The short answer
- You can now apply for your own enhanced checkSince 21 January 2026, a self-employed carer can apply for an enhanced check, with barred list checks, through a registered DBS umbrella body. Before that date it took an employer.
- Enhanced checks fall to £41.00 from 5 October 2026Down from £49.50, a saving of £8.50. Basic and standard checks fall to £20.00 and the Update Service to £15.00 a year.
- Timing is worth a moment of thoughtIf your check is not urgent and you are paying for it yourself, applying on or after 5 October 2026 costs less. If you need work before then, the current fee is the price of starting sooner.
- The Update Service is what makes one check lastJoin within 30 days of your certificate being issued and the same certificate can carry you from one client to the next, for £15.00 a year from October.
Both changes verified against gov.uk, 18 September 2026.
What changed
Self-employed carers can now get their own enhanced check
This is the more significant of the two changes, and it closed a gap that had frustrated independent carers for years. An enhanced DBS check is the level care work is normally checked at, and until January a carer working entirely for themselves could not obtain one.
Since 21 January 2026
- A self-employed carer can apply for their own enhanced check, including the children’s and adults’ barred list checks, through a registered DBS umbrella body.
- Personal employees, such as a personal assistant employed directly by the person they support, can do the same.
- The application still goes through an umbrella body rather than straight to DBS, but the carer is the applicant rather than an employer applying on their behalf.
- The role still has to be eligible for an enhanced check under the existing rules. Being self-employed no longer stops you applying, but it does not make an ineligible role eligible.
Before 21 January 2026
- A self-employed carer working alone, with no employer and no umbrella body, was limited to a basic check.
- A basic check shows unspent convictions and conditional cautions only, and nothing about barred lists, so it was never enough for a family checking somebody who would work alone with a vulnerable relative.
- Getting an enhanced check meant finding an employer, an agency or a voluntary organisation willing to apply for you, which is difficult if the point was to work for yourself.
The practical effect is that working independently no longer costs you the level of check that makes families comfortable. A carer who wanted to build their own client base previously had to choose between being properly checked and being independent, which is a poor choice to offer somebody in care work.
DBS checks for self-employed people and personal employees on gov.uk is the guidance itself, and enhanced DBS and the Update Service explains what each level of check shows and how the Update Service works.
Applying yourself
How to apply through an umbrella body
An umbrella body is an organisation registered with DBS to submit checks on behalf of people who are not registered themselves. There are many of them, they charge their own administration fee on top of the DBS fee, and gov.uk keeps a list.
- 1
Check the role is eligible
Before you pay anythingAn enhanced check with barred list checks applies to regulated activity, which most one-to-one personal care for an adult is. An umbrella body will ask you what the work involves, and giving an inaccurate answer invalidates the check. - 2
Find a registered umbrella body
Compare the admin feegov.uk lists them. The DBS fee itself is fixed and the same everywhere; what differs is the administration fee an umbrella body adds on top, so it is worth comparing two or three. - 3
Prove your identity
The usual documentsPassport or driving licence, plus documents showing your current address. The umbrella body will tell you which combination it accepts, and most now verify identity digitally. - 4
Join the Update Service straight away
The window is shortJoin within 28 days of applying using your application reference, or within 30 days of your certificate’s issue date. Miss both and you cannot join until you pay for another check.
The new fees
Every DBS fee falls on 5 October 2026
DBS is reducing its fees across the board, with the enhanced check coming down the furthest. The reduction does not change what a check covers or how thoroughly it is done.
| Check | Now | From 5 October 2026 | You save |
|---|---|---|---|
| Enhanced checkThe level care work needs, and the largest reduction of the four. | £49.50 | £41.00 | £8.50 |
| Enhanced with barred list checksCharged at the same fee as an enhanced check. This is the level for regulated activity, which most one-to-one personal care for an adult is. | £49.50 | £41.00 | £8.50 |
| Standard check | £21.50 | £20.00 | £1.50 |
| Basic check | £21.50 | £20.00 | £1.50 |
| Update Service, a yearCharged yearly for as long as you stay subscribed. | £16.00 | £15.00 | £1.00 |
For a carer paying for their own checks, the saving is modest in isolation and worth having over time. An enhanced check plus a year of the Update Service costs £65.50 today and £56.00 from 5 October 2026. If you renew the Update Service for several years, the annual saving adds up to the cost of a check on its own.
Remember that an umbrella body's administration fee sits on top of these figures and is not affected by the reduction. Two umbrella bodies charging different admin fees will still quote you different totals after October, so compare the total rather than assuming the DBS fee is the whole price.
The Update Service
Why the Update Service matters more now than it did
The two changes reinforce each other. Being able to hold your own enhanced check is worth much more if that check stays current and travels with you, and that is what the Update Service does.
One certificate, many clients
£15.00 a year from October
DBS keeps looking after you join
Weekly and every 9 months
Letting it lapse costs a whole new check
The expensive mistake
It is what a family is shown
Why it earns you work
What to do
What to do about both changes
Short and practical, depending on where you are now.
If you need a check and the work can wait
If you need a check and the work cannot wait
If you already hold an enhanced check
If you were told you could not have one
Questions
Questions about the DBS changes
Yes, since 21 January 2026. A self-employed person, and a personal employee such as a directly employed personal assistant, can apply for an enhanced check including barred list checks through a registered DBS umbrella body. Before that date an enhanced application had to be submitted by an employer or a voluntary organisation, so a carer working alone could only get a basic check. DBS checks for self-employed people and personal employees, gov.uk.
An enhanced check falls from £49.50 to £41.00, standard and basic checks from £21.50 to £20.00, and the Update Service from £16.00 to £15.00 a year. An umbrella body’s own administration fee is charged on top and is not affected. DBS reduces fees for checks and Update Service from 5 October 2026, gov.uk.
An organisation registered with DBS to submit checks on behalf of people and employers who are not registered directly. It verifies your identity, submits the application and passes the certificate back to you, charging its own administration fee on top of the DBS fee. gov.uk keeps a list at find a DBS umbrella body.
Only if nothing depends on it. The saving on an enhanced check is £8.50, which is less than a few hours of work for most carers, so waiting makes sense only when you have no client waiting on the certificate. The check itself is identical either side of the date.
No. DBS has said the reduction does not affect the standard of service or the rigour of the checks. What a certificate shows, and the filtering rules that decide which old cautions and convictions are left off it, are unchanged.
No, not since 21 January 2026, though you do still need to go through a registered umbrella body rather than applying directly to DBS. Nobody has ever been able to request a standard or enhanced check purely for themselves with no third party involved, and that part has not changed.
No. You apply for the enhanced check yourself through an umbrella body and pay for it and, if you join, the Update Service subscription. When you register, we check that your enhanced DBS was issued within the last 18 months, and it has to be renewed every 18 months.