Should you employ a private carer or use a care agency? For simple, stable needs, hiring privately can work well and often costs less per hour. For complex or changing needs, or when guaranteed cover matters if your carer is unwell, a care agency is usually the safer choice, since it takes on the legal and financial responsibilities for you.
This is still one of the biggest decisions you'll make for a loved one, and the right choice depends on your budget and how much control you want.
This guide is for family members comparing the two options, honestly and without a sales pitch. We'll cover the real hourly rates, the hidden homecare costs of hiring privately, and the legal responsibilities that come with becoming an employer. Understanding these now can save you time, money, and stress later.
A private carer, sometimes called a personal assistant or independent care worker, is a person hired directly by a family to provide private care, usually in someone's own home. When you look for a private carer, you're planning to become an employer.
If the carer works only for you, you'll need to employ them directly, taking on legal, financial and practical responsibilities. For example, you must manage payroll and HMRC compliance as an employer. Employing a private carer also incurs additional costs for training and insurance. Many excellent people offer private carer services in the UK, but it's still a serious undertaking for any family.
A care agency employs its own care team, matching carers with clients to provide a range of care services and support. This can include personal care, meal preparation, medication support, mobility assistance, domestic help, and companionship.
Care agencies are a key part of the care sector and provide regulated domiciliary care, meaning care delivered in a person's own home. This can range from short visits (hourly care) to full-time live-in care and specialist dementia care for those who need it. In short, an agency gives you a fully managed care service rather than a single carer working alone.
Using a private carer does have real advantages, and it's fair to say so.
You can interview every candidate yourself and choose your own carer. This gives you direct control over who supports your loved one day-to-day, which many family members value.
Families may choose a private carer for greater control over care delivery. You'll likely speak to them often, agree on tasks directly, and sort out issues without going through a third party. Private carers allow for a highly tailored care routine, and private care is beneficial for building long-term relationships with carers, since your loved one sees a familiar face each visit.
Hiring a private carer saves money on agency fees. Agencies charge for vetting, carer training, insurance, and ongoing supervision, so by hiring privately you avoid these specific costs, at least on paper.
Before you decide, though, there are several pitfalls worth weighing carefully. These aren't reasons to rule out hiring privately, but they do need honest thought.
Here are six things worth carefully considering before you commit to hiring a carer privately.
Employing a private carer makes you their legal employer, with new administrative responsibilities, including:
Care agencies handle legal and financial responsibilities for clients instead, covering recruitment, vetting, payroll, and contracts on your behalf.
A care plan sets out a person's needs and how support should be delivered. It's the foundation of personalised care, and agencies review it regularly.
Private carers may have less time for care plan assessments, because most are busy with hands-on support. Basic needs may be met, but specific needs can go undocumented.
There is no accredited training course for private carers in the UK, so even a carer who says they're trained may not meet a consistent standard. Self-employed carers must manage their own training and qualifications, with no one checking the outcome.
By contrast, care agencies provide ongoing training for staff, including in first aid, infection control, moving and handling, and medication awareness. Tiggo Care also runs on-site spot checks, so any training gaps are identified and addressed quickly.
Otherwise, you're relying on your relative's feedback alone.
As an employer, you must pay for your carer's training and protective equipment. This isn't cheap.
With a care agency, staff training and equipment are already covered, so you don't need to budget for either separately.
If your private carer falls ill, you may have no backup arrangements in place. Care agencies ensure continuity of care with backup staff and can provide immediate replacement carers if needed. Care agencies also provide guaranteed cover for holidays as well as illness, so recruiting a replacement privately takes time and money. Background checks on private carers cost about £50 each and typically take 3 to 5 working days. This gap matters most for services like overnight care, where a break in support isn't an option.
While we aim to send the same carer each time, because continuity matters, a suitable carer from our pool of trained carers is always available to step in if needed.
Care agencies that provide regulated services, such as personal care, must register with the Care Quality Commission (CQC). The CQC is an independent body overseeing health and social care services in England, setting standards and regularly inspecting providers.
While care agencies are regulated by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), self-employed carers working directly for clients are generally not required to register with the regulator. Private carers don’t have the same regulatory oversight that care agencies do.
This matters most when arranging specialist care, such as dementia care, and it separates a professional care provider from a simple online directory that just connects families with carers.
Is a private carer cheaper than an agency? Per hour, often yes. Home care from agencies costs more than self-employed carers on the face of it, since home care agencies build training, insurance and cover into their rates. But once you add the hidden employer costs of hiring privately, the gap narrows, and an agency often works out to be better value overall.
That's because a private carer's hourly rate doesn’t include additional costs such as training, travel and equipment. An agency's rate already includes these things, plus support if your regular carer is unavailable.
You may see lower figures quoted elsewhere. Older guides suggest agency care costs typically range from £20 to £30 per hour, and that self-employed carers charge around £15 to £25 per hour. Rates have risen since those estimates were published, mainly due to increases in the National Living Wage and employer National Insurance, so the ranges above reflect the current picture in 2026.
Rates vary depending on location, hours and the level of support needed, so these figures are a general guide, not a quote. For a personalised care plan and tailored costing for your family, get in touch with Tiggo Care.
Once you hire someone privately, you take on real legal responsibilities, not just a few extra forms.
You must register as an employer with HMRC and operate PAYE, deducting income tax and National Insurance correctly. You are responsible for providing employer's liability insurance, and you must comply with UK employment law on contracts, rest breaks, and pay.
These legal obligations and administrative responsibilities apply whether you self-fund your care or use a direct payment from your local council. A care agency takes on these legal considerations for you, since its staff are already employed, trained, and insured.
Yes, you can hire a private carer directly, but you become their employer and take on the legal, financial, and safeguarding duties an agency would otherwise handle. Hiring a private carer requires managing payroll and contracts yourself from day one.
You need to conduct background checks on the carer you hire, and you must ensure the carer has appropriate insurance coverage before care begins. You'll need to arrange cover yourself if they're unwell. It can be hard to find cover at short notice, so a backup plan is worth having ready.
Many families manage this well, especially with a self-employed carer they already know and trust. Others find the administrative responsibilities heavier than expected.
There's no single right answer, and needs change over time. A hybrid approach can involve starting with an agency before moving to private care, once you know your loved one’s routine and preferences well.
If you're thinking of leaving an agency to hire privately, check your notice period and make sure a suitable replacement is ready before care begins. Moving the other way, from a private carer to an agency, is usually simpler, since the agency handles vetting, training and scheduling for you.
Using a care agency may be preferable for complex or changing care needs, particularly if health needs are likely to increase. Give yourself a few weeks either way to plan the handover, so your loved one faces as little disruption as possible.
Saving money may be appealing, but it's worth knowing what hiring a private carer really involves before you commit. The legal aspects, ongoing admin, and lack of backup cover can be stressful, time-consuming and costly, especially if you're already caring for an older person with changing needs, and the risk of a gap in care is greater than with residential care or a regulated agency.
Care agencies like Tiggo Care offer a fully managed service to make this easier. We're regulated by the Care Quality Commission, inspected regularly to check we're safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led, and we're a member of the Homecare Association, which promotes good practice across the sector. If you'd like help to arrange care, with a personalised care plan and honest costing for your loved one, get in touch with Tiggo Care today.
Chris Williams is the Founder and Managing Director ofTiggo Care, an award-winning London home care provider that supports adults living in their own homes. He founded Tiggo Care after struggling to find suitable care for his parents, both of whom lived with rare diseases, giving him first-hand experience of the challenges families can face when arranging personalised home care. Chris studied Human Sciences and Epidemiology at Oxford University and previously worked at Kearney and Oxford Sciences Enterprises.
If your local council funds care through a direct payment, you can use it to pay for a private carer or a care agency. Either way, if you hire directly, the council thinks of you as the employer, while a regulated agency like Tiggo Care handles employment issues for you. Age UK can offer further advice on funding.
Yes. Carers receive specific training for conditions like dementia, going beyond the basic Care Certificate. This isn't guaranteed when hiring privately.
A care agency like Tiggo Care handles screening, carer training, scheduling, and payroll for you. We provide backup staff for continuity of care, and we're fully regulated by the CQC.
A self-employed carer typically charges around £18 to £28 per hour, depending on experience and location. An agency carer usually costs more per hour because the fee covers training, insurance and cover. See the table of estimated costs above, or contact us for a quote based on your needs.
Legally, yes, since there's no accredited course a private carer must complete in the UK. This is exactly why checking references, qualifications, and a DBS status matters so much if you hire privately.
Pay varies by agency, region and experience, but it typically sits above the National Minimum Wage, with carer training, travel time, and unsociable hours often reflected in the rate.
Get in touch with Tiggo Care today to see how we can help you or your loved one.
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