Many families in Lambeth reach a point where the informal juggling stops working. One of you has cut your hours at work. The other parent is holding things together but barely. A neighbour helps on Thursdays. You are searching 'home care Lambeth' at eleven at night and discovering that even modest agency visits cost more than you expected, every week, indefinitely. And then someone in a forum mentions direct payments, and you realise nobody from the council has ever told you this option exists. That is not unusual. It is, in fact, the normal experience for most families. You are not behind. You just haven't been told.

There is a real funding route available here, and it is worth understanding properly before you make any decisions about paying privately. It does not work for everyone, and it takes some effort to set up. But for families whose loved one has eligible care needs and limited savings, it can change what is financially possible.

What direct payments actually are

Under the Care Act 2014, anyone who has been assessed as having eligible care needs by their local council has the right to ask for their support to be delivered as a direct payment rather than as a council-arranged service. Instead of the council organising care on your loved one's behalf and sending whoever is available, the money comes to you (or to a managed account on their behalf), and your family decides how to spend it within agreed boundaries.

The funded amount is based on what the council calculates it would cost to meet those eligible needs through its own commissioned services. It is not a blank cheque, and the council will review how the money is used. But within the boundaries of the care plan, the family has real choice: you can use the money to employ a self-employed carer directly, or to pay an introductory care agency that introduces a carer your family has chosen and approved. According to gov.uk guidance, direct payments are specifically designed to give people more control over their own care.

One thing worth knowing early: direct payments are means-tested. Lambeth will carry out a financial assessment alongside the care needs assessment. If your loved one has savings above the current upper capital limit (check the current threshold on gov.uk, as it has been subject to government review), they may be expected to contribute to or fully cover the cost of their care. If savings are below the lower threshold, the council may fund the full eligible amount. Citizens Advice can help you understand where your family sits before you go into the assessment.

How to start the process in Lambeth

The first step is a care needs assessment. Your loved one is entitled to one under the Care Act 2014, regardless of their financial position and regardless of whether the council will ultimately fund anything. You are not asking for a favour. You are asking for something they are entitled to.

You can request one by contacting Lambeth Adult Social Care directly. Their contact details are on lambeth.gov.uk under adult social care. You can ask on behalf of your loved one if they consent, or if they lack capacity to consent themselves, you can ask as their representative.

Before the assessment, it helps to write down what your loved one currently cannot do safely or without support: washing and dressing, preparing meals, managing medication, moving around the home, social contact. The more specific and honest you are, the more the assessor has to work with. Age UK has a free guide on what assessors look at and how to prepare. Their helpline is 0800 678 1602.

If your loved one is assessed as having eligible needs and the financial assessment supports funding, you can then ask specifically that the support be delivered as a direct payment rather than a managed service. That request is yours to make. The council cannot simply default to a managed service without your loved one's agreement.

What direct payments can and cannot fund

Direct payments can fund a paid carer to come into the home to provide the support identified in the care plan. They can also fund respite care, day services, and in some cases equipment. They cannot fund informal support from a close family member living in the same household (though there are narrow exceptions; Citizens Advice can advise on those).

One practical option families use is to take the direct payment and use it to engage a carer introduced through an introductory agency. This preserves the family's ability to choose and meet the carer themselves, rather than accepting whoever a large managed service sends. Skills for Care guidance notes that direct payment recipients can engage self-employed carers or pay agencies, provided the arrangement meets the agreed care plan.

If the assessment reveals needs the council will not fund (because savings are above threshold, or because the needs fall below eligibility), you would be funding the care privately. In that case, the direct payment route is not available, but the understanding of what your loved one actually needs, and what good care looks like, still matters just as much.

If any of this feels like a system designed to exhaust you before you reach the funding, you are reading it correctly. The Carers UK Helpline on 0808 808 7777 can talk you through the assessment process and the direct payment option with no commercial interest at all. They have seen this situation hundreds of times.

If you want support finding a carer once the funding picture is clearer, we at Hibant work with families paying via direct payments as well as privately. We are a London introductory care agency, and we can talk through how the arrangement works before you commit to anything.

The one thing to do this week, if nothing else: contact Lambeth Adult Social Care and ask for a care needs assessment. You do not need to know the outcome first. You do not need to have the financial conversation sorted. The assessment is the starting point, and your loved one is entitled to it. You can reach Lambeth Adult Social Care through lambeth.gov.uk or call the Carers UK Helpline on 0808 808 7777 if you want to talk through what to expect before you make that call.

If you would rather not navigate the funding and vetting process on your own once the assessment is done, this is exactly the kind of situation Hibant exists to help with. We are a London introductory care agency working with families across Lambeth and the surrounding boroughs. Every carer we introduce has been DBS-checked and insurance-verified before they ever meet your family, and you meet the carer yourself and choose them before any arrangement begins. We work with families paying via direct payments and with families paying privately, and the carer keeps almost all of what you pay. If you want to talk it through before you are ready to commit to anything, you can email hello@hibantcare.com or visit hibantcare.com.

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