Managing My Care Agency

Arranging for a Care Agency to provide support to you is a straightforward process. However, it is important that you ask certain questions and obtain some assurances from the Care Agency to ensure the support they provide is safe, and in line with your expectation.

The Agency you select should supply a personalised service agreement detailing the specific support your PA will provide, along with the agreed terms such as daily pay rates. 

Make sure this aligns with your Direct Payment/PHB agreement, and keep a copy for your records.

Follow steps 1 to 4 below to read more about the process:

You may have already discussed with your Case Manager which Care Agency you would like to work with. If you require any help understanding which Care Agencies are available locally, please contact your Independent Living Adviser.

Before you enter into an agreement, it is important that you speak to the Care Agency and understand:

- Do they have capacity to take on new clients in your area?

- How much do they charge per hour?

- Are they able to meet any specific requirements you may have?

- Is the Agency CQC registered?

- Can they provide confirmation of appropriate training and insurance?

It is important that you confirm the rate charged by the Agency is in line with the funding provided through your PHB agreement. 

**Please speak to your Independent Living Adviser if you require any support with this**

Once you have selected the Care Agency you would like to work with, you will need to let your Independent Living Advisor know so they can start the process of registering the Care Agency on Virtual Wallet.

To do this, the Independent Living Advisor will need to know:

·       The name of the Care Agency
·       A contact number and email address for the Care Agency
·       The name of a main point of contact at the Care Agency
·       The number of hours of support you have agreed
·       The cost of the support per hour
·       When they will start to provide support to you

**If you could provide this information to your Independent Living Advisor via email, that would be ideal - but they are happy to take this information over the phone if that is easier for you**

Once they have all the appropriate information, your Independent Living Advisor will arrange for the Virtual Wallet support team to contact the Care Agency, inviting them to register on Virtual Wallet.

This is a simple process for the Care Agency and once completed, will allow them to submit invoices for payment through your Virtual Wallet account. A number of Care Agencies are already registered on Virtual Wallet, so it may be that we are working with them already.

The Virtual Wallet support team will liaise with the care agency directly to get everything set-up in advance of the start date on your PHB

Once the Care Agency is registered, you will receive an email confirming your Virtual Wallet login details and instructions on how to manage your Virtual Wallet account.

The Care Agency should start providing care in line with the arrangements you have agreed with them and will generate invoices using Virtual Wallet that you can review at any time using your Virtual Wallet account.

**If you need any help or support accessing your Virtual Wallet account, please contact the Virtual Wallet Support Team**