Guide
Hiring a Private Carer: What to Agree Before You Start
Hiring a private carer directly means there's no agency contract setting the ground rules for you — so it's worth agreeing a few practical things with your carer up front, in the same friendly, straightforward way you'd agree anything else between two people about to be working closely together.
Checking who you're hiring
• Ask to see their enhanced DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) certificate, and check it's reasonably recent — anyone working alone with a vulnerable adult in their own home should have one. • Ask whether they carry public liability and professional indemnity insurance, and ask to see evidence of it. • Ask for references, or feedback from families they've worked with before — a carer confident in their own work will usually be glad to put you in touch. None of this is about distrust — it's simply the same due diligence an agency would already have done on your behalf, done directly instead.
Agreeing the days you need
Confirm the specific days and times you need covered before the first visit, and get it written down rather than left as a loose understanding — it helps your carer plan around their other clients, and gives you both something to refer back to if it's ever remembered differently later.
Setting the hourly rate
Most private carers charge more for weekend visits, and more again for bank holidays — the same way most jobs pay extra for unsociable hours. Agree all three rates (standard, weekend, and bank holiday) at the outset, not just the weekday figure, so there's no surprise the first time a Saturday or bank holiday visit appears on an invoice.
If your carer can't make a visit
Illness and emergencies happen to carers too. Agree in advance what happens if they can't attend a confirmed visit — do they arrange their own cover, are you willing to help find someone you both trust, or is it simply rearranged for another time? There's no set rule either way; what matters is that you've talked about it before it happens, rather than working it out in the moment.
If you need to cancel a confirmed visit
This is worth thinking about carefully, and in the spirit it's meant: a self-employed carer relies on the hours you've confirmed with them in the same way anyone relies on their income to cover their own bills and commitments — a cancelled visit is lost earnings for them, not just a gap in your diary. If you'd booked the same hours through a care agency, the agency's contract would typically bind you to pay for a cancelled visit regardless, usually unless you give a set amount of notice — often 24–48 hours. A private arrangement doesn't come with that built in, so it's worth agreeing your own version of it with your carer: whether you'll pay in full for a visit cancelled at short notice, and how much notice counts as enough. Many families choose to pay regardless, precisely because it's the same certainty an agency contract would have given the carer anyway.
Hospital stays and respite breaks
If the person you're caring for goes into hospital or has a period of respite care, don't assume the arrangement with your carer has to end. Many local authorities will continue a council-funded Direct Payment for a limited period — commonly up to four weeks — specifically to protect continuity of care, meaning your carer can still be paid to hold those visits open rather than you having to find someone new once care resumes. It's worth checking this directly with your local authority's adult social care team, since the exact rules vary by area.
Care Companion keeps whatever you agree — rates, schedule, cover arrangements — written down and visible to everyone in the circle, not just remembered. Free to get started.
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