Direct Payments - Who can have a Direct Payment?

You are eligible to receive a Direct Payment if you:

• have been assessed as needing care services or as needing a piece of equipment to help you;
• are a carer who has been assessed as needing support to help you look after someone else; or
• are a parent of a disabled child assessed as needing care.

and

• you are able to understand what a Direct Payment is and that you will be responsible for how it is spent;
• you are able to direct you own care - this means you are able to say what you want and when you want it;
• you are able to manage the money with someone’s help or by yourself.

There are a very small number of people who the law does not allow to have a Direct Payment:

• people who because of their disability are not able to understand what a Direct Payment is;
• people who are serving a community sentence for a criminal offence or who are on leave from prison; and
• a small number of people who are receiving treatment for a mental health problem under what is known as a ‘section’ of the Mental Health Act 1983.