The short answer
- Four checks happen automatically on PrimeCarersIdentity, right to work, an enhanced DBS check and an online interview are all done before a carer's profile ever appears. Arrange care a different way and several of these become your own job.
- References and training are always yours to ask aboutNo background check confirms a qualification or what a previous client thought. That is true whichever route you take, so read what is on a profile and ask directly.
- The interview and the first visits show you what no certificate canHow someone talks about a hard day, and how they are in the room with your relative, only become visible once you meet them and watch them together.
- A trial period and a plan in writing catch most problems while they are smallAgree what the carer will do, book a trial, and add to the plan as you learn what works. Most disagreements start with something nobody wrote down.
PrimeCarers is an introductory service, not a care agency and not registered with the CQC. Carers are self-employed. This page sets out the whole process of checking one, whether or not you use PrimeCarers to find them.
The six stages
Six stages between a name and a carer you trust
Checking a carer is not a single step. It is six of them, each answering something the one before it did not, and they happen in roughly this order whether you find a carer through PrimeCarers, an agency, or someone you were told about.
Stage 1
Find people worth checking
Word of mouth, a local carer search, or an agency shortlist. A profile that already shows who has been checked is a shorter route than starting from nothing.
Stage 2
Confirm who they are
On PrimeCarers
Identity, right to work and an enhanced DBS check are done before a profile ever appears.
Arranged directly
A family cannot request a DBS check on someone they have not employed, so this becomes something to ask the carer to arrange and show you.
Stage 3
Take up references
On PrimeCarers
Not checked by PrimeCarers. References sit on a carer’s own profile for you to read and the people on them to call.
Arranged directly
The same two calls, found and made by you from nothing.
Stage 4
Meet them and ask questions
On PrimeCarers
An online interview is completed before the profile appears, as well as the meeting you arrange yourself.
Arranged directly
The only interview that happens is the one you set up.
Stage 5
Watch how they are with your relative
No check, online or on paper, can show this. It only becomes visible once you see the two of them together, which is what the steps above are there to get you to.
Stage 6
Run a trial, then keep checking in
A paid trial and a short written plan are what catch a problem while it is still small, on either route.
The rest of this page takes each stage in turn. If you only need one part of it, the sections in the contents list on this page link straight to it, and each one links on to a longer page if there is more to say than fits here.
Finding people to check
Finding people worth checking in the first place
You cannot check somebody you have not found yet. Where you look shapes how much checking is still left to do once you have a name.
An introductory service
PrimeCarers and similar platforms
A care agency
CQC-registered
Word of mouth or a local carer
You arrange everything
A relative already known to your family
Still worth checking
Whichever route you start from, how to find the best carers sets out what each one costs and who it tends to suit, including the point at which caring for a relative yourself starts to need paid help alongside it.
The four background checks
What is checked before you even meet them
Four separate checks sit behind a word like vetted, and each one answers a different question. Knowing what each does, and does not, cover is more useful than trusting the word on its own.
The four checks, and what each one is for
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On PrimeCarers, all four are in place before a carer's profile appears. Background checks on a private carer sets out what each one confirms and what none of them reaches. If you have found a carer a different way, a family cannot request a DBS check on someone it has not employed. Since 21 January 2026, a self-employed carer can apply for their own enhanced certificate through a registered umbrella body, so ask them to do this and show you the certificate, and ask whether they are on the DBS Update Service, which costs the certificate holder £16 a year and lets you confirm their status online at any time rather than trusting a piece of paper that could be years old. Do private carers need a DBS check? goes further into reading a certificate and what the law says about who has to have one.
References
Taking up references, and what the call is for
A background check confirms a document. A reference confirms what it was like to be cared for by this person, from someone who has already been through it.
- 1
Ask for at least two
Recent ones, where possibleA reference from a role that ended two months ago tells you more than one from three years back. On PrimeCarers, references sit on a carer's own profile rather than being checked by PrimeCarers itself, so read what is there and follow up the ones that matter to you. - 2
Ask open questions rather than yes or no ones
A ten-minute callWhat tasks did the carer do. How did they handle a difficult moment. Did they communicate well with the family. A reference who talks freely is telling you more than one giving short, guarded answers. - 3
Ask the one question that cuts through the rest
If time is shortWould you hire them again, or recommend them to someone else. Hesitation before answering says more than the words that follow it. - 4
Write down what you hear, while it is fresh
A few lines is enoughA short note after each call makes it easier to compare carers once you have spoken to two or three, rather than trying to remember the differences later.
References work alongside the four checks above rather than replacing any of them: a clean DBS certificate and a warm reference are answering entirely different questions, and neither substitutes for the other. Choosing your private carer covers references again alongside the interview itself, since most families do both in the same conversation.
Meeting them
The interview, and watching how they are with your relative
A certificate and a reference both describe the past. The interview, and the first time you see a carer with your relative, is the only part of checking that happens in the present tense.
Worth doing at the meeting
- Ask about a specific hard situation and how they handled it, rather than a general question about their approach
- Ask how they would respond if your relative refused to get out of bed or cooperate with a task
- Ask about experience with the particular condition your relative has, not just general care experience
- Bring your relative into part of the conversation if they are able to take part
Worth noticing, not just asking about
- How they talk about previous clients: respectful and specific is a good sign, vague or dismissive is worth a follow-up question
- Whether they speak to your relative directly or only to you
- How your relative reacts to them, including small things like whether they relax or stay guarded
- Whether their manner changes once they think the interview part is over
Choosing your private carer has a longer list of interview questions and what to prepare beforehand, and what makes a good carer sets out the character, skill and reliability traits worth watching for, and roughly when each one becomes visible.
Training and licensing
Training, qualifications, and why there is no licence to check
Families sometimes look for a licence the way they would for a driving instructor or an electrician. There is not one, and knowing what stands in its place changes what is worth asking instead.
Since there is no licence, ask about this instead
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There is no personal licence for care work in the UK, whether a carer is employed by an agency, employed directly, or self-employed, and no law requires the Care Certificate either, though most employers expect a new carer to complete it. Do you need a licence to be a carer? sets out what is regulated instead, since it is the agency's registration with the CQC that stands in the licence's place, not anything held by the individual carer.
Trial and check-ins
A trial period, then regular check-ins
Every check so far happens before the first visit. What happens during the first few weeks tells you more about the arrangement than any of it.
- 1
Write a short care plan together
Before the first visitWhat the carer will do, in what order, and what done looks like for each task. Most disagreements later start with something that was never written down. - 2
Book a trial period
A few weeks is usualLong enough to see a normal week and one that does not go to plan. Visits already booked are payable as agreed, so a trial is a commitment to pay for, not a free look. - 3
Agree how you will raise something small
Set this up in advanceA quick message after a visit, or a short weekly call, so a missed task gets mentioned the first time rather than the sixth. - 4
Ask your relative what they think
Throughout, not just at the endThey are the one being cared for, and their reaction to the carer is information the trial exists to surface.
Building a care plan with your carer has a starting template if you want one rather than writing from a blank page.
If something feels wrong
Recognising a problem, and what to do about it
Checking does not stop once a carer is in place. Most problems are still small ones worth raising directly, and a few need to be treated differently from the start.
Signs worth paying attention to
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Most concerns are still best raised as a calm, specific conversation with the carer first, since lateness or a missed task is usually put right that way rather than by ending the arrangement. Trouble with a private carer? What to do, step by step covers the whole process, from a first conversation through to ending the arrangement, including the notice and payment set out in the PrimeCarers terms of service.
Questions
Questions families ask about checking a carer
Identity against photo ID, the right to work in the UK, an enhanced DBS check with a barred list check, and a proper conversation with them before you decide. If you are arranging care outside PrimeCarers, add at least two references from past clients or employers, since nobody else checks those for you. Background checks on a private carer covers what each one confirms.
Not directly. A family cannot request a DBS check on someone it has not employed. Since 21 January 2026, a self-employed carer can apply for their own enhanced certificate through a registered umbrella body, so ask them to do this and show you the original certificate, or confirm their status through the DBS Update Service if they subscribe to it. Do private carers need a DBS check? covers reading the certificate itself.
At least two, ideally recent ones. Ask open questions rather than yes or no ones: what tasks the carer did, how they handled a difficult moment, and whether they communicated well with the family. If time is short, ask whether the referee would hire the carer again, since hesitation before answering tells you more than the words that follow it.
Ask about a specific hard situation they have handled, rather than a general question about their approach, and ask about experience with your relative's particular condition rather than care experience in general. Choosing your private carer has a longer list of questions and what to prepare before they arrive.
There is no personal licence for care work in the UK, so there is nothing to check in that sense. Qualifications such as the Care Certificate or a Level 2 or 3 Diploma in Adult Care are not compulsory either, though it is reasonable to ask whether a carer holds one. Do you need a licence to be a carer? sets out what is regulated instead.
A few weeks is usual, long enough to see an ordinary week and one that does not go to plan. Visits booked during a trial are payable as agreed, so treat it as a considered start rather than a free look, and agree in advance how you and the carer will raise anything that needs to change.
Call 999 if anyone is in immediate danger. If you suspect abuse or neglect but there is no immediate danger, contact your local council's adult safeguarding team, which must make enquiries under section 42 of the Care Act 2014 once it has reasonable cause for concern. Trouble with a private carer? What to do, step by step covers this alongside smaller, everyday problems.
Yes. Every self-employed carer's identity, right to work and enhanced DBS certificate are checked, and kept current on the DBS Update Service, before their profile ever appears, alongside an online interview. How we vet every carer sets out the process. References, training and how a carer is with your relative are still for you to check, whichever route you take.
You can, at any point. Notice and payment are set out in the PrimeCarers terms of service rather than on this page, and trouble with a private carer covers how that works alongside what to do if the problem is a safety concern rather than a simple mismatch.