direct care. From social fund Hackney. ?

[Tricity125]

Hi. Please can any who get. Direct payment from social services. I did get. A care plan back in August when I left Hospice. But the care was very. Unsuitable and a different person every day. I asked for a male around my age. 50 s but very young. Girls. Well young 20 somthinks. But. No experience in serious COPD. Now . I just found out I can apply direct so I employ who ever I can find who's suitable. And employ them rather then dip into my benefits or saving like I have for the last 5/ 6 years. So. Please if you can give me a heads up on how you faired or any info that could be in my farvour. I would be most. Grateful So. Stay safe. And. Good bye Paul

[RibvanRey]

I received an application form which included an asset and income statement and if I remember correctly copies of my bank statements, power bills etc to prove major expenditure.

This was followed up by a home visit to discover what I could and couldn't do. A good chat that went into everything I could steer them into to get them to realise things that they might not have considered.

I received an assessment of x hours per week at the current Social Services rate. I then advertised for staff to fill those hours. I suggest a minimum of two. That way if one goes sick you don't loose all your care.

You will need to register with HMRC as an employer and then with the Pension Register. You will be responsible for setting up a separate bank account to receive the budget and from which to make all the wages and PAYE etc.

Bear in mind that the cost of wages will be a lot less per than the Agency charges.

If you need more info I may be able to help. I have employed my own staff for decades.

Kind regards, Rib

[y_not in reply to RibvanRey]

Whilst it looks a lot cheaper you need to take account of employers National Insurance (13.08% of earnings from threshold - think that is £163 a week at the moment), auto-enrolment pension contributions (currently 2% but increasing to 3% in April 2019), sick pay (around 3% of earnings on average), holiday pay (around 12% of earnings to meet the 28 days legal minimum). On top of this you have to pay at least the Living Wage (currently £7.83 per hour) and allow for annual increases - it's due to increase to £8.21 per hour … and government say they want to increase it to £10 per hour by 2020 so need to plan for that.

Whilst the agencies look to be expensive they have all these costs to take account of - the only saving is their margin which is usually between 50p an hour and £1.50 an hour.

If you are comfortable with these costs then employ a carer direct but, please, be aware of the financial implications before heading into this minefield … also remember that you are required to check eligibility to work in the UK and, if you don't and then employ someone not entitled to work in the UK (and there are many of them) you can be fines £10,000!!

Not trying to frighten you - just make you aware.

Good luck and best wishes whatever you decide.

[RibvanRey in reply to y_not]

A major deciding factor will be the hourly rate that your local Social Services pay. They don't all pay the same. The number of hours per week you employ each person for.

Future wage laws will have to be met by increases in future Direct Payments increases. I can always pay at least £1 per he more than any of the Care Agencies in my area. With £6 p/h surplace on the Direct Payments which is far more than the overheads. Also, each County council or equivalent has to provide any DP user with a Funding advice service that is independant and can assist in running the paperwork if needed.

As y_not points out the greatest pitfall is in checking the ID and legal status of any potential employee. The service above generally will do this at below cost as the get a bulk rate.

Regards Rib

[Tricity125 in reply to RibvanRey]

Many thanks. So sounds like a breeze. For a moment I though it was going to difficult. 🙄

[Tricity125 in reply to RibvanRey]

So. Just thinking. That they really make it difficult for. Person who. Already struggling. Because I'll have. Ago. But. It's stress. And I have quite abit already. But. I'll try 🤙🦋🐬. Thank you. Paul

[snail]

I receive direct payments every 4 weeks in advance. I do not pay any national insurance, tax etc. That is taken care of by my carer as she is self employed. It is overseen by a company that come out to help you go through it at the start. I had to open a bank account specifically for direct payments to be paid into and the carer has to provide you with an invoice. You are responsible for paying the carer. I suggest you contact your local Adult Social Care.

[Tricity125 in reply to snail]

They. Really want who ever to give up and just get buy. But. I will drive them to get this. Somhow I must it's a shame that they make it almost impossible but. The. Brits Gov have always been famed for it. It's possiable that way to make it up as they go. Once it's been Sussed. They scrap it and invent another. Complex procedure it's like DLA to PIp. Now. That's changing to somthink ?? credit. Still my old mum use to say. God helps those that help them selfs. So. I do my best to stay cool and know I'll be ok. 🐵🙈🙉

[Hidden in reply to Tricity125]

National Heath, Social Services etc are all FREE. Application maybe difficult , but its there for the purpose of sorting out the imposters. Heaven knows there are more than enough of them.

[lucymockingjay]

Hi I just want to add that if you speak to social services they should be able to give you all the information you need about what works best for you. I used a pay roll service which took care of all financial side of things for me. If you use self employed carers, they ensure your carers are following the law with regards to what they need to be doing too so you dont get in trouble and are insured, if you are funded by social

services the extra amount the payroll service cost is costed into that funding too, they will normally have a preferred company they use.