Direct payments: using council money to pick your own carer

Quick summary

If the council agrees to fund your care, you can take the money as a direct payment and choose who provides it, rather than accepting whichever provider the council allocates. Most families are never told this exists. You can also top up privately if the service you want costs more than the council’s rate.

What is a direct payment?

Cheshire East describes it plainly: a cash payment made to you by the council so that you can buy the care and support you need yourself. It is available to people who have been assessed as needing care and support under the Care Act 2014 (Cheshire East Council).

The alternative is that the council arranges the care for you, which is the default and what most people end up with by not being offered anything else or knowing about direct payments.

Why does it matter which way you take it?

Because of who turns up at the door.

If the council arranges the care, you will generally get a provider that holds a contract with that council, not necessarily you. If a provider changes its rounds, your visit times change with it.

With a direct payment, you choose the provider. You can choose one the council does not contract with. You can employ someone directly as a personal assistant. And if the service you want costs more than the council’s rate, you can top up the difference yourself.

How does the money work?

The needs assessment produces a personal budget, which is the cost of meeting the assessed needs. The financial assessment produces your contribution. The council pays the balance into a direct payment account, and you pay your assessed contribution into the same account. The two together buy the care.

So a direct payment is not free money and it does not change what you contribute. It changes what you can buy with it.

You will need to keep records of what the money is spent on, because the council audits it. Spending has to match what is agreed in the support plan.

What can it be spent on?

Anything that meets the assessed needs and is agreed in the support plan. In practice that commonly includes:

• A care provider of your choosing, for visits at home.
• Employing a personal assistant directly.
• Help with washing, dressing, cooking and other daily tasks.
• Support to get out and to keep up social contact.
• Short breaks and respite, including support for a family carer.
• Equipment that supports independence, where agreed.

It cannot generally be used to pay a close relative living in the same household, though councils can agree exceptions. Ask rather than assume.

What if I do not want the paperwork?

You have three options:

• A nominee. A family member or friend takes on managing the payment for you.
• A managed account. A third party handles the money and the financial monitoring on your behalf. Cheshire East offers this, and there is a cost to it, which comes out of the budget.
• A split. Take part of the budget as a direct payment and leave the rest for the council to manage.

The split is underused and often the sensible answer. It lets you choose the provider for the part that matters most to you without taking on the whole administration.

The honest downsides

Worth stating, because a page written by a care provider recommending the route that lets people choose care providers should be upfront about the costs.

• There is admin. Records, receipts, and audits. A managed account removes most of it at a price.
• Employing someone directly makes you an employer. That means contracts, payroll, tax, insurance, holiday and sick pay, and cover when they are away. Councils usually fund support with this, and it is still a real responsibility.
• Cover is your problem. If you employ a personal assistant and they are ill, nobody sends a replacement. Using an agency instead removes that risk.
• The budget may not stretch as far as you hoped. The council’s rate reflects what it pays its contracted providers, and private rates in this area sit above it, which is why the top-up option matters.
• You must pay your assessed contribution in. Councils have debt recovery processes if it is not paid.

How do I ask for one?

1. Ask for a care needs assessment. Free, and a legal right under the Care Act 2014. Cheshire East Council adult social care, 0300 123 5010.
2. Say the words “direct payment” during the assessment, rather than waiting to be offered one.
3. Complete the financial assessment, which decides your contribution.
4. Agree the support plan, which is what the spending has to match.
5. Decide how it is managed: yourself, a nominee, a managed account, or a split.

If you live in Buxton or Whaley Bridge, that is Call Derbyshire on 01629 533190. For Leek, Biddulph and Kidsgrove it is Staffordshire Cares on 0300 111 8010. Each council runs its own scheme with its own rates and rules. 

Frequently asked questions

Can I choose my own care provider if the council is paying?

Through a direct payment, yes. If the council arranges the care instead, you will usually be limited to providers it holds a contract with.

Do direct payments affect benefits?

No. A direct payment is money to buy care, not income, and it does not affect benefits or pension.

Can I be made to take one?

No. You can always choose to have the council arrange services instead, and if you take a direct payment and later decide against it, you can hand it back and revert.

Can I top up to use a more expensive provider?

Yes, that is one of the main reasons families choose this route. Agree the arrangement with the council first so everyone is clear what the budget covers and what you are adding.

Can I pay a family member?

Generally not a close relative living in the same household, though councils can agree exceptions where there is a good reason. Ask your social care worker directly rather than assuming either way.

What if my needs change?

Ask for a review. The budget is based on assessed needs, so a change of circumstances is a reason to request a reassessment rather than to absorb the difference yourself.

About Visiting Angels Cheshire East

Visiting Angels Cheshire East provides care at home across Macclesfield, Wilmslow, Knutsford, Congleton, Alsager and the surrounding villages of East Cheshire, along with Buxton, Whaley Bridge and the Staffordshire Moorlands towns.

• You choose your caregiver. You meet them before care starts, and if it is not right you say so and we send someone else. That is the whole point of a direct payment, applied to the individual rather than the agency.
• No visit is ever shorter than an hour. There is no such thing as a fifteen minute call here.
• You see the same faces. Our carer turnover is 12 per cent, against a sector figure of 23.7 per cent (Skills for Care, 2025).
• Cover is our problem, not yours. If a caregiver is ill, we send someone else, which is the main practical advantage over employing a personal assistant directly.
• Carers trained in dementia, Parkinson’s, stroke recovery and complex care.

Jude’s mother Joyce is 100, lives alone, and what the family needed was continuity:

“Joyce lives by herself and we needed a care provider that could give us the same carer most visits. Visiting Angels have been able to accommodate this, which is very helpful. They know her routine and have built up a rapport with my Mum. Understanding the details of her routine is an important part of her care and wellbeing. I trust them with keys, security and being with Mum to, cook, sit and talk and give tablets etc etc..”

Jude Burton, Google review

Not sure what you need yet? Start with a free assessment

Our free home care assessment is a visit at a time that suits you, with no obligation afterwards. In it we will:

• Work out what is actually difficult, and which times of day, which is usually what a visit should be built around.
• Talk through a realistic package, and what it would cost.
• Look at the money with you, and point you towards the funding, benefits and grants you may be entitled to, including the ones most families are never told about.
• Tell you honestly if you do not need us yet, or if someone else is a better fit.

If you have been offered a personal budget and want to understand what a direct payment would buy, call us on 01625 720157. You can also WhatsApp us or send an enquiry, and you can read more about how we work.

Authored by Dr Niall Jawad, Director, Visiting Angels Cheshire East.

Published 6 September 2026. Last updated 6 September 2026.

This article is general information about care funding, not financial, legal or employment advice, and it is no substitute for advice about an individual’s circumstances. We are a care provider and would benefit from families choosing their own provider, so please weigh this alongside independent advice. Each council operates its own direct payment scheme and rules change; check the current position with the relevant council. Free independent advice is available from Citizens Advice, Age UK and MoneyHelper. To the fullest extent permitted by law, GB Care at Home Ltd accepts no liability for any loss arising from reliance on this article.