The short answer
- You can do hourly work without a carWalking, cycling and buses all work if your clients are close to you and to each other. Where they live matters more than how you travel.
- You can do live-in work without a licenceSome families need a carer who drives, and many do not. Whether driving is part of the job is for you and the family to agree before you start.
- If you drive, the insurance is yours to arrangeDriving to clients needs business use on your car insurance. Carrying a client for a charge usually needs hire and reward cover as well.
- Say how you travel on your profileYour profile shows families how you get to work and whether you can drive them, so say it plainly and keep it up to date.
Tax and transport rules are from gov.uk, checked 22 September 2026. This page is written for carers working in England.
Hourly work
Hourly visits without a car: keep your clients close together
No law says a carer has to drive, and the checks PrimeCarers makes before your profile appears to families do not include a driving licence. What decides whether hourly work without a car suits you is the distance between your visits, because the time spent getting there is time nobody pays you for unless a client has agreed to it.
On foot
- Suits
- Hourly visits in a town, with clients near your home and near each other.
- Costs you
- Time, and shoes and a coat that will stand up to the weather.
- Tax
- Nothing to claim for the journey itself.
- Worth knowing
- Plan how you get home safely after a late evening visit.
Bicycle or electric bike
- Suits
- A round of visits a few miles across, where buses are slow or sparse.
- Costs you
- The bike, lights, a lock and servicing.
- Tax
- The gov.uk flat mileage rates do not include bicycles, so any claim is for what the bike costs you for business use.
- Worth knowing
- An electric bike needs no licence, tax or insurance if its motor is 250 watts or less and stops helping at 15.5 mph. A privately owned e-scooter cannot legally be used on public roads.
Bus, tram or train
- Suits
- Clients along one route, and live-in placements further from home.
- Costs you
- Fares. Single bus fares in England outside London are capped at £3 on buses in the scheme until the end of 2026, and at £2 through 2027.
- Tax
- Fares for business journeys are an allowable expense.
- Worth knowing
- Check the first and last services before you agree an early or late visit.
Taxi
- Suits
- The occasional visit before the buses start or after they stop.
- Costs you
- The most per mile. A £20 visit leaves you £16 after our fee, before any fare.
- Tax
- Taxi fares for business journeys are an allowable expense.
- Worth knowing
- A client pays towards travel only where you agreed it with them in advance, in writing.
Your own car
- Suits
- Rural areas, clients spread out, and families who want a carer to drive.
- Costs you
- Fuel, wear, and car insurance that includes business use.
- Tax
- A flat 55p a mile for the first 10,000 business miles in 2026 to 2027, 25p after that, or your actual running costs.
- Worth knowing
- Carrying a client for a charge usually needs hire and reward cover on top of business use.
Hourly work without a car pays best when your round is built around where you live. Two or three clients within a short walk or one bus route of each other will earn you more across a day than a better-paid client an hour away, because the travel time between visits is yours to absorb. Travel time and mileage as a self-employed carer works through what a day of visits pays once the travel is counted.
Your travel can still count for tax. gov.uk lists train, bus, tram and taxi fares on business journeys as allowable expenses for a self-employed person, and says travel between home and work is not. HMRC's own manual allows the journeys between home and the places you work where your business is based at home and you work at a series of temporary places, which describes a carer going from client to client. Allowable expenses for self-employed carers goes through what to keep a record of.
Early and late visits are where walking and buses become harder. Before you agree to a 7am or a 10pm visit, check the first and last buses, and think about the walk home in the dark. Lone working and personal safety covers how to plan for it.
Live-in work
Live-in work without a driving licence: agree it with the family first
Live-in work suits many carers who do not drive, because once you arrive you are not travelling between clients. The questions are how you get to the placement and whether the person you care for needs taking anywhere by car. Some families need a carer who drives, and many do not, so settle it before you accept.
What to agree before a live-in placement if you do not drive
0 of 5 ticked
Getting there and back
Trips out during the placement
Tell the family you do not drive in your first conversation, not after they have offered you the placement. A family that needs a driver will say so, and a family that does not will usually be relieved you raised it. What to agree before a live-in placement covers the rest of that conversation, and what families are told about carers driving their relative shows what they have read before they speak to you.
If the family pays for taxis or fares for their relative's trips, that is their cost. If you pay a fare yourself while out with the client, the contract lets you reclaim out-of-pocket expenses only where the arrangement was agreed with the client in advance and you keep the receipts, and it treats travel as a separate matter to agree in writing. Settle both before the first trip.
If you drive
If you do drive: insurance, mileage and taking a client out
Driving opens up clients further away and families who want a carer to take their relative out. It also brings three things to sort out before the first drive, and none of them is arranged for you.
- 1
Add business use to your car insurance
Before your first visitAn ordinary policy covering social driving and commuting does not cover driving to clients for work. Ring your insurer and say plainly that it is paid care work. - 2
Ask about hire and reward if you will carry a client
Before the first trip outTaking a client in your car for a charge is usually a separate permission from business use. Ask your insurer for the answer in writing. - 3
Agree any mileage in writing
Before the first trip outMileage is charged only where you and the client agreed it in advance, in writing. Where it is agreed, 55p a mile is the usual figure. - 4
Be ready to show your licence
When a family asksA family may ask to see your licence, or a check code from gov.uk, which lasts 21 days and shows your entitlements and any points.
The insurance is yours to arrange. What insurance does a home carer need? explains business use and hire and reward in full, including the wording to use with your insurer. Sort it out before the first visit, not after.
If the family wants you to drive their relative's car rather than yours, you need to be added to their policy as a named driver, with business use. That is the family's call to their insurer, and the page families read about carers driving tells them to get it confirmed in writing.
For tax, you can claim business miles in your own car at a flat 55p a mile for the first 10,000 miles in the 2026 to 2027 tax year and 25p after that, or claim the actual running costs instead. The flat rate was 45p before 6 April 2026. gov.uk's simplified expenses page sets out both methods.
Your profile
Say on your profile how you get to clients
When you set up your profile on PrimeCarers you are asked how you usually get to clients, whether you have a full UK driving licence, and whether you have a car you can use for work. Your answers appear on your profile in a travel section that families read.
How your driving answers appear on your profile
| What families see under "Can drive patients?" | What it tells them | |
|---|---|---|
| Licence and a car for work | Yes, has a car | You can drive their relative in your car, subject to the insurance above. |
| Licence, no car | Has a licence but no car | You could drive their relative in the family car, once you are on its insurance. |
| No licence | Cannot drive patients | Trips out will need another arrangement, which you agree with them. |
Licence and a car for work
- What families see under "Can drive patients?"
- Yes, has a car
- What it tells them
- You can drive their relative in your car, subject to the insurance above.
Licence, no car
- What families see under "Can drive patients?"
- Has a licence but no car
- What it tells them
- You could drive their relative in the family car, once you are on its insurance.
No licence
- What families see under "Can drive patients?"
- Cannot drive patients
- What it tells them
- Trips out will need another arrangement, which you agree with them.
Your profile also shows how you get to work: driving, public transport, bicycle, motorcycle or on foot.
Families searching can choose to see only carers with a driving licence, and a family posting a job can say it needs a carer who drives. That narrows who sees you for those jobs, and does not change what other families see. Saying clearly that you travel by bus or on foot, and which areas you cover, helps a family near you see that the distance works. Writing a carer profile that gets hired covers the rest of the profile, and finding private clients covers how to build a round close to home.
When you are ready, you can register as a carer on PrimeCarers and answer the travel questions as part of your profile, or see the carer jobs open near you to judge how many are within reach without a car.
Questions
Questions carers ask about driving
Yes. Some families need a carer who drives, and many do not. Tell the family in your first conversation, and agree how their relative will get to appointments and the shops, and who pays for any fares, before you accept the placement.
No. PrimeCarers checks your identity and right to work, checks you hold an enhanced DBS issued within the last 18 months, and asks you to complete a recorded online interview. A driving licence is not part of those checks. A family who wants you to drive may ask to see your licence or a check code from gov.uk.
Yes, for business journeys. gov.uk lists train, bus, tram and taxi fares as allowable travel expenses for a self-employed person. Keep your tickets or a record of each journey. Allowable expenses for self-employed carers explains what counts.
Only if you agreed it with them in advance, in writing, with the rate and the circumstances set out. Without that agreement travel is not chargeable under the contract, so the cost of getting to the visit comes out of your rate.
Usually it is much harder without one, because clients are further apart and buses may not run at the times visits are needed. Look at the jobs near you and where they are before you decide, and keep your round as close to home as you can.