The short answer
- Start with a written list of what your relative needsPersonal care, housework, medication, company. It becomes a job description a carer can answer properly, rather than a vague sense that help is needed.
- Who becomes the employer changes what the law asks of youThrough an agency, the agency is the employer. Through PrimeCarers, the carer is self-employed and nobody is their employer. Hire someone directly yourself and you become their employer, with National Minimum Wage, holiday and pension duties that follow from that.
- Agree the rate and what it includes before day oneLive-in carers on PrimeCarers typically charge £1,050 to £1,400+ a week, with our fee included. Food, a room and any travel are separate conversations.
- Put it in writing before the carer moves inThe rate, the notice period, and what happens on a bank holiday. A short written agreement now is worth more than a good conversation you both remember differently later.
PrimeCarers is an introductory service, not an agency or a care provider, and holds no CQC registration. It introduces you to a self-employed carer; the carer sets their own rate, and the arrangement between you and them is a personal one, not an employment contract with PrimeCarers.
Before you start
Write down what your relative needs before you look at a single profile
A carer can only plan a routine around tasks that have been named. Before you search or place an advert, sit down and write out what a typical day and a typical week involve, so the job description matches the person rather than a general idea of 'care'.
What to note down before you start
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Personal care
Household and daily life
Health and complexity
Company and routine
This list becomes two things at once: the job description a carer reads before they message you, and the checklist you go back to once someone has moved in, to see whether the arrangement is covering what it needs to. What qualities should you look for in a live-in carer? is worth reading alongside this list, since the right qualities depend on which of these needs matters most to your relative.
Choosing how to hire
Decide who becomes the carer's employer, because that decides what the law asks of you
There are three routes to a live-in carer: a fully managed agency, an introductory service such as PrimeCarers, or hiring somebody directly yourself. They differ in cost and in how much of the search is done for you, and that comparison belongs on its own page. What belongs here is the legal difference, because it is the one families most often get wrong: who ends up being the carer's employer changes what you are required to do.
| Agency | PrimeCarers | Direct hire | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who is the carer's employer | The agency | Nobody. The carer works for themselves | You |
| National Minimum Wage | The agency's duty to meet | Doesn't apply. The carer sets their own rate | Applies. At least £12.71 an hour for a carer aged 21 or over from April 2026 |
| Statutory paid holiday | The agency's duty to give | Doesn't apply. Not owed as a legal minimum to a self-employed carer | Applies. 5.6 weeks a year, pro rata for the hours worked |
| Workplace pension duties | The agency's duty to run | Doesn't apply | Applies from the carer's first day, if they qualify by age and earnings |
| Employers' liability insurance | The agency's own cover | The carer is insured while they work | Often exempt for one carer in your own home, but worth checking and usually worth taking out anyway |
| ID, right to work and DBS checks | Done by the agency | Done by PrimeCarers before a carer appears in a search | Yours to arrange |
Who is the carer's employer
- Agency
- The agency
- PrimeCarers
- Nobody. The carer works for themselves
- Direct hire
- You
National Minimum Wage
- Agency
- The agency's duty to meet
- PrimeCarers
- Doesn't apply. The carer sets their own rate
- Direct hire
- Applies. At least £12.71 an hour for a carer aged 21 or over from April 2026
Statutory paid holiday
- Agency
- The agency's duty to give
- PrimeCarers
- Doesn't apply. Not owed as a legal minimum to a self-employed carer
- Direct hire
- Applies. 5.6 weeks a year, pro rata for the hours worked
Workplace pension duties
- Agency
- The agency's duty to run
- PrimeCarers
- Doesn't apply
- Direct hire
- Applies from the carer's first day, if they qualify by age and earnings
Employers' liability insurance
- Agency
- The agency's own cover
- PrimeCarers
- The carer is insured while they work
- Direct hire
- Often exempt for one carer in your own home, but worth checking and usually worth taking out anyway
ID, right to work and DBS checks
- Agency
- Done by the agency
- PrimeCarers
- Done by PrimeCarers before a carer appears in a search
- Direct hire
- Yours to arrange
National Minimum Wage and statutory holiday rates: gov.uk, from April 2026. Employers' liability insurance: the Employers' Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969 and its 1998 regulations, which exempt a domestic servant working in your own private household in most circumstances, checked against HSE guidance, September 2026.
The old advice that anyone hiring a live-in carer is "legally obliged to provide paid holiday leave" is only true on the direct-hire route. An agency's carers are the agency's employees or contractors, and the agency carries those duties. A carer found through PrimeCarers is self-employed: they set their own rate, they are responsible for their own tax, and neither you nor PrimeCarers owes them the National Minimum Wage or statutory holiday, because those are employment rights that attach to being someone's employer, not to hiring their time. Only if you hire a carer directly and they work for you alone, in the way an employee would, do you take on an employer's duties in full.
If you would rather not take any of that on, how can I find a live-in carer? compares what an agency, PrimeCarers and a direct hire each cost and what each does for you, so you can weigh the legal position here against the price and the amount of choice on that page before deciding.
Agreeing pay
Agree the rate, and what it includes, before the first day
How much a live-in carer is paid depends on what the role involves, how complex your relative's needs are, and which route brought you to them. Whatever the figure, agree it, and what it does and doesn't cover, before anyone moves in.
£1,050–£1,400+
What carers on PrimeCarers typically charge for a week of live-in care, with our fee included: about £160 a day. Complex needs, such as advanced dementia or two people needing care, usually sit higher in the range.
PrimeCarers rates, September 2026, fee included.
A carer's weekly rate is the starting point, not the whole conversation. Three things are usually agreed separately:
- Food. Most families provide a food allowance or stock the kitchen; some carers buy their own. Do live-in carers buy their own food? sets out the usual arrangements.
- The room. A live-in carer needs their own bedroom, and does not pay rent for it, because the room is part of the working arrangement rather than a tenancy. Does a live-in carer pay rent? explains why.
- Travel. Mileage is only payable if it has been agreed in advance in writing, and that is a separate question from travel to and from the placement itself. Do live-in carers get paid for travel? covers both.
How much is a live-in carer paid? goes into what changes the rate itself, from experience to the complexity of the needs, in more detail than fits here. Whichever figure you land on, an agency's fully managed price for the same week typically runs £1,120 to £1,750, so it is worth having a PrimeCarers figure in hand before comparing quotes.
The paperwork
Put the agreement in writing before the carer moves in
A short written agreement protects both sides if a disagreement comes up later, and it takes far less time to write than it does to untangle a misunderstanding once someone has already moved in.
Put this in writing
- The weekly rate, and exactly what it includes
- The notice period: 48 hours at first, moving to 7 days once 168 hours have been worked, on PrimeCarers' contract
- That bank holidays are paid at one and a half times the normal rate, and Christmas Day at double, on PrimeCarers' contract
- How breaks and time off during the placement will work
- What happens if either side needs to end the arrangement early
Don't leave to a verbal understanding
- That a good first conversation is the same as an agreement
- Mileage or travel costs, which are only payable if agreed in writing in advance
- Which checks have already been done, and which are still yours to arrange
- What "living in" includes day to day, such as use of a car or the internet
What still needs checking depends on the route. Through PrimeCarers, every carer has an identity check, a right to work check and an enhanced DBS check on the Update Service before they appear in a search, and every carer is interviewed online. Separately, every carer is insured while they work. Hire directly and all of it, including references, is yours to organise: employing a private carer: the legal and financial side sets out exactly what to check and how.
Move-in day
From this page to a carer moving in, with PrimeCarers
Once the needs are written down, the route decided and the pay agreed, the last stretch is short. Most families have a carer in place within two to three weeks.
- 1
Search live-in carers near you
FreeUse the job description you wrote to filter by experience and rate. Every profile shows what a carer charges, their reviews and their availability. - 2
Message and speak to two or three
This weekShare the list of needs from the start of this page, and ask the questions from the interview guide. Most families decide on the phone call rather than the profile alone. - 3
Agree the rate and put it in writing
Before day oneConfirm the weekly rate, food, the room, travel if it applies, and the notice period, even if it is only a short message both sides can point back to. - 4
Start with a short trial
Week 1A week or two lets your relative and the carer find out whether the routine works before anyone commits to a longer placement. Once the trial is going well, how to establish a routine with a live-in carer gives the first proper week a shape.
Questions
Questions families ask about hiring a live-in carer
Only if you hire them directly and they work for you as an employee. A carer found through an agency is that agency's employee or contractor, so the agency carries that duty. A carer found through an introductory service such as PrimeCarers is self-employed, and self-employed people are not owed statutory holiday by the family who hires their time. Employing a private carer: the legal and financial side covers the direct-hire route in full.
Only on the direct-hire route, where you become the carer's employer and the National Minimum Wage applies in the usual way, at least £12.71 an hour for someone aged 21 or over from April 2026. A carer found through PrimeCarers is self-employed and sets their own weekly rate; an agency's carers are paid by the agency.
Only if you become their employer by hiring directly, and even then the law that makes this insurance compulsory has a specific exemption for a domestic worker employed in your own private household in most circumstances. Many families take out cover anyway, since a claim can still happen. Through PrimeCarers, the carer is insured while they work, and this is not something you need to arrange.
Write down what your relative needs help with, task by task, rather than starting with a search. A specific list, covering personal care, household tasks, medication and company, becomes a job description a carer can respond to properly, and it is the same list you will use later to check the arrangement is working.
Most families searching PrimeCarers have a carer shortlisted within a few days and in place within two to three weeks, including a short trial. An agency can sometimes move faster if a carer is already available on its books; a direct hire usually takes longer, because every check and every conversation is yours to arrange.
Yes. A week or two living together shows whether the routine, the personalities and the practical arrangements work, before either side commits to a longer placement. Agree the notice period for ending the trial at the same time as everything else, so nobody is guessing what happens if it doesn't suit.
On PrimeCarers, either side can end the arrangement on 48 hours' notice at first, moving to 7 days' notice once 168 hours have been worked together. PrimeCarers does not charge anything to search again. If you hired directly, the notice period is whatever you agreed in writing, which is one more reason to put it in writing at the start.