Direct paymentsWrexham
Direct payments in Wrexham
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. Wrexham County Borough 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.
12 self-employed carers within about 45 minutes of Wrexham
An hour of care in Wrexham
- A self-employed carer near youTypical rate on PrimeCarers, our fee included
- £19.60
- The council’s agency rateWhat the council allows for agency care, 2026-27
- £29.13
- The council’s personal assistant rateFor someone you employ yourself, 2026-27
- £17.46
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 Wrexham
These are the rates Wrexham County Borough 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rate paid to you per hour to use a care provider | £29.13 an hour | 2026-27 | wrexham.gov.uk |
| Rate paid to you per hour to employ a personal assistant | £15.93 an hour | 2026-27 | wrexham.gov.uk |
| Rate paid to you per hour to use a micro-enterprise, usually a self-employed personal assistant | £17.46 an hour | 2026-27 | wrexham.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 PrimeCarers14.5 hours
At £19.60 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 rate9.5 hours
At £29.13 an hour. What the council allows for an hour of agency care. The agency sends whoever is on its rota.
- A personal assistant you employ16.5 hours
At £17.46 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. Wrexham County Borough 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 Wrexham
Wrexham County Borough Council allows a direct payment to pay a self-employed carer, with conditions. You can use a micro-enterprise for your direct payment care and support, and in most cases these are self-employed personal assistants. Before you decide, check that the micro-enterprise has a valid enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) certificate and liability insurance in place.
“You can choose to use a micro-enterprise to provide your direct payment care and support. In most cases the micro-enterprises are self-employed personal assistants.”
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 Wrexham
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 council offers each new direct payment recipient a prepaid Mastercard account, provided by EML Payments Ltd, which works like a standard debit card and can be managed online or by telephone.
Provider: EML Payments Ltd (Mastercard)
How the money is paid: Separate bank account
If the prepaid card does not suit your circumstances you can ask your social worker about using a standard bank account set up solely for the direct payment.
Help with running it
Wrexham Council Direct Payments Team. Wrexham County Borough Council's Direct Payments Team gives free information, support and advice on recruitment, tax and National Insurance, calculating rates of pay, contingency planning, and setting up payroll and insurances.
Worth knowing
A direct payment can be made as a single one-off payment for a particular item or event, such as a short break, rather than as ongoing funding.
Worth knowing
The direct payment is normally suspended once the person has been in hospital for four weeks.
Worth knowing
The council's Direct Payments Team can request any new or updated DBS checks for your personal assistants as required.
Who is available
Self-employed carers in Wrexham
12 carers are based within about 45 minutes of Wrexham. You can see their rates and experience, and message them, before committing to anything.
12 private carers are based within about 45 minutes of Wrexham
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 WrexhamStep 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 Wrexham
Yes. You can use a micro-enterprise for your direct payment care and support, and in most cases these are self-employed personal assistants. Before you decide, check that the micro-enterprise has a valid enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) certificate and liability insurance in place. 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.
Wrexham County Borough Council publishes £17.46 an hour for a personal assistant and £29.13 an hour for agency care 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 £19.60 an hour against £29.13 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 £17.46, it buys fewer.
In Wales the council can allow a direct payment to pay a relative who lives in the same household where it considers that necessary to promote the person’s well-being. Where it does not, it has to rule the payment out. That is the Welsh 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.
Wrexham County Borough Council's direct payments team on 01978 298676 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.
Council details were read from Wrexham County Borough 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 Wrexham
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.