The short answer
- Read your agency contract before you name a dateNotice periods vary by agency, and are usually somewhere between one and four weeks. Give notice in writing and keep a copy.
- Overlap the switch rather than doing it coldA visit or two where the outgoing and incoming carer are both involved passes on the routine, the medication times and the small things that never make it onto paper.
- Get the paperwork before the last visit, not afterThe care plan, the medication record and any equipment on loan belong to your relative. Ask for them in writing before the agency leaves for good.
- Cost depends on the route you choose nextA self-employed carer found through an introductory service typically charges £18 to £25 an hour, against £28 to £35 from an agency. Employing a carer directly costs less an hour but adds duties that are yours to run.
PrimeCarers is an introductory service, not a care agency and not registered with the CQC. Carers who list themselves are self-employed; PrimeCarers checks their identity, right to work and enhanced DBS, and interviews them online, before their profile appears.
Making the switch
What was the agency's job, and whose it becomes
An agency does several things behind the scenes that a family barely notices until it stops. Knowing what they were, and who picks each one up, makes the rest of this page easier to follow.
Choosing who comes to the door
Now yours to choose
Who employs the carer
Depends on the route you pick
Cover if the carer is ill or on holiday
No longer automatic
What you pay for the same hour
£18–£25 on PrimeCarers
These are the questions worth answering before you give notice. Private carers vs agency carers sets out the fuller comparison, and agency, private carer or hiring yourself compares all three routes side by side, including live-in care. If you are not sure whether booking a specific carer would make you their employer, can I employ a private carer? sorts the question in a few minutes.
Ending agency care safely
Overlap the switch rather than stopping cold
The risk in any switch is a gap: a day or a week where nobody is quite sure who is covering the visits. The way to avoid it is to start the new arrangement before the old one ends, not after.
- About 3 weeks beforeAgency covers every visit
Search and shortlist while the agency carries on as normal
Nothing changes for your relative yet. Search private carers near them, read profiles and reviews, and message two or three. There is no cost or commitment at this stage, so it can run alongside the existing visits without any risk to them.
- About 2 weeks beforeAgency covers every visit
Interview your shortlist and give the agency written notice
Meet or call the carers you liked, and confirm their identity, right to work and enhanced DBS checks yourself if you are not booking through a service that already does this. At the same time, read your agency contract for its notice period and give notice in writing, dated from the day you want the last agency visit to fall.
- Final agency weekBoth, for a visit or two
Overlap a visit if the two diaries allow it
If the agency carer and the new private carer can be in the house together for even one visit, or the new carer can arrive an hour before the agency’s last call, the routine, the medication times and the small things that never make it onto paper pass on out loud. It is not always possible, but it is worth asking for.
- The agency’s last visitHandover day
Collect the care plan, the medication list and any equipment
Ask the agency in writing for a copy of the current care plan, the medication administration record, and details of any equipment on loan before the last visit, not after. Confirm the final invoice and the date cover ends, so there is no week where you are unsure who is responsible.
- Week 1 onwardsPrivate carer only
Your private carer runs the full week, then you review together
Let the GP, pharmacist and district nurse know care has changed hands, so they update who they speak to. After the first week, go through what worked and what needs adjusting with the carer, the way you would with any new arrangement.
Agency contracts vary, but written notice of somewhere between one and four weeks is common, so check yours before you name a start date to a new carer. Give notice in writing, by letter or email, and keep a copy with the date the agency confirms cover will end. If your relative's care is funded in whole or in part by a council direct payment, that funding can normally continue and be used to pay a private carer instead, because a direct payment exists to give a family choice over who provides the care. Check this with the social worker before the agency's last visit; how direct payments work has the detail, and local authority funding covers the needs assessment behind it.
It also helps to bring the wider family into the decision before the switch happens, rather than after. A short family meeting or phone call to explain the new arrangement, who is paying for what, and who to contact once the agency has gone, gives everyone the chance to ask questions while there is still time to answer them.
Before the agency stops
Finding and checking a private carer while the agency still comes
Do this while the existing visits are still running, so there is no pressure to book the first person who replies and nothing depends on how quickly it goes.
- 1
Search carers near your relative
As soon as you decide to moveEvery profile on PrimeCarers 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
By phone or video firstAsk about their experience with your relative’s specific needs, and how they would cover the tasks the agency currently does. - 3
Confirm the checks yourself if you found the carer another way
Only if arranging care outside a vetting serviceA carer found through a job board or word of mouth still needs the same identity, right to work and enhanced DBS checks, and it becomes your job to see them. - 4
Agree a start date that sits inside the agency’s notice period
Before you give noticeDo not book the new carer to start until you know when the agency’s cover ends, so the two arrangements do not clash or leave a gap between them.
How to interview a private carer has a fuller list of questions to ask at that stage. If you are arranging care outside a vetting service, checking a private carer yourself means working through the identity, right to work and enhanced DBS checks step by step; background checks explained and do private carers need a DBS check? cover what each one involves.
Handover day
What has to move with your relative, not stay in a filing cabinet
A care plan the agency has been working from for months holds details that took a while to learn. Ask for it in writing, and check it covers each of these before the last agency visit.
Before the agency's last visit
0 of 12 ticked
Medication and health
Daily routine
Safety and mobility
People to tell the care has changed hands
If your relative has a complex medical condition, such as advanced Parkinson's, a stoma, or insulin-dependent diabetes, ask their GP, district nurse or specialist to check the handover plan before the agency's last visit, so nothing that matters to their condition is missed in the move from one carer to another.
A short written care plan is worth keeping up to date whichever route you take, both so nothing is assumed and so the next person who needs to know already has it in one place. Building a care plan with your carer has a starting template.
Budgeting for the switch
What changes about the cost, and the week you may pay for both
The three routes out of an agency price the same hour differently, and the difference is mostly about who carries the admin, not the quality of the visit.
| Self-employed carer on PrimeCarers | Employ a carer directly | Your agency | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price for the hour | £18–£25 | From £12.71, about £14.45 once holiday and pension are added | £28–£35 |
| Payroll and National Insurance | None, you pay an invoice | Yours to run, from the first payday | The agency’s responsibility |
| Insurance while the carer works | Required under the carer’s contract, if you ask; ask to see proof before the first visit | Yours to buy, at least £5 million of employer’s liability cover | Included in the agency’s price |
| Identity, right to work and DBS checks | Checked before the profile appears | Yours to arrange and keep current | The agency’s responsibility |
Price for the hour
- Self-employed carer on PrimeCarers
- £18–£25
- Employ a carer directly
- From £12.71, about £14.45 once holiday and pension are added
- Your agency
- £28–£35
Payroll and National Insurance
- Self-employed carer on PrimeCarers
- None, you pay an invoice
- Employ a carer directly
- Yours to run, from the first payday
- Your agency
- The agency’s responsibility
Insurance while the carer works
- Self-employed carer on PrimeCarers
- Required under the carer’s contract, if you ask; ask to see proof before the first visit
- Employ a carer directly
- Yours to buy, at least £5 million of employer’s liability cover
- Your agency
- Included in the agency’s price
Identity, right to work and DBS checks
- Self-employed carer on PrimeCarers
- Checked before the profile appears
- Employ a carer directly
- Yours to arrange and keep current
- Your agency
- The agency’s responsibility
Figures checked against gov.uk on 5 September 2026.
Expect to pay for both arrangements during any overlap visit, which is usually the cost of one or two extra hours rather than a full extra week. If you decide to employ a carer directly rather than book a self-employed one, employing a private carer sets out the payroll, pension and contract duties in full, and private carer insurance covers what each route needs to have in place. Most families engaging a carer directly, rather than through an agency or another regulated provider, do not need to register the arrangement with the CQC themselves; do self-employed carers need to be registered with the CQC? explains when that changes.
Questions
Questions families ask about switching from an agency
It depends on the contract you signed, but somewhere between one and four weeks’ written notice is common. Read your agreement before you tell a new carer when to start, and give notice by letter or email so there is a record of the date.
Not if you plan it as an overlap rather than a stop and a start. Find and check a private carer while the agency still comes, agree a start date that sits inside the agency’s notice period, and try to overlap a visit or two so the handover happens in person rather than only on paper.
If your relative’s care is paid for in whole or part through a council direct payment, that payment can normally continue and be spent on a private carer instead, because a direct payment exists to give a family choice over who provides the care. Confirm this with the social worker before you give the agency notice. How direct payments work has the detail.
Yes. The care plan belongs to your relative, not the agency, and asking for a copy before the last visit is a reasonable request. Put it in writing and ask for the current medication administration record and details of any equipment on loan at the same time.
Only if you set their hours, direct how the work is done and pay them a wage regardless of whether visits happen. Book a self-employed carer through an introductory service such as PrimeCarers and neither of you is the other’s employer; you agree the visits together and pay for the hours worked. Can I employ a private carer? sorts the question for your situation.
An agency is responsible for checking its own staff as part of its CQC registration. A carer on PrimeCarers has their identity, right to work and enhanced DBS checked, kept current on the DBS Update Service at £16 a year, and completes an online interview, all before their profile appears. Background checks on a private carer sets out what each one covers and what it does not.
Involve them in choosing, if they are able to: let them read profiles, sit in on an interview, or meet a shortlist of two before you decide. An overlap visit with the outgoing agency carer present also helps, because it shows your relative that the change is planned rather than sudden. Adjusting to life with a personal carer covers the settling-in period in more depth.