Private carer rates, and how our pricing works

Yes. The rate a carer shows is what you pay for that hour, night or day, with our fee and the VAT on it already inside. Nothing is added at checkout. The only extras are things you agree with the carer beforehand, such as mileage, or a live-in carer’s food. What care at home costs puts the rates side by side.

We take a commission from the rate the carer sets. It is already inside the price on their profile, and the VAT due on it is paid out of that commission rather than added to your bill. Families who want more support can add a managed service: Managed adds 5% to the rate, and Fully Managed, for live-in care only, adds 10%.

No. Self-employed carers do not charge VAT on their care, and the VAT on our commission comes out of the commission. The figure on the profile is the figure on the invoice.

By card, through PrimeCarers, after the care has happened. Payment is taken against the visits that were booked and confirmed, so check the bookings are right before the invoice goes out. Work introduced through PrimeCarers must be booked and paid through the platform under the terms. Platform-arranged insurance applies only to eligible visits, subject to the policy; do not assume off-platform work is covered.

No deposit, no joining fee, and no package to sign up to. A single visit is enough; check the durations and rates offered by your carer. Either side can end hourly care with 48 hours’ notice. How to find the best carers explains how families try a carer before committing to anything regular.

Under the contract a visit you cancel is payable in full, unless it is because of unplanned hospitalisation or illness, or for another reason you and the carer agree between you. The carer may waive part or all of it at their own discretion. PrimeCarers does not charge anything of its own when a visit is cancelled. Read the contract.

Weekends are charged at the carer’s normal rate. Bank holidays are charged at one and a half times the normal rate, and Christmas Day at double. Those two uplifts are in the contract, not at the carer’s discretion.

Not during a contract. The rate stays as agreed, and any change needs a new contract that you both sign. A carer can change the rate they advertise for new bookings, so the price on their profile may differ from the one in an older contract.

Only if you have agreed it in advance, in writing, with the rate and the circumstances. Most families do not. Where a carer drives your relative in their own car, the HMRC rate of 55p a mile is the usual reference point.

An agency charges £28 to £35 an hour and keeps a large share of it to cover its offices, rotas and management; the carer doing the visit sees around £12. On PrimeCarers the carer sets the rate and our fee is 20% of it for an hourly visit, so the carer keeps £16 of a £20 hour. The fee is lower on longer bookings: 15% on a shift of six hours or more, and 12.5% on live-in care. You pay less and the carer earns more for the same visit.

Yes. The averages and the charts are the rates carers advertise on their profiles, which already include our fee. They are refreshed from the platform, so they move as carers join and update their rates. Local figures are on each county and town page.