Making your direct payment easier

It is money that is paid to your by your council or the NHS so you can arrange and manage your own care and support.  You might want to take a look at our 'short' video that explains what a Direct Payment is.  

Pretty much.  There are technical differences, but the words are often used interchangeably.  In social care (where funding is provided by your local council),  the words 'personal budgets' are often used.  In health (where funding is provided by your local NHS integrated care board), the words 'personal health budgets' are often used.  Lots of places - including us - use the term 'direct payment' to cover both of these.  

There are some common-sense rules, but you should be able to spend it on pretty much anything so long as it meets the outcomes in your 'support plan'.  Your support plan is what you agree with your council or the NHS as part of getting a direct payment.   

Some people use the money to employ someone to help them (called a 'Personal Assistant').  Some people use the money to pay a homecare agency.   Some people use the money to buy a piece of equipment or technology.  Other people come up with really creative ways of using the money to meet their care and support needs. 

The XXX website has more information about direct payments generally,

• If you will be funded by social care, search your local council's website for how they deliver personalised care / personal budgets / direct payments.  
• If you will be funded by health, search your local NHS integrated care board's website for how they deliver personal health budgets / direct payments.  

That is entirely up to you!  If you choose not to have a direct payment, your council or the NHS will just arrange care and support for you.  This is sometimes called the 'traditional model'. 

Although there are over 150,000 people in England that have a direct payment, some people do get put off direct payments as there are responsibilities and admin.  That's where Virtual Wallet comes on - it has specifically developed to minimise that admin and make having a direct payment as easy as possible.  

It depends. 

If your direct payment is funded by the NHS (these are called 'personal health budgets'), then you do NOT need to pay towards the cost of your care as healthcare is free for everyone at the point of delivery.  

If your direct payment is funded by your local council, then you MAY need to pay towards the cost of your care as social care is means-tested.  As part of setting up your direct payment, your council will carry out a 'financial assessment' to work out any 'client contribution' you need to make.   Your local council website is a good source of information, but generally speaking, you will only get financial help from the council if you have savings of less than £23,250.  

If you are required to make a client contribution, you will normally pay this directly in to your Virtual Wallet account every 4 weeks (via standing order or direct debit), with the council then paying the rest of your direct payment in to your Virtual Wallet account.  

Virtual Wallet is a safe and easy way for you (or your family & friends) to manage your direct payment.  Your direct payment gets paid straight in to your Virtual Wallet account, which you access via the internet.  Once the care & support you receive is confirmed, Virtual Wallet automatically makes payments to your carers and providers.  You might want to take a look at our 'short' video that explains what Virtual Wallet is.  

Virtual Wallet is not just an 'app' like PayPal or ApplePay.  There is a whole team of friendly people that are on-hand to help you get started or if you get stuck.  

Virtual Wallet is FREE for all end-users.  The organisation that provides the funding for your direct payment (your local council or the NHS) pays us to provide access to Virtual Wallet.  This means that there is no cost to individuals, their family & friends or their carers & providers.   If you choose to use our Virtual Wallet payroll service for any Personal Assistants that you employ, your Virtual Wallet account may be charged a small fee (but it will be covered by your direct payment, not you personally). 

Virtual Wallet is internet-based, so you access it via any web-enabled device.  This can be a smartphone, a tablet or a computer.  You do not need any special equipment or physical cards.  You do not need to install any special software, you just use your normal internet browser.  

If you've ever used an online shopping site like Amazon or Tesco, or you do your banking online, you should find Virtual Wallet easy to use.  If not, there are other ways you can still have a Virtual Wallet account.  

Yes!  Virtual Wallet is designed to be used by the individual receiving the care.  We call it a 'self-service' account.  Self-service isn't the right choice for everyone, so you can ask family & friends to help.  We call them an 'authorised representative'.  Take a look at our 'short' video that explains who can manage my Virtual Wallet.  

Lots of people are able to manage their Virtual Wallet account themselves.  But if you can’t – and you don’t have a suitable friend or family member to help - then you may be able to opt for a Supported Account.  

With a Supported Account, you are still in charge of how your direct payment is spent, but the team at PPL manage your Virtual Wallet account for you.  Sometimes this type of arrangement is called a 'managed account'.  

To find out if you can have a Supported Account, speak to your contact at the council or the health service. 

Our short video explains more about a Virtual Wallet supported account.  

Virtual Wallet is operated by a company called People Places Lives Limited.   We have been around since 2008 and our whole business is about personalisation in the health and social care sectors.  We have 50 staff and are based in the North West of England.  Local councils and NHS organisations go through lengthy procurement processes to decide who they will work with, so we have to meet lots of quality standards.  All of this means that you can trust Virtual Wallet and the company behind it. 

Yes!  Lots of people have a 'managed account' direct payment, which is when an organisation (like Penderels Trust, PeoplePlus, Purple or Enham Trust) holds your direct payment and makes payments on your behalf.  

The Virtual Wallet team offer a similar service, which we call a 'supported account'.  Our short video explains more about a Virtual Wallet supported account.  

It removes some of the admin for you, it is still FREE, and you can access your Virtual Wallet account anytime to keep an eye on the money coming in and out and your balance.  

There are lots of similarities.  Pre-paid card accounts  have been used by lots of councils in the past for direct payments.  They have lots of benefits, but also have some limitations.  One of the big selling points of pre-paid cards was that you can withdraw cash from cash machines, but the reality is that hardly anyone uses them in that way nowadays.  

As Virtual Wallet has been developed just for direct payments, it takes many of the 'good bits' of pre-paid cards (easy-to-use, available 24/7, able to pay for almost anything), but also has features and a support service that makes it better (in our opinion!).  Things that Virtual Wallet offers that pre-paid cards don't are:  

• Fully integrated payroll calculations, so everything is in one place;
• More detail of what has been bought (down to item-level detail);
• Automated payments to providers and personal assistants instead of you having to initiate them;
• More built-in controls to prevent accidental overspend; 
• Option of a 'supported account' if you need more help managing your direct payment; 
• A dedicated helpdesk support team that understands every aspect of direct payments.  

The answer to this depends on the area that you are from.  When we start working with a new local council or NHS organisation that already has pre-paid cards, it can work in different ways: 

• Full transfer - All pre-paid card accounts move across to Virtual Wallet, all at the same time.  
• Gradual transfer - The move from pre-paid cards accounts to Virtual Wallet may be spread over a period of time.  
• No transfer - Virtual Wallet is offered as an option alongside pre-paid cards for new direct payments and/or existing users.  

The Virtual Wallet team or your local contact will be able to explain how Virtual Wallet is going to affect you and what your options are.  

No, you don't.  Direct payments are all about choice & control, so you can of course decide to manage your direct payment however you want.  Some typical alternatives to Virtual Wallet are: 

• Bank account - You can open a normal bank account and have your direct payment paid in to it.  You will need to calculate, check and process payments to your carers & providers, and send copies of certain documents to your council / NHS organisation. 
• Pre-paid card - Some places will continue to offer a pre-paid card scheme alongside Virtual Wallet.  Different card operators have different models and pros/cons. 
• Managed account - There are third-party organisations that can hold your direct payment and make payments on your behalf.  Our Virtual Wallet 'supported account' service is very similar, but you can ask to work with someone else if you wish.   

If you employ a personal assistant, you are responsible for ensuring that their pay is calculated correctly, including all the tax, national insurance and pension calculations.  With Virtual Wallet, this can be done in two ways: 

• Virtual Wallet payroll -  All the calculations are done by us.  This means 'everything is in one place' for both you and your personal assistant.  There may be a small charge for this depending on which area you are from, which will be paid for from your direct payment.  
• Third-party payroll - Timesheet information is shared with a payroll third-party company that is contracted by you or the council.  They do the payroll calculations and then tell Virtual Wallet the amount to be paid to your employee, HMRC and your pension provider.   The costs of the service are borne by either you or your council.  

In most cases, you can choose who you want to do the payroll calculations.  If you already use a third-party payroll company, but want to switch to Virtual Wallet payroll, we can arrange this for you.  

For more info, take a look at our 'short' video about payroll options.  

Yes, you can.  We offer our payroll service on a standalone basis in many areas.  Take a look at our payroll page.