Factsheet: Direct payments

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Summary

April 2026

This factsheet explains what direct payments are and how you can use them.

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Your personal budget

If you are eligible for support, we will work out your personal budget. This is the total amount of money your care and support will cost. It includes:

the money the Council will pay for your care and support
the regular contribution that you pay towards your care, if any

What are direct payments?

You can choose to have your personal budget money paid into an account for you. This is a direct payment. You use it to arrange and pay for your care and support.

It gives you flexibility and control over your care. You can choose who will help you, when and how they do. This means you can arrange support when you need it and not always in the same fixed pattern.

Who can get direct payments?

You can get direct payments if you are:

getting support from adult social care (age 18 or over)
a carer (for an adult)
a disabled child

There are one or two exceptions to this.

You will need to have a Care Act needs assessment. This is where we find out what support you need.

If you are eligible for help from us, we will work with you to create a support plan.

Your support plan shows how you will meet your eligible care and support needs and achieve the things that you want to do.

Do I have to pay towards my direct payment?

You will have a financial assessment that looks at your total income and your savings. This works out how much you need to pay towards the cost of your support. You can find out more about this in our leaflet: What you will need to pay.

If your financial assessment shows that you need to contribute to your care, the way that you pay this will depend on the type of direct payment account. If you have an East Sussex managed account, you will be sent an invoice every 4 weeks. For all other types of direct payment account, you can pay the money directly into the account either weekly or every four weeks.

You must pay your contribution on time, so there is enough money to pay for your care and support.

How can I use direct payments?

You must use your direct payments to pay for services that meet your needs, as detailed in your support plan. If you want to change how you meet your needs, contact your social care worker.

Most people use their direct payments to pay a personal assistant (PA) or a home care company, but there are many ways you can use them.

You can find out more in our factsheet:

Factsheet: Paying for services with direct payments

Do direct payments mean extra work?

Direct payments give you more control over how you spend the money to meet your needs. The only thing you need to do is create a contingency plan. This ensures that you still receive essential care and support in an emergency. There is a contingency plan template that your social care worker can show you.

Support with direct payments

We use a company called Independent Lives to help you with your direct payments.

They can give you free information and advice on:

using direct payments to buy services
writing job descriptions, recruiting personal assistants and doing pre-employment checks
being a good employer and understanding any rules

Contact Independent Lives

Phone: 01903 219 482 (option 3)

Email: advice@independentlives.org

Paying direct payments to a ‘suitable person’

If someone is unable to express their wishes about their care, we can pay their direct payments to a ‘suitable person’.

A suitable person is usually a trusted family member or friend who will decide how best to use the money. This can be useful for people with severe learning disabilities, head injuries or dementia.

Before we agree to give direct payments to a suitable person, we will check that: