What a home care rate includes, and what costs extra

The Homecare Association publishes a breakdown each year of what an agency needs to charge to pay its carers the legal minimum and stay solvent: £34.42 an hour for 2026/27. Inside that figure, carer pay including holiday pay and pension is a little over half. Travel time between visits, which agencies are legally required to pay for, and mileage take another chunk. Training, DBS checks, uniforms, insurance, the office and the coordinators who plan the rota take most of the rest, and the surplus is a few per cent.

An agency charging well below the minimum price is not a bargain; it is an agency that is not paying travel time, is cutting training, or is being propped up by a council contract that may end.

Carers are paid more to work weekends, and the rate follows. Ten to twenty per cent on Saturday and Sunday is usual; some agencies charge the same all week and price the weekday rate a little higher to cover it. Bank holidays are commonly time and a half, and Christmas Day and New Year’s Day double. If your pattern is seven days a week, ask for the weekly cost of your actual pattern rather than the weekday rate.

Most agencies set a shortest visit, usually 30, 45 or 60 minutes, and price the short ones higher per hour because the carer’s travel is the same however long they stay. A 30 minute call at two thirds of the hourly rate is typical; a few agencies will not do less than an hour at all. Home Instead, for example, has an hour minimum across its network. If you only need a quick medication prompt, an agency with a 30 minute call at a fair price is worth finding. The agency page on this site shows the shortest visit each one offers, where its website says.

Travel between visits is built into the rate for most agencies, but many add a charge for clients beyond a set distance from the office: a pound or two an hour, or 45p a mile from the last visit. Rural agencies are more likely to charge it. Trips out during a visit, to the shops or an appointment, are charged at the carer’s mileage rate on top. Ask two questions: is there a travel charge for my address, and what is the mileage rate for outings.

A visit cancelled with less than 24 or 48 hours’ notice is usually charged in full. A planned holiday needs a week or two of notice to avoid charges. A hospital admission is the one families forget: most agencies stop charging once you tell them, but some hold the slot for a fee so the same carers are available on discharge. Get the terms in writing with the care plan, along with the notice period to end the arrangement, typically a week or a month.

The national living wage rises every April and agency rates follow, typically by four to seven per cent. Some agencies also raise rates in the autumn when the council rate changes. Ask what last year’s increase was; it is the best guide to next year’s, and an agency that will not say is telling you something. The rates on this site are dated so you can see how old a figure is. See how much home care costs for what the rates come to over a week.