Direct payments

In this section:

Direct payments allow you to choose how your care and support is organised.

Who can receive direct payments

You’ll need a personal budget before you receive direct payments.

You will also need to open a separate bank account.

What you can pay for with direct payments

You can spend your direct payments on:

  • care and support at home
  • day opportunities
  • equipment and small adaptations
  • employing someone to help you
  • support so that unpaid carers can have a break from caring

Prepaid card for direct payments

You can get a prepaid card to use for your direct payment.

A prepaid card makes it easier to manage your payments as you:

  • can’t spend more money than you have
  • don’t need a separate bank account
  • can check how much is in your account online or over the phone

If you are a carer or manage direct payments for someone else, you can also ask us for a prepaid card.

To request your card:

Help managing your direct payments

If you need help managing your direct payments, you can ask someone you trust to manage your account.

This could be a:

  • member of your family
  • close friend
  • carer
  • care and support organisation

To ask for someone else to manage your payments please:

If you need advice about Direct Payments

We work with Age UK Solihull to provide a Direct Payments Support Service.

You can contact Age UK by: