The costs people forget when they arrange care at home

Start from what the rate already covers. The rate on a carer's profile is what you pay for that hour, night or day. Our fee is inside it, no VAT is added on top, there is no deposit and no joining fee, and the price you agreed stays the same for the length of that contract. Insurance while the carer works is included, and so are the identity, right to work and enhanced DBS checks and the online interview a carer completes before they appear. Our guide to what is in the hourly rate has the detail, and the cost of care hub sets the rates for each kind of care side by side.

Nothing in the middle group is chargeable by default, so a conversation in the first week decides whether you ever pay any of it. That works both ways. A carer who has not agreed mileage cannot invoice you for it, and a carer who has driven your relative to three hospital appointments without agreeing anything is out of pocket. Both are avoided by writing it down, and a message on the platform counts.

There are eight bank holidays in England and Wales in 2026, and the dates are published on gov.uk. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own lists. The uplift arrives inside an ordinary weekly invoice rather than as a bill of its own, which is why a family can be months into an arrangement before they notice it.

The uplift is paid to the carer, and PrimeCarers adds nothing of its own on those days. Our guide to weekend, evening and bank holiday rates sets out which days carry an uplift.

Where families do agree mileage, the usual reference point is the HMRC approved rate, 55p a mile for the first 10,000 business miles in the 2026 to 2027 tax year and 25p a mile after that, published in the HMRC travel, mileage and fuel rates and allowances tables. Nothing obliges either of you to use it, but starting from a published number makes the conversation shorter.

Whether a live-in carer can take your relative out in a car depends on whose car it is and how it is insured, and how travel pay works for live-in carers covers the journey to your house at the start of a placement. If driving is a regular part of what you need, search for a carer who drives rather than agreeing mileage with somebody who would rather not.

The contract expects that a live-in carer will have opportunities for rest, and leaves the timing for the carer and the household to agree between them. Our guide to the live-in carer's daily break sets out what families usually arrange, and where live-in carers sleep covers what a carer reasonably needs of a room.

On PrimeCarers a live-in week starts at £1,050 and is typically £1,120, with our fee included. A care home charges a weekly fee with everything inside it, so the household costs above are part of the difference when you set the two against each other. The cost of live-in care has the full breakdown.

Tell your carer as early as you can when a visit will not be needed. A carer who has three days' warning can often fill the slot, and is more likely to waive the fee than one told on the morning. It is also worth planning for the weeks when your carer is away. Our guide to cancellations and late-running visits covers the everyday version, and deposits, cancellation and notice sets out the contract position on paying.

If your relative goes into hospital, talk to the carer rather than simply stopping the visits. When your parent goes into hospital covers what happens to a live-in arrangement while the house is empty.

The free equipment route is set out by the NHS in its guide to care and support you can get for free, and larger adaptations go through a Disabled Facilities Grant from the council. Both start with asking adult social services for an assessment, which costs nothing and does not depend on savings. On our own site, home adaptations that reduce the need for care covers what makes the biggest difference, and how to claim Attendance Allowance walks through the form.

The weekly figure to budget for is then the rate you agreed, plus the few things above that apply to your household. That is the point to look at what carers near your relative charge, because the rate on a profile is the rate you pay, and comparing a few of them tells you more than an average will. You can search for carers near you and compare their rates before you commit to anything, and the care cost calculator turns a weekly pattern of visits into a local estimate. If the total is more than you can manage, ten ways to bring the cost of care down is the place to start rather than cutting the hours your relative needs.