You can arrange and pay for your own care with the help of Direct Payments.
Your personal budget can be paid to either:
yourself
someone you choose to manage the money for you, such as your son or daughter, spouse or parent. (This person should be there to help you with your choices, listen to you and respect your opinion)
This option may be ideal if you:
want more flexibility with how your care and support is arranged and provided
would like to choose your care workers or personal assistants
have had a specific person recommended to you whom you wish to employ
are confident with managing money and employing people
How it works
1. Sign an agreement
You will need to read and sign the Direct Payment Agreement, which sets out the responsibilities for yourself and the Council.
It will show:
how much money you'll receive
what you must contribute towards the cost of your support
how your Direct Payment money should be used, for example, if it is to be used to buy different services or support
terms and conditions of your Direct Payment.
View our Direct Payments Agreement
2. Receiving your Direct Payment
We have a preferred method of payment when providing funds to you. This is an online bank account ‘Allpay’, which works the same as a bank account. You can make telephone or online payments, but you cannot withdraw cash or use the account to make payments through a card machine.
Although we have a preferred method of payment when providing funds to you, there are different ways to manage your Direct Payment.
The council has chosen to include Virtual Wallet as part of its service from May 2026. It will be referred to as Kernow Wallet.
Until now, we have mainly offered pre-paid cards to manage direct payments. Moving to Kernow Wallet will give better visibility and clearer information about budgets and real‑time reporting. The council expects this to make the process more efficient and lead to better outcomes for the people who use the service.
Kernow Wallet is a ‘virtual’ platform to deliver direct payments, short breaks and individual service funds. Through Kernow Wallet, you can search, arrange, and book support within Products and Services Directory on Kernow Directory. You will be able to use your individual personal budget as agreed in your care and support plan.
We will be gradually moving away from our current prepaid card system to Kernow Wallet.
If you wish to use another method of receiving funds, please speak with our Direct Payment Team who can discuss available options with you. These can include a managed account.
3. Pay in your contributions
You will also be expected to pay in your financial contribution towards the cost of your care.
You must pay your assessed contribution to ensure you have enough money to pay to meet your care needs.
Your contribution is the first part of the payment. Each week you pay in the amount that your financial assessment has shown you can pay towards your care (if any). This money will be used up first when you pay for your care.
4. We pay in our part of your personal budget
We will pay the Direct Payment funds into this account on a four-weekly basis, in advance.
We’ll aim to make the first payment to you within 2 weeks of the relevant paperwork being completed.
Receiving your Direct Payment
1. Kernow Wallet - a virtual wallet account
Cornwall Council is committed to offering direct payments to support people. We are pleased to announce the council has chosen to include Virtual Wallet as part of its service from April 2026, referred to as Kernow Wallet.
Until now, we have mainly offered pre-paid cards to manage direct payments. Moving to Kernow Wallet will give better visibility and clearer information about budgets and real‑time reporting. The council expects this to make the process more efficient and lead to better outcomes for the people who use the service.
Kernow Wallet is a ‘virtual’ platform to deliver direct payments, short breaks and individual service funds. Through Kernow Wallet you can search, arrange, and book support within the Products and Services directory on Kernow Directory. You will be able to use your individual personal budget as agreed in your care and support plan.
We will be gradually moving away from our current prepaid card system to Kernow Wallet.
Individuals and their representatives have told us that choice and control continue to be important to them and they would like:
more visibility of the support available to them
an easy-to-use online system with everything they need in one place
Kernow Wallet will provide you with choice, control and visibility of services available in Cornwall, allowing you to book and pay for your support all in one place.
The benefits
The benefits of the using Kernow Wallet include:
ease of use
24-hour access and real-time updates
eliminating the need to manage a bank account
safety and security
reducing the need for paper records
putting you at the heart of your support
How it works
We add agreed funds to your Kernow Wallet account.
You book your support.
The Kernow Wallet pays your support provider or Personal Assistant.
What happens next
Kernow Wallet will be rolled out to existing Direct Payments recipients over a 12-week period, or as and when their annual reviews occur. Expenditure will include personal assistants, domiciliary care providers, micro enterprises and non-traditional services.
PPL (PeoplePlacesLives) will be working alongside the council’s direct payments team and relevant payroll providers.
Following the initial transfer, the council will arrange for any individuals referred for a Direct Payment after June 2026 to be set up with a Kernow Wallet account.
How does this affect me?
The important thing to note is you do not need to do anything at this stage.
If you are already receiving direct payments, we will contact you to discuss moving to Kernow Wallet. We will be starting with the individuals who have agreed to be part of our pilot programme.
Your direct payment and support will continue without disruption. Please don’t worry, we will continue to use the current arrangement until we contact you and transition to Kernow Wallet. We know that a change can be unsettling, so we are on hand to support you.
If you have any questions at this time, please contact us
Email: directpaymentsadviceteam@cornwall.gov.uk
If you’d like more information about Kernow Wallet:
Read more about Kernow Wallet in Virtual Wallet FAQs
Read more about Kernow Wallet in Easy Read Version of FAQs
2. Support for your Prepaid Allpay card account
Allpay is the Council’s current means of processing Direct Payments. We can set up an Allpay account for you, in your name, with a pre-paid debit card.
If you are managing a Direct Payment on behalf of someone else, we can still arrange the setup of the Allpay account for you.
You can read more about Allpay on our Factsheet
What we’ll need to set up an Allpay account for you
We need to carry out an identity check, but not a credit check. We will need the following pieces of information (photograph is acceptable, or you can show the Direct Payments team member in person):
photographic ID
proof of address
your National Insurance number (or the NI number of the person for whom the Direct Payment is issued)
You’ll receive your card within 5 working days of the identity check being completed.
You can visit the Allpay website for more information or call them on 0330 808 0102.
3. Receiving your Direct Payments to a Bank Account
Your Direct Payment can be paid into a bank account, such as a standard current account. This will need to be set up differently depending on who is managing your personal budget.
We ask you to send us statements every three months so we can review your Direct Payments expenditure.
We may agree a longer review period with you if all is running smoothly with your Direct Payment. We may also write to you to request bank statements for a period of up to 12 months (or more) if we have not had contact from you.
Bank Statements can be sent to: AdultsDPStatements@cornwall.gov.uk
Managing your Direct Payment
It's important that you spend your money carefully and keep records to provide to us.
Spending your Direct Payment
When you spend your Direct Payment you must make sure that you meet all the needs that are in your care and support plan.
If it's in your plan, you could spend it on:
respite care at home
a short break in a care home
day opportunities and activities
transport
a personal assistant
support from a care agency
You cannot spend it on:
living costs, such as food, gas, electricity, water bills, council tax, rent
household repairs
general furniture and household electrical items
alcohol or tobacco products
gambling
debt repayment
funeral expenses
goods or services that are the responsibility of the NHS
anything that has not been agreed in your care and support plan
Checking your spending
As you are managing your own budget, our direct payment support service will give you advice on how to set up and manage your records.
Make sure you keep all evidence of what you spend in a safe place.
This might be:
receipts
invoices
copies of staff wage slips and time sheets
You’ll need to provide this information to us at regular intervals so we can make sure you are using your budget on the things in your care and support plan.
Please note: we will ask to reclaim any unspent funds, or any money that has been spent on things that are not detailed in your care and support plan.