The short answer
- Yes, and the route decides the legal positionEmploy somebody directly and you are the employer. Book a self-employed carer through a service like PrimeCarers and neither of you employs the other. Use an agency and the agency is the employer.
- A contract that says self-employed does not settle itHMRC looks at how the work happens in practice: who sets the hours, who directs the work, and whether the carer could send someone else in their place.
- Being the employer brings a fixed list of dutiesRight to work and DBS checks, at least the National Living Wage of £12.71 an hour, employer's liability insurance, a written contract and paid holiday. None of these apply if the carer is self-employed.
- The middle route usually costs less than an agency and less admin than employing directlyA self-employed carer through PrimeCarers costs £18 to £25 an hour with none of the payroll, against agency rates of £28 to £35 or the admin of employing someone yourself.
PrimeCarers is an introductory service, not a care agency and not registered with the CQC. Carers on the platform are self-employed and checked before their profile appears.
The three routes
Yes, you can employ a private carer, in three different ways
Everybody arranging care at home ends up on one of three routes, and each one answers the questions of who is the employer, who checks the carer, and who carries the admin, in a different way.
Employ them yourself
- Who is the legal employer
- You become the legal employer.
- Who checks the carer
- Right to work and an enhanced DBS certificate are your legal responsibility to see before their first day.
- What it costs
- From £12.71 an hour at minimum wage, about £14.45 once holiday and pension are added.
- Who runs the payroll and cover
- Payroll, a written contract, employer’s liability insurance and cover when they are away or ill are all yours to arrange.
- How much choice you have
- Full choice: you find, interview and keep whoever you want.
Book a self-employed carer through an introductory service
- Who is the legal employer
- Neither of you employs the other. The carer is self-employed and invoices you for the hours worked.
- Who checks the carer
- Identity, right to work and an enhanced DBS check are completed and kept current before a profile appears.
- What it costs
- £18 to £25 an hour on PrimeCarers, with our fee included.
- Who runs the payroll and cover
- No payroll. You agree the visits directly with the carer and pay their invoices.
- How much choice you have
- You choose from vetted profiles and interview before you book.
Use a home care agency
- Who is the legal employer
- The agency is the legal employer, not you.
- Who checks the carer
- The agency’s responsibility, as a CQC-registered provider.
- What it costs
- £28 to £35 an hour.
- Who runs the payroll and cover
- The agency runs payroll, insurance, sick cover and complaints handling.
- How much choice you have
- The agency assigns a carer from its rota, and the person can change between visits.
This route does not feel like employing or hiring, because you are paying for hours worked, not running a payroll. You find a carer, agree the visits, and pay for the hours worked, the same way you would pay a plumber or a driving instructor. The carer is in business on their own account, sets their own rate, and is responsible for their own tax. Background checks for private carers sets out exactly what is checked before a carer's profile appears on PrimeCarers, so you can see what "vetted" means in practice.
Are you the employer?
Whether you become an employer depends on how the arrangement works
Whether you become an employer decides which duties apply and who checks the carer. It is not settled by what you call the carer or what a contract says. HMRC looks at how the work happens in practice.
Signs you have become the employer, not a client paying for hours
0 of 7 ticked
Points towards employment
Points towards self-employment
Carers on PrimeCarers work the second way: you agree the visits under a written contract, they invoice for the care they gave, and no payroll comes with it. If your own arrangement has features from both lists, employing a private carer has the full seven-point test HMRC applies, and a free tool to settle the question. Getting it wrong is expensive: if HMRC later decides a carer you treated as self-employed was in fact your employee, you owe the tax and National Insurance that should have been deducted, backdated, with interest.
If you are the employer
What the law asks of you once you are the employer
If you set the hours, direct the work and pay a wage, this list is yours, whatever the arrangement is called. None of it applies to a self-employed carer you book through an introductory service.
The core duties, before and during the job
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Before the first day
Every pay day
This is the short version. Employing a private carer sets out the full list, including the pension, Statutory Sick Pay, National Insurance, and what an employed hour costs once everything is added, with the 2026/27 figures from gov.uk. A self-employed carer who works directly for you, without an agency in between, generally does not need to register with the CQC in their own right, because the personal care activity the CQC regulates has an exemption for someone working directly for the person they care for, checked 1 September 2026.
Which route to choose
Which route tends to suit which family
There is no single right answer, and plenty of families use different routes for different relatives, or move between them as needs change.
Reasons to lean this way
- Employ directly if you already know exactly who you want and have the time to run a payroll, or a council direct payment that pays for one
- Book through an introductory service if you want to choose and interview the carer yourself, but without becoming an employer
- Use an agency if you want somebody else to answer for cover, complaints and staffing, and are willing to pay more for it
- Ask the council for a care needs assessment first if you are not sure how many hours you need on any route; it is free
Worth knowing before you choose
- Employing directly is the cheapest route on paper and the most admin in practice; both are true at once
- An agency carer can change between visits, which some people find unsettling
- A self-employed carer sets their own diary, so if you need cover at very short notice, ask how they arrange it before you book
- Whichever route you pick, the checks and the contract still matter; do not skip them because a route feels informal
Care agency or private carer: the three routes compared sets the costs and the practical trade-offs of switching between them side by side, if you want to see the full comparison before deciding. What a private carer costs per hour breaks the pricing down further by area and by how much care is needed.
How to start
How to book a self-employed carer this week
If the middle route suits you, most of the checking and the paperwork is done before you start looking.
- 1
Search carers near you
FreeEvery profile shows a carer's rate, experience and reviews, and confirms their identity, right to work and enhanced DBS have already been checked and their online interview completed. - 2
Interview two or three
This weekMessage them about the visits you need. This is also where you read the references on their profile, which sit there for you rather than being checked by PrimeCarers. - 3
Agree the visits under the standard contract
Before the first visitThe contract sets out how the arrangement works between you and the carer. No payroll, no PAYE, and PrimeCarers charges nothing to introduce you. - 4
Book the first week, then adjust
Week 1Visits can go up or down whenever you both agree. If you decide later that direct employment suits you better for a live-in arrangement, the duties above still apply.
Questions
Questions families ask about employing a private carer
Yes. You can recruit, interview and pay a carer directly, and you become their legal employer if you set their hours, direct the work and pay a wage. That brings duties with it: right to work and DBS checks, at least the National Living Wage, employer's liability insurance, a written contract and paid holiday. Employing a private carer covers the full list.
No. Carers on PrimeCarers are self-employed. You agree the visits directly with them under a written contract, they invoice you for the hours worked, and none of the employer duties, PAYE, holiday pay or pension, apply. PrimeCarers introduces you to the carer; it does not employ them and is not a care agency.
With an agency, the agency employs the carer, assigns whoever is on the rota, and answers for cover, complaints and insurance, usually at a higher hourly rate. With a private carer, whether employed directly or self-employed through a service like PrimeCarers, you choose and keep the same person. Care agency or private carer compares the costs and the trade-offs in full.
Generally not, if the carer works directly for you or your relative rather than through an agency. The personal care activity the CQC regulates has an exemption for a self-employed individual working directly for the person they care for. Do self-employed carers need to be registered with the CQC? covers when that changes, for example if more than one carer works together as a business.
Look at who sets the hours, who directs how the work is done, whether the carer could send someone else in their place, and whether they have other clients. If most of those point one way, that is usually your answer, and HMRC's free Check Employment Status for Tax tool will confirm it in about ten minutes. Keep a copy of the result.
Yes, if the care is funded through a council direct payment. The council's direct payments team will often pay for a payroll service and the employer's liability insurance as part of the package, since both are required once you become an employer. Local authority funding explains how to ask for one.