How to choose a live-in care company

Choose managed if nobody in the family can deal with the carer week to week, if the care is complex, or if you want one company answerable for it. Choose introductory if you want to pick the carer yourself and pay less, and someone in the family can stay in touch with them. Introductory or managed goes through the differences, and the live-in providers compared lists 20 companies by model.

Search the agency on the CQC register and open its latest report. Ratings are given per location, so check the office that would look after your relative. For example, the register shows The Good Care Group's London location and Trinity Homecare's Worcester Park service rated Outstanding, and Oxford Aunts rated Good (The Good Care Group, Trinity Homecare, Oxford Aunts). Franchise networks such as Bluebird Care, Home Instead and Right at Home are inspected office by office, so the brand's best office tells you nothing about your local one.

An introductory service will not appear on the register as a care provider, because it does not provide care. That is lawful, but it means nobody inspects the care: you are the one who supervises it. Do self-employed carers need to be registered? explains why.

Whatever the company checks, ask the carer yourself about their experience with needs like your relative's, and ask to speak to a family they have worked for. How to interview live-in carers has the questions.

• Percentage fees on top. Curam adds a 12% client fee to invoices, and TrustonTap a 5% administration fee plus VAT (Curam, TrustonTap). On PrimeCarers our fee is inside the weekly price.
• One-off fees. Consultus charges a £250 registration fee for its introductory service, and Country Cousins a one-off registration fee as well as an agency fee (Consultus, Country Cousins).
• Short stays. Some charge more for short arrangements: Country Cousins publishes from £1,225 a week for under four weeks, against £1,155 for longer (Country Cousins price comparison).
• Higher needs. Most publish a from-price and quote after an assessment. Edyn publishes tiers from £1,395 to £1,895 a week (Edyn pricing).
• The rest. Ask about the carer's travel, food, bank holiday rates, nights when the carer is up, and the notice period.

A managed agency arranges the replacement carer and the handover. With an introductory service, the service helps you find cover, but the arrangement is between you and the carers. Ask how much notice they need to find a replacement, what happens if a carer leaves at short notice, and who covers the daily two-hour break. On PrimeCarers we help you look for cover but cannot guarantee it; our optional managed service, at 5% or 10% on top, adds priority help finding a replacement. The live-in carer's daily break explains what to plan for.

Agincare's Smart Start lets you try live-in care for 2 to 4 weeks (Agincare). With an introductory service you can book a carer for a few weeks first and agree a longer arrangement if it works. Ask about the notice period before you sign, so you know how to end it if it does not. Temporary live-in care covers short stays.

A company's overall score tells you how families found the company. It does not tell you about the carer who would come. Ask for the carer's own reviews or references, and read the low reviews as well as the high ones: how a company answers a complaint is worth knowing.