust, which provides free support to help you manage your direct payments, and the council strongly advises using this service.
Where the council points you to find a personal assistant
Worth knowing
If there is more than 8 weeks of funding in the account at the time of monitoring, the monitoring team can pull the excess funds back, and money saved for a particular event will be questioned and confirmed by the team.
Worth knowing
The council pays your direct payments gross, 4 weeks in advance onto the pre-payment card.
Worth knowing
If the care agency you choose charges less than the rate the council has agreed, the council may cut your direct payment to match what the agency charges.
Who is available
Self-employed carers in Warwickshire
142 carers are based within about 45 minutes of Warwickshire. You can see their rates and experience, and message them, before committing to anything.
142 private carers are based within about 45 minutes of Warwickshire
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 WarwickshireIn their words
Families near Warwickshire on the carers they chose
“She goes well beyond the realms of expected duty and is totally dependable, trustworthy and an extremely kind person.”
Emma G., 2025
About Claudia Miriam G.Carer based in Stratford-upon-Avon · 11 reviews“If you bump into her in the night on her way to the bathroom she will still inquire how you are and if everything is alright.”
Caroline C., 2024
About Mary K.Carer based in Coventry · 5 reviews“Yvonne was absolutely fantastic during this time; my mum (and family!) grew very fond of her and she helped keep my mum's life active and independent.”
Harry G., 2026
About Yvonne N.Carer based in Leamington Spa · 3 reviews“Mum took to her instantly, and they forged an immediate bond.”
Julia S., 2023
About Kerry-Ann M.Carer based in Coventry · 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 Warwickshire
Yes. The council does not recommend using self-employed personal assistants and will expect you to confirm employment status with HMRC, for example through the Check Employment Status for Tax tool, and to see the worker's insurance, or the direct payment may be stopped. 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 Warwickshire County 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.
Usually it buys more hours. Carers near you typically charge £19.30 an hour against £27.50 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.
Warwickshire County Council's direct payments team on 01926 413908. 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 Coventry
- Direct payments in Solihull
- Direct payments in Birmingham
- Direct payments in Sandwell
- Direct payments in Walsall
- Direct payments in Dudley
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 Warwickshire that is NHS Coventry and Warwickshire.
Council details were read from Warwickshire 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 23 agencies near Warwickshire that publish a price. Carer rates are what carers near you advertise, read live.
Find a carer in Warwickshire
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.