Recording and monitoring your direct payments
Direct Payments Folder
The Direct Payments Advisory Service will provide you with a folder to help you keep your records in order. You use the folder to store the following documents:
- All invoices and receipts
- Signed receipts for cash payments (these should be avoided whenever possible)
- Bank statements, cheque books and paying-in books
- Reconciliation sheets
- Payroll details (if applicable).
Monitoring Direct Payments
The folder is an essential audit tool and the continuation of Direct Payments is dependent on you returning monthly bank statements and proof of expenditure to the Direct Payments Monitoring Officer. This information should be kept within the folder for audit purposes.
The local authority will keep a copy of each month’s bank statement and reconciliation sheet. This shows that the Monitoring Officer has reconciled expenditure e.g. receipts and invoices against the outgoings presented in the bank balance.
We will keep these records for six years in addition to the current year. The original documents including invoices will be returned to you to keep in your folder.
You should keep these records within the folder until they have been verified at your annual review. If the annual review is satisfied that the Direct Payments has been spent appropriately then we will no longer require the documentation.
It is, however, important to remember if you employ your own staff then you will have additional responsibilities in relation to record keeping and you will have to keep records in accordance with Her Majesty Revenue and Customs policy.
Payments to people or services using your Direct Payments
Payments should be made in the form of cheques or by direct debit to ensure an adequate audit trail. You are advised not to make payments in cash. Where this may be unavoidable, recipients are required to keep a written record of any payments made in cash as well as a signed receipt.
If your direct payment includes an element for overheads relating to a live-in personal assistant, you should, after receiving a Direct Payment, transfer that amount by cheque from the Direct Payment account to the account from which the overheads e.g. electricity bills, gas bill, are paid.
Receipt details should include the date, the amount, services provided and the signature of the person paid.
Holidays and short stays in hospital
Direct payments are intended to enable people to live an independent life and you may chose to take your personal assistant on holiday to assist you. if you go into hospital and you employ your personal assistant you can't stop paying them as they have rights as an employee and you would not want to lose a valuable worker.
If you employ an agency worker and you go into hospital then your direct payments would normally cease since you would not have employee responsibilities towards them.
If you intend to remain abroad or will be in hospital for more than one month then you must inform your social work team.
The appropriate period for the continuation of the Direct Payment will be determined by your social worker / care co-ordinator and will be dependent on individual circumstances. You may like to seek the assistance of the Direct Payments Advisory Service who could help you negotiate this.
If you employ your personal assistant then a retainer payment may have to be considered depending on your length of stay in hospital.
You cannot, however, use your Direct Payments to pay for any expenses relating to a holiday e.g. travel or accommodation costs for yourself or your personal assistant, unless this has been agreed as an alternative to residential respite by your social worker / care co-ordinator.
You should ensure sufficient funds are kept in the Direct Payment account to meet all unpaid invoices. In the event of any unforeseen or unusual expenses, the recipient is advised to contact the Direct Payments Advisory Service for advice as soon as possible with details so that additional money, if deemed appropriate by your social work team, can be made available
Retrieving surpluses
You are entitled to keep up to the equivalent of two months direct payments in your account as surplus. This is to meet any outstanding commitments not yet paid. If you have more than this the Direct Payments Monitoring officer will contact you to discuss.
You may have very good reasons for this as you may be saving some of your direct payment towards additional care at a later date or you may have unpaid holiday payments, PAYE payments, or unpaid charges due to an agency who are late in invoicing you.
However, if you have a surplus amount of money, which is not accounted for then the Direct Payments Monitoring Officer, will ask you to return this.
Please contact the Direct Payments Advisory Service if you would like some assistance to help you determine what is the ‘true’ surplus and help you liase with the Direct Payments Monitoring Officer if required.
Suspension or cancellation of the Direct Payment
We will provide as much assistance as possible but if you fail to keep accurate records or comply with other requirements set out in the Direct Payments procedures then the council reserves the right to suspend or remove your Direct Payments and initiate recovery procedures to retrieve any surpluses.
‘One off’ Payments
If you are not in receipt of monthly direct payments but have been allocated a ‘one off’ payment, for example the purchase of a washing machine, it would be unrealistic and unduly burdensome to expect you to open a separate bank account and complete finance returns as per usual requirements for on going Direct Payments. In such circumstances it is adequate for the you to:
- Sign a written agreement for ‘one off’ payments
- Provide a receipt / evidence that the money was spent appropriately.
You should forward this to the care co-ordinator. The care co-ordinator should record this and keep a copy on file. The original receipt should then be returned to the recipient.
If the cost of the service or equipment purchased by the recipient is higher than the Direct Payment amount given by us, the council, then the service user is responsible for covering the shortfall in the cost.
For more information about Direct Payments for carers, please contact the Direct Payments Advisory Service.
Comments, Compliments and Complaints
Adult Social Services Homepage
