How do you handle a client's money safely?

None of this needs a formal arrangement to start. What it needs is a habit you use every time, so nobody, including you, is ever left guessing what was bought or why. Managing clients with dementia covers the wider support that goes alongside a shopping trip when memory is part of what makes it hard.

1. 1

   Avoid paying in cash

   Every time

   Cash is hard to prove after the fact. A card, a bank transfer, or an agreed method that leaves a record protects you if a purchase is ever questioned, and it protects your client from the same doubt.
2. 2

   Keep the receipts and write it down

   Every purchase

   Give your client their receipt and keep a copy or a note yourself: what you bought, what it cost and why. A short written log, kept consistently, is worth more than a good memory if anything comes up weeks later.
3. 3

   Use an agreed method, not your client's card and PIN

   Set this up early

   Some families give a carer a prepaid card built for the purpose, a card linked to their own bank account, or a cash float topped up regularly. Whichever it is, agree it with the family before you start rather than working it out as you go.
4. 4

   Ask before anything unusual or expensive

   Before you spend

   A bigger purchase, or something your client does not normally buy, is worth a message to whoever the family has told you to check with, before you spend rather than after.

Every provider sets its own fees and limits and changes them from time to time, so how do you pay a carer for shopping safely? compares the options in more depth and is worth reading alongside this page if a family is choosing between them for the first time.

1. 1

   The everyday spend

   Record it every time

   Buying the weekly shop, a prescription, or something the household has run out of, using an agreed method and a receipt. This is most of what handling a client's money looks like day to day.

   Good for: Anything routine, small and expected.

2. 2

   Anything bigger or unusual

   Agree it first

   A larger purchase, a repair, a taxi instead of the usual bus, or something your client does not normally buy. Check with whoever the family has told you to check with before you spend, not after.

   Good for: A one-off that sits outside the normal week.

3. 3

   Not yours to take on

   Say no, and say why

   Holding a client's card and PIN between visits, accepting a cash gift, witnessing or being named in a will, or being asked to manage their whole account or benefits. None of these are part of a private carer's role, however well you know the family.

   Good for: Anything that would give you lasting control over their money.

If a family wants more formal control over a relative's money, appointeeship, power of attorney and deputyship are the routes for that, not a private carer's role. Carers UK sets out how each of these works in England and Wales, and it is worth pointing a family towards it if they ask you to take on more than the shopping.

1. 1

   Notice the signs, not just in yourself

   Ongoing

   Unexplained withdrawals, unpaid bills that used to be paid, a new acquaintance who has taken an interest in a client's money, or a client who suddenly seems frightened to talk about it, can all be signs that someone else is taking advantage.
2. 2

   Write down what you noticed

   Same day

   A short, factual note while it is fresh, what you saw, when, and who was involved, is useful whether the concern turns out to be nothing or something serious.
3. 3

   Tell the family first, if it is safe to

   Straightaway

   If your concern is about someone outside the household, telling the family or whoever oversees the arrangement is usually the right first step.
4. 4

   Contact the council if you believe your client is at risk

   If needed

   Every council has an adult safeguarding team that will take a report seriously, whether or not the concern involves you directly. Call 999 instead if someone is in immediate danger.

Paying for home care and managing expenses covers the same ground from a family's side, and handling tax and money responsibilities as a self-employed private carer covers what you owe HMRC on your own earnings, which is separate again from any client money you handle. If you are living in as part of the placement, your own food is a separate arrangement again, usually added to the household shop rather than something you buy for yourself: do live-in carers buy their own food? explains how that usually works.