The short answer
- No, and there is a reason in lawPersonal care given by a carer working directly for the family they care for, without an agency involved, is specifically excluded from CQC’s regulated activities.
- PrimeCarers does not need to be registered eitherAn introductory service with no ongoing role in the care once a carer is found sits outside CQC’s scope in the same way.
- A limited company changes the answerIf a carer trades through their own limited company rather than as a sole trader, the company can fall back inside CQC’s regulated activities.
- Their rate does not include VATSelf-employed carers are not CQC-registered, so the VAT exemption for agencies does not apply to them. Most earn well under the £90,000 registration threshold anyway.
Checked against the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 and current CQC and HMRC guidance, September 2026.
The short answer
Why CQC does not treat this as a regulated activity
The Care Quality Commission is the regulator for health and social care in England. It registers and inspects care homes, hospitals and home care agencies, and rates how well each one is run. Care given under a private arrangement between a family and a self-employed carer sits outside that system, and the reason is written into the regulations rather than being a gap nobody has closed.
The regulations that set out which activities CQC must regulate exclude "the services of a carer employed by an individual or related third party, without the involvement of an undertaking acting as an employment agency or employment business, and working wholly under the direction and control of that individual or related third party." In practice, that covers a self-employed carer, sometimes called a personal assistant, who a family finds and agrees terms with directly. Because the family is the one directing the day-to-day care rather than an agency, CQC does not inspect it the way it inspects a care home or a home care agency's rota.
A self-employed carer you hire directly
The personal assistant exemption
CQC registration: Not required
Why
They work under your direction and control, without an agency involved, which the regulations specifically exclude from CQC’s regulated activities.
Who answers if something goes wrong
You and the carer, between yourselves. PrimeCarers introduces you but is not the employer or the care provider.
A carer trading through their own limited company
Usually changes the answer
CQC registration: Generally required
Why
A limited company is a business supplying the care rather than an individual working directly for you, so the exemption above no longer applies.
Who answers if something goes wrong
The company, if it is registered as it should be. Ask to see its CQC registration before you book.
A CQC-registered home care agency
Registered and inspected
CQC registration: Already registered
Why
The agency employs and directs its own care staff, so it is the agency CQC regulates and inspects, not each individual carer.
Who answers if something goes wrong
The agency, which is legally responsible for the care it delivers.
PrimeCarers is not registered with the CQC either, for a related reason. CQC guidance treats an introductory service as outside its scope as long as it has no ongoing role in the care once a carer has been found, meaning it does not supervise carers, run rotas or handle complaints about how a visit went. PrimeCarers introduces families to self-employed carers and steps back; the day-to-day arrangement is between the family and the carer they choose. How we vet every carer sets out what is checked before that introduction happens.
When a limited company changes the answerSection titled When%20a%20limited%20company%20changes%20the%20answer
The exemption above depends on a carer, not a business, providing the care under the family's direction. Some carers, usually those with several clients, set up their own limited company rather than registering as a sole trader. Once a limited company is the entity supplying the care, it counts as a business in the same way an agency does, and the exemption no longer applies. The company is generally expected to register with CQC in its own right, because the reasoning behind the exemption, that the family is dealing directly with the person doing the caring, no longer holds. If a carer you are considering trades through a limited company, ask whether that company is CQC-registered, and treat an arrangement with an unregistered one as you would an unregistered agency.
If CQC is not involved
What still keeps care safe without CQC inspecting it
Not being CQC-regulated does not mean nobody is checking anything. It means the checking is the family's job rather than an inspector's, and it is worth knowing what that job covers.
Before you rely on a self-employed carer
0 of 6 ticked
Before the first visit
Cover, if they are ill or on holiday
Insurance
Background checks on a private carer sets out exactly what each of those checks confirms and what it does not. How to check a private carer walks through interviewing and reading references step by step, do private carers need a DBS? goes further into what that check does and does not show, and private carer insurance explains what cover to look for.
Money
Why a self-employed carer's rate does not include VAT
VAT comes up when a family compares a self-employed carer's rate with an agency's and wonders why one includes it and the other does not.
Care given by a state-regulated provider, meaning one registered with CQC, counts as an exempt welfare service, so no VAT is added to the bill. A self-employed carer is not state-regulated, so that exemption does not apply to them.
£90,000
The VAT registration threshold for any self-employed trader, including a self-employed carer, in any rolling 12-month period. It has stood at this level since April 2024.
HMRC, gov.uk, checked September 2026.
If a self-employed carer's total turnover across every client they work for passed that threshold, they would have to register for VAT and start charging it, in the same way any other self-employed tradesperson would. In practice very few self-employed carers earn close to that from care work alone, so most never register, and their rate stays the rate you see quoted.
When to choose differently
When a CQC-registered agency is worth the extra cost
A self-employed carer suits live-in care and a settled routine of one or two visits a day well. When a routine gets more complicated, a CQC-registered agency can be the better fit, even though it is not required by law.
Several short visits spread across the day
You want one registered organisation answering for everything
If you are weighing the two routes up more broadly rather than just the CQC question, care agency or private carer: the three routes compared sets out the full comparison, cost included.
Questions
Questions families ask about CQC and self-employed carers
No, not if they are engaged directly by a family rather than through an agency. The regulations that define CQC’s regulated activities exclude a carer working under the direction and control of the person they care for, without an agency involved. Background checks on a private carer covers what is checked instead.
No. PrimeCarers is an introductory service, not a care agency or care provider, and it has no ongoing role in the care once a carer has been found, so it sits outside CQC’s scope in the same way a self-employed carer does. How we vet every carer explains what is checked before an introduction is made.
The CQC exemption for a directly-hired carer depends on a person, not a business, providing the care under the family’s direction. Once a limited company is the entity supplying the care, it is generally expected to register with CQC in its own right. Ask to see the registration if a carer you are considering trades through a limited company.
No, but it does mean the checking is the family’s job rather than an inspector’s. A self-employed carer found through PrimeCarers has had their identity, right to work and enhanced DBS checked, and an online interview completed, before their profile appears. A carer found elsewhere should be asked to show the same. How to check a private carer covers the process step by step.
No. The VAT exemption for welfare services applies to state-regulated providers such as CQC-registered agencies, not to a self-employed carer hired directly. A self-employed carer only has to register for and charge VAT if their total turnover passes the registration threshold, currently £90,000 in any rolling 12 months, which is rare from care work alone.
Mainly when a routine needs several short visits spread across the day, which takes more staff than one carer can provide, or when a family wants one registered organisation legally responsible for cover, training and complaints. Care agency or private carer: the three routes compared sets out the trade-offs in full.