The short answer
- Self-employed, and working for you directlyA private carer is not employed by PrimeCarers or by an agency. You agree the visits and the rate with them yourself, and PrimeCarers introduces you but does not provide or manage the care.
- Three things fill most visitsPersonal care, companionship and the household jobs that keep a home running. A few tasks, such as giving an injection, are reserved by law for a nurse rather than a carer.
- Checked before their profile appears, without an agency behind themIdentity, right to work, an enhanced DBS check kept current, and an online interview, all completed before you ever see who they are.
- Usually cheaper than an agency, hour for hourCarers on PrimeCarers charge £18 to £25 an hour with our fee included, against £28 to £35 through most agencies for the same visit.
PrimeCarers is an introductory service, not a care agency, and is not registered with the CQC. It introduces families to self-employed carers; it does not employ them or manage the care they give.
What they do
The three things a private carer's visits are built around
A private carer plans a visit around the same three jobs, whichever family they are working for. Knowing what falls into each one helps you describe what you need when you start looking.
Companionship
Every visit
Personal care
Washing, dressing, toileting
Household tasks
Cooking, cleaning, admin
Some tasks are off limits by law rather than by choice, and it is worth knowing which before you start looking. What are carers not allowed to do? sets out the full list, including medication, injections and lifting, and who does each job instead.
Private carer, agency or direct
How a private carer differs from an agency carer or hiring someone yourself
Private carer describes who employs them and who you deal with, not just what they cost. There are three routes to a carer, and each one answers those questions differently.
A private carer on PrimeCarers
Self-employed, found through an introductory service
£18–£25 an hour, our fee included
Who sets the rate
The carer sets it, and you agree it with them directly.
CQC registration
Not required. They work under your direction, not an agency’s.
Checked before you start
Identity, right to work and enhanced DBS checked, and an online interview completed, before their profile appears.
A care agency carer
Employed and rota’d by a CQC-registered agency
£28–£35 an hour
Who sets the rate
The agency sets it as part of its price list.
CQC registration
The agency is registered with and inspected by the CQC.
Checked before you start
Run by the agency as their employer, before they join its rota.
Someone you find and employ yourself
You become their employer
£16–£18 an hour, plus your own employer costs
Who sets the rate
Agreed between the two of you, with nobody else involved.
CQC registration
Not required. They work under your direction, not an agency’s.
Checked before you start
Your responsibility to arrange, including their DBS certificate and right to work.
Price is one difference: carers on PrimeCarers charge £18 to £25 an hour with our fee included, against £28 to £35 for the same visit through most agencies. The bigger difference for many families is who turns up. An agency sends whoever is free on its rota that day, while a private carer is the same person each visit, because you have chosen them and they are working for you, not juggling several agency clients on a schedule somebody else set. Private carers vs agency carers compares the two in more depth, and agency or private carer: the three routes compared walks through moving from one to another.
How they are checked
The four checks that stand in place of an agency's vetting
PrimeCarers is not a care agency and does not employ carers, so there is no employer running checks behind the scenes in the way an agency does for its staff. Instead, four checks are completed before a carer's profile ever reaches a family.
Checked before a carer's profile appears
0 of 4 ticked
The four checks
Training, qualifications and what a previous client thought are not part of these four checks, because none of them can confirm those things; carers add references to their own profile, and it is worth reading them and asking about training yourself. Background checks on a private carer sets out what each of the four checks covers and what it does not. Because a private carer works directly for a family rather than through an agency, the arrangement does not need to be registered with the Care Quality Commission; do self-employed carers need to be registered with the CQC? explains the exemption in the regulations that makes that the case.
Getting started
From this page to your first visit
Three steps, and the checking above is already done before you start the first one.
- 1
Search carers near you
FreeSee each carer’s rate, experience and reviews, alongside confirmation that identity, right to work and enhanced DBS have been checked and the online interview completed. - 2
Message a few and ask about the visits you need
This weekDescribe the mornings, the meals or the jobs you want help with, and ask how they would approach them. - 3
Agree the visits and the rate directly with the carer you choose
Week 1You and the carer set the days, the hours and the price between you. PrimeCarers introduces you but is not the employer or the care provider.
Questions
Questions families ask about private carers
A private carer is self-employed and works directly for the family that hires them, setting their own rate and hours. An agency carer is employed by a care agency, which sets the rate, runs the rota and can send a different member of staff to each visit. Private carers vs agency carers compares the two in more depth.
A private carer can help with personal care such as washing, dressing and toileting, companionship, and household tasks such as cooking, cleaning and shopping. Tasks the law treats as nursing, such as giving an injection or dressing a wound, are reserved for a nurse. What are carers not allowed to do? has the full list.
Carers on PrimeCarers charge £18 to £25 an hour with our fee included, against £28 to £35 an hour through most agencies for the same visit. Hiring somebody yourself, without an introductory service or an agency involved, tends to run £16 to £18 an hour, though you take on an employer's responsibilities as well.
Before a carer’s profile appears on PrimeCarers, their identity, right to work and enhanced DBS certificate are checked, and they complete an online interview. The DBS check is kept current on the Update Service rather than relied on as a one-off certificate. How we vet every carer sets out the process in full.
No, provided a family hires them directly rather than through an agency. The regulations that set out the Care Quality Commission’s role specifically exclude a carer who works wholly under an individual’s direction, without an employment agency involved. Do self-employed carers need to be registered with the CQC? explains when that changes.
Search by postcode to see private carers near you, with their rate, experience and reviews on each profile. Every carer has been through the checks above before their profile appears, so you can go straight to messaging the ones you like.