Q&A Direct paymentsand banking
Direct payments are cash payments made by councils in lieu of services an individual has been assessed as needing.
Q: I don’t have a driving licence or a passport so it is hard for me to prove my identity so the bank won’t let me open a direct payment account. How can I prove who I am to the bank?
A: Formal banking industry guidance makes it clear that banks should adopt an approach that accommodates customers who may find it difficult to produce the standard type of documentation.
Banking staff should be aware of these new flexible rules and their duties towards disabled customers. In all cases concerning clients of social services departments it should be possible to arrive at acceptable forms of identification. Letters about pensions or benefits and confirmation from a social services manager are normally acceptable. The British Bankers Association encourage social services staff to discuss these issues with their local bank.
Q: My disability means that I have difficulty signing my name which means that I can’t use cheques to pay my Personal Assistant or sign banking papers. What can I do?
A: All banks have arrangements in place to facilitate the use of cheques by disabled customers (provided the accounts are not basic bank accounts) if their disability means they have difficulty writing or signing their name. For example, some customers who use a rubber stamp to apply a signature for other purposes may agree to this method with their bank. Of course, security is a paramount concern and it may be that some customers may feel safer using other methods of making payments by way of electronic banking or standing orders for example.
Customers having difficulties of this kind should discuss their needs with the bank concerned who should make all reasonable efforts to accommodate any additional needs.
The standard letter which was agreed by the (then) Association of Directors of Social Services (ADSS), the British Bankers Association and the Department of Health is still an acceptable form of introduction for customers who wish to open a bank account for their direct payment. This letter is available on the DH website at
Q: I became overdrawn/incurred some bank charges on my ordinary current account and the bank took money from my direct payment account to cover this. This meant I didn’t have enough money to pay for the care I needed. What can I do about this?
A: Banks are aware that they should not take funds from separate designated basic bank accounts used solely for direct payments to settle debts on another account. Of course, it may not always be clear that an account is solely being used for handling direct payments. Social services departments or customers themselves should advise the bank that this is the case and that any monies in the account needs to be protected.
Banks will all have different procedures for current accounts and a lot depends on the other accounts maintained by the customer and individual arrangements made.
Q:Because I don’t have a very regular income I can’t find a bank who will open anything other than a basic account for me to use for my direct payment. The problem is that you don’t get a cheque book with a basic bank account so I can’t pay my Personal Assistant easily and maintain a clear audit trail for the local authority. How can this be sorted out so I can have a cheque book?
When basic bank accounts were first established it was agreed with Government that cheque books would not be made available with them. This was because the aim was to make it difficult for people to borrow money and get into debt and to reduce the costs associated with returning cheques and banking charges. A further aim of this account was to encourage customers to manage their affairs to the extent that they can upgrade their account to a normal bank account. There is no reason why this progression might not take place to direct payments clients.
In any case, Basic Bank Account customers can set up direct debits and most banks also allow standing orders to enable customers to make regular payments and some allow customers to make electronic payments.