There are three payment methods by which an individual may receive a Direct Payment from ASC (prepaid card, bank account and managed payroll). The prepaid card is the Council’s default option. In all cases, Direct Payment recipients must keep appropriate records for six years and along with routine monitoring they may be asked to submit additional information from time to time.

• Prepaid Card: individuals can receive a pre-paid card and pay for support by telephone or internet banking, including standing order and direct debit. The prepaid card works like a debit card, and reduces time spent on completing financial returns. This is ASC’s default position for paying Direct Payments.
• Bank Account: In some circumstances, individuals may wish to have a separate bank account to manage their Direct Payment. If this is required, individuals and Support Services should discuss the increased responsibilities on the Direct Payment customer for submitting regular, detailed monitoring returns when requested.

Some individuals may need to pay for certain providers, as agreed in their support plan, by cash. There are limited reasons for this as most providers take card or bank payments. Where this is identified, individuals and their care manager should discuss and agree how this will be monitored (usually with supplying receipts/details of payees). The proportion of weekly budget agreed to be spent in this way should be recorded for monitoring purposes.