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Personal Budgets and Direct Payments

We want to give local people more choice and control over the care and support they receive.  This means that they can decide what they want, how it should be provided and by whom.  

Personal budgets are one way we help people pay for that.

What is a personal budget?

A Personal Budget is an amount of money that some people who have quite high care needs are eligible for. The real beauty of a Personal Budget is that you can have more choice, freedom and flexibility over how and when your care is arranged; it puts you in control and in the driving seat. Rather than being told when you will receive your care, you arrange it your self to suit your life ie “I used to have my care at set times so I would be showered and dressed at a certain time, have my meals at a certain time etc. Now I have more control over my life.”

So, being older and disabled does not mean our lives stop, and we should be able to continue to see our friends and family, go shopping, see a film, listen to music, go to the pub/café in just the same way as we did before.

You will be able to take all or part of your Personal Budget as a direct payment to pay for your own support either by employing individuals yourself or for purchasing support through an agency. It is tax-free and does not affect your benefits or income.

Some people may, once they have decided on their care package, have the council continue to pay for this directly, but this is less and less the case.

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How to get a personal budget

You are entitled to a personal budget if following an assessment you are considered eligible.

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Receiving a Direct Payment

People managing their own personal budget will usually be paid via a Direct Payment.

Cash payments

Instead of providing you with a care service, Haringey Adult Services gives you cash payments to buy your own care services.

A person must be able to consent to have a direct payment and have the capacity to manage one, although they can have assistance to manage their payment on a day-to-day basis

Prepaid cards

As an alternative to cash payments it is also possible to manage your personal budget with a prepaid MasterCard® card.

The cards have Direct Payments loaded on to them, as an alternative to receiving a cash payment and without the need to open a separate bank account. Residents can then use the card to pay for care services just like a debit card, either in person, over the internet or by telephone. The prepaid card leaflet (PDF, 2.5MB) explains how the card works in more detail but if you would like any more information, please contact the Personal Budget Support and Review Service at personalbudgetsupport@haringey.gov.uk or telephone 020 8489 8456.

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What you can and cannot do with a personal budget

You can use a personal budget to pay for any care you have been assessed as needing.

This means that there's a lot more choice about the kind of care you can pay for.

The personal budget can be used:

  • To pay an independent agency or provider directly for services.  This may include employing a support worker to care for you at home or having a personal assistant to help with activities like going shopping
  • To pay for services arranged by Haringey Council social care staff, or
  • To pay for a combination of the two.

Other good examples of using a personal budget are:

  • Attending a college
  • Joining a local community group
  • A one-off purchase such as a piece of equipment or a laptop

You cannot use your personal budget to:

  • Employ your spouse, partner or relative, who lives in the same household as you, to care for you at home
  • Pay for permanent residential or nursing care
  • Pay for services that should be funded by other statutory organisations
  • Pay for any activity that would be harmful, fraudulent or illegal
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Misuse of personal budget

If you misuse your personal budget, you may be asked to pay the money back, refused a personal budget in the future or have the circumstances investigated further by the council or Police.

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Changing circumstances

If your personal circumstances have changed you should contact your care manager as soon as possible to review your needs.  Don’t wait for the situation to get worse.

If your support plan is changed as a result, you may qualify for a larger personal budget to cover their increased need for support.

It is never good to 'struggle on' when personal circumstances change.

Attached Files

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Page Last Updated: 15 April 2013

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