8 guides
Getting started as a private carer
The routes into paid care work and what each one asks of you.
Start hereBecome a carer15 min readUpdated September 2026Guides for carers
Pay, tax, checks, finding work and the everyday skills of care work, for carers working for themselves and carers deciding whether to.
68 guides11 topics6 reading paths
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Where are you starting from?
Pick the one closest to you to see the guides to read, in order.
Deciding whether care work is for you
What private care work is like, whether you can work in the UK, and how working for yourself compares with an agency.
4 guides, in order- 1See what the work is likeWhy become a private carer?9 min readUpdated September 2026
- 2Check you can work in the UKRight to work checks17 min readUpdated September 2026
- 3Compare self-employed and agency workSelf-employed or agency?16 min readUpdated September 2026
- 4Set yourself upHow to become a self-employed carer15 min readUpdated September 2026
Find work near you
Families post hourly visits, nights and live-in placements against a town. See what is open, by type of work or by place.
Carer jobs near you
Every hourly, night and live-in job open on PrimeCarers, searchable by postcode.
Live-in carer jobsPlacements where you live in the client’s home.Night carer jobsWaking and sleeping nights.Part-time carer jobsA few visits or hours a week.Companion jobsCompany, outings and help around the house.Private carer jobsWork agreed directly with the family.Carer jobs by townBrowse the work advertised in each town.
Browse the guides
68 guides across 11 topics.
Showing 6 of 11 topics
8 guides
Paperwork, tax and money
Documents, tax, expenses, insurance and your DBS.
Start hereThe documents you need9 min readUpdated September 20266 guides
Finding work
Your profile, interviews and finding clients who come back.
Start hereWriting your profile9 min readUpdated September 20266 guides
Training and standards
The training families ask about and the standards you work to.
Start hereTraining for private carers9 min readUpdated September 20266 guides
Day-to-day care skills
Personal care, moving and handling, continence, food and nutrition.
Start hereMoving and handling11 min readUpdated September 20267 guides
Caring for specific conditions
Dementia, stroke, Parkinson’s, MS, diabetes and palliative care.
Start hereClients with dementia11 min readUpdated September 2026Arranging care for someone in your family? See the guides for families
What a week pays you
Put in the hours you want and the rate you would charge. The figures show what lands in your account once commission comes out.
What you would take home near you
You set your own rate on PrimeCarers, and the rate you advertise is what a client is charged for your time. Our commission comes out of that rate rather than being added to it. Put your week in and the figures below move with it.
A week
£400
25 hours a week, before tax
A month
£1,733
The same week across a calendar month, before tax
The arithmeticA weekA month
Charged for your time
£20 an hour x 25
£500
£2,166.67
PrimeCarers commission
20%, VAT included
- £100
- £433.33
You receive
£16 an hour
£400
£1,733.33
Visits shorter than six hours are charged at the hourly commission rate. The commission is taken out of the rate you advertise rather than added on top of it, and the VAT on it comes out of our share.
Tax is yours to sort out
Carers on PrimeCarers are self-employed, so Income Tax and National Insurance come out of the take-home figure above. Nothing is deducted for you and this page does not work out what you owe. Tax and money as a self-employed carer walks through registering with HMRC and what to put aside.
Rates from the published PrimeCarers bands, because this page is not tied to one town.
Register as a carer to set your own rate and apply for work near you.
Register as a carerThe commission band depends on the length of the booking rather than on who you are. A visit shorter than 6 hours is charged at 20%, a shift of 6 hours or more at 15%, and a live-in placement at 12.5%. VAT is inside those figures rather than on top of them, which is why the take-home line above is the whole of the deduction.
Setting a rate is a commercial decision and nobody else makes it for you. Carers on PrimeCarers typically charge £18 to £25 an hour, a waking night from £150 to £160, and live-in placements from £1,050 a week. An agency doing the same work charges a family £28 to £35 an hour and pays the carer a wage out of it, which is the comparison worth holding in mind when you price yourself.
Tools and templates
Calculator
What a week pays you
Put in your hours and rate to see what lands in your account once commission comes out.
Open calculator TemplateRisk assessment
A template to fill in at a client’s home, with guidance on each section.
Open template TemplateContinence care plan
How to write one with the client and the family, section by section.
Open template Interview guideCarer interview questions
What families ask at an interview, and what they want to hear.
Open interview guideQuestions
Questions carers ask before they start
The rate depends on the length of the booking: 20% on visits shorter than 6 hours, 15% on shifts of 6 hours or more, and 12.5% on live-in placements. VAT is included in those figures rather than added to them. The commission comes out of the rate you advertise, so a carer advertising £20 an hour is charging the client £20 an hour for their time and receives £16 of it.
No. Carers on PrimeCarers are self-employed and contract directly with the client. PrimeCarers is an introductory service: it makes the introduction, handles the contract, the invoicing and the payment, and holds no CQC registration. It does not employ, supply or manage carers, and it is not an agency.
No. There is no legal requirement to hold a qualification before doing paid care work in England. The Care Certificate and a Level 2 or 3 Diploma in Adult Care are worth having and many families ask about them, but neither is compulsory. Training for private carers covers what is worth doing first.
An identity check, a right to work check, an enhanced DBS certificate issued within the last 18 months, and an online interview. We do the identity and right to work checks and the interview when you register, and check the DBS you bring. It has to be renewed every 18 months. Enhanced DBS and the Update Service explains how the check and the subscription work together.
Once you start earning self-employed income, and before the self-assessment deadline in the following tax year. Nothing is deducted from what you are paid, so Income Tax and National Insurance come out of money you have already received. Tax and money as a self-employed carer walks through registering and filing.
There is no legal requirement for a private carer to hold insurance. Public liability cover is sensible in case a client or their property is harmed while you are working, and on PrimeCarers cover applies to each visit booked through the platform, separately from the checks above. What insurance does a self-employed home carer need? sets out the types of cover.
The PrimeCarers contract asks for 48 hours for hourly care, and 7 days for live-in care once you have worked 168 hours with that client, except where you are ill or there is a genuine emergency. Leaving without that warning can force a family to arrange replacement care at short notice and at their own cost.
Yes. You publish the rate you want and it is the rate the client is charged; commission is deducted from it rather than added to it. Carers on PrimeCarers typically charge £18 to £25 an hour, and live-in placements start from £1,050 a week. The calculator on this page shows what a given rate and a given week leave you.
Talk to the PrimeCarers team
Questions about registering, your checks or a booking on PrimeCarers? The team can help.