Personal Assistants and carers on the Isle of Wight have been left without pay for over a week following a failure in the Direct Payments system used by Isle of Wight council.
The system, which is run by Prepaid Financial Services Ltd and powered by EML, experienced a major outage on Monday 14th July. The impact is being felt by vulnerable residents and low-paid workers who rely on regular payments to deliver essential care.
Payment failure affects managed accounts
A council spokesperson confirmed that the issue is generally limited to those who have their direct payments managed through the Isle of Wight council.
OnTheWight asked the council what emergency measures were being taken. A spokesperson said,
“We are currently working through the impact and what may need to be put in place if the EML system issues are not resolved in a timely manner.”
The council explained it was notified by EML at 11am on Tuesday 15th July, although EML clarified that the issue began at 8pm the night before.
Data migration behind system outage
According to the council, they were initially informed by EML that the problem would be resolved by Wednesday 16th July.
When questioned about contingency plans, the council replied,
“We are currently working through with other departments what can be put in place going forward.”
The problem stemmed from an “unscheduled migration of data by EML to their in-house system,” which EML confirmed in a public statement. They said there was “no prior notice given to the council or other users nationally.”
EML’s statement reads,
“In the interests of continuity of service PFSL has taken the decision to migrate programs at pace to their inhouse processor Trace.
“This occurred at 8pm Monday 14th July. We did experience some impact to services over the course of Monday as the transition completed. We apologise for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience.
“Cardholders may have experienced some downtime with their cards, and we are aware that bank payments have been delayed. We are actively working to restore all services.
“We apologise for lack of notice. Our primary concern was that the current third-party provider would terminate provision of service without notice.
“EML are standing up additional resources to support any arising issues.”
No cyber security breach identified
OnTheWight asked whether the issue was related to a cyber security incident.
The council replied,
“This incident is in relation to the card. EML have not informed the IWC that this is the result of a cyber security incident.”
The council confirmed that all affected workers will receive full back-pay once the EML system is fully operational.
Brothers: Isle of Wight council and the third-party company concerned need to get a grip
Service user, Emily Brothers, said,
“Whilst the system failure is frustrating for disabled people administering their care package, it is very worrying for our Personal Assistants who rely on their pay to cover everyday costs. Work is this sector is typically low paid, so being without pay for a week or more is tough.
“Some service users will be confused or distressed by the system failing and the lack of clarity about when technical issues will be resolved. So, for the sake of disabled people and care workers, Isle of Wight council and the third-party company concerned need to get a grip.”
She went on to add,
“I disagree with EML’s statement that the system went down at 8pm on Monday. I can categorically say that I wasn’t able to have payments made over their phone line from last Friday.”
Some access now restored
A council spokesperson added,
“We understand that those who manage their own cards should now be able to access the portal as usual, though it may take several attempts to log in.
“We are still working closely with EML to restore access to our Direct Payments Team as a matter of priority.”
They advised anyone still having access issues to contact EML’s customer service team on 02036 334511.
OnTheWight will continue to monitor developments and provide updates as more information becomes available.
Article edit
9.20am 18th Jul 2025 – EB comments added
