Prepaid cards for social care...they are NOT compulsory!!

April

My Borough used to ask if we wanted a prepaid card for social care direct payments, or whether we preferred to keep our bank accounts for this. Now they seem to be making prepaid cards compulsory.
But, I have discovered that this is contrary to government guidance.
Now I know that, for some people, prepaid cards are preferable. On the other hand, some people prefer to keep a bank account. Personally, I prefer an account. I have been using this system for years, and it is working well. So I just wanted it to be know nationwide that prepaid cards are NOT compulsory. Please don't let your Borough tell you otherwise.
If you do decide to use a card, there should be no unnecessary restrictions on it eg. you should still be able to access cash.

poppy123456

You can't use the card to withdraw cash but it can be used for everything else.

April

poppy123456 said:

You can't use the card to withdraw cash but it can be used for everything else.

You should be able to withdraw cash too. Obviously, you would need to provide receipts for this, but the Borough shouldn't put restrictions on cash withdrawals.

poppy123456

It says in the terms and conditions that no cash withdrawals are permitted.

April

poppy123456 said:

It says in the terms and conditions that no cash withdrawals are permitted.

Yes, I know, but it shouldn't. The government guidelines say that there should be no blanket banning of things like cash withdrawals on these cards. Apparently the cards provided by different boroughs have different restrictions. Anyway, my point is that these cards are not compulsory at all. We can opt to use bank accounts. 

poppy123456

April said:

We can opt to use bank accounts. 

Thanks but i really wouldn't want to use my own bank account. My daughters direct payments isn't my money and i wouldn't want to get myself even more confused. At least this way my money is separate from the DP.

April

poppy123456 said:

April said:

We can opt to use bank accounts. 

Thanks but i really wouldn't want to use my own bank account. My daughters direct payments isn't my money and i wouldn't want to get myself even more confused. At least this way my money is separate from the DP.

OK, but you have to open a separate account for DP, so there's no confusion with your own money.
Anyway, I just wanted to let everyone know that there should be choice. Too many Boroughs are ignoring the guidance to the Care Act.
I'm glad it works well for you, but I've heard that other Boroughs are using the cards to put stops on the money, and to claw some of the money back. I keep money in my DP account for respite, and I don't trust my Borough to leave it there if I had a prepaid card. 

poppy123456

I have a prepaid card to use for her respite money. The DP accounts was credited with a one payment for the respite money and then payments are added weekly that pay for her Support Worker that she has weekly. I don't use the prepaid card to pay her support worker,  i use the DP bank account. Payroll send me payslips and invoices with the amounts needed to pay her support worker and HMRC.

April

Can I ask what sort of respite you use? I know that some people like to use respite hotels (where care is provided), but I know that some Boroughs have put stops on prepaid cards being used to pay for hotels. This bothers me. Direct Payments should be all about independence and choice, after all.

poppy123456

It's for my daughter and she uses it to do the things she wants to do, for EG nights away in hotels, concerts, etc. I've used this card to pay for a few hotels in the past few months, without any problems at all. There was never any mention about respite hotels, my daughter never goes out alone and when using the card i pay for her and the support worker that goes with her.

April

poppy123456 said:

It's for my daughter and she uses it to do the things she wants to do, for EG nights away in hotels, concerts, etc. I've used this card to pay for a few hotels in the past few months, without any problems at all. There was never any mention about respite hotels, my daughter never goes out alone and when using the card i pay for her and the support worker that goes with her.

That all sounds good. Glad it works well for you. I feel sorry for the people who aren't so lucky. I came across a few boroughs that are very controlling about how the cards can be used. They provide a long list of things that are banned, including using it to pay for hotels, transport, and on and on. This seems to be against the whole concept of freedom, independence and choice. Sadly many vulnerable, sick and disabled people don't have a strong enough voice to make complaints about it though.