Articles

Working as a Self-Employed Carer

09/07/2021

What is a Private Carer /Self-Employed Carer?

A private carer is also often referred to as a self-employed carer, freelance caregiver, self-employed health carer, sole-trader support worker, self-employed support worker, self-employed care assistant or personal carer. All these terms refer to a person who is not associated with a domiciliary care agency but is rather self-employed to assist a client with work they need them for. This work can include tasks such as assisting with washing, dressing, mealtimes, cooking, grocery shopping, paying bills or even just a friendly face. For example, private carers for the elderly are usually required to do all the tasks above with the addition of healthcare assistance. 

There are many advantages and disadvantages to becoming a self-employed carer, as well as legal considerations that must be taken into account.

 

The Advantages and Disadvantages

The advantages of being a self-employed carer

One of the main advantages of being a self-employed carer in the UK is that you can control the hours and rate of pay. This ensures that you are your own boss, have greater flexibility on your own schedule and complete autonomy over your work-related decisions. For example, you can choose your client according to your specifications, you can decide your dress code, mode of transport, lunchtimes, you can take leaves whenever you want, there will be no colleagues or staff members to deal with, no lengthy correspondences about reporting the workday and you can choose how much to invest into your business and how much to profit from it.

Disadvantages of being a self-employed carer in the UK

There are definitely many upsides to being self-employed but it is also important to not overlook the downsides. You will be solely accountable for errors, misunderstandings, and damages. This includes taking the blame, and investing in dealing with the situation, with no additional funds or help whilst doing so. There will also be no fixed salary.

 

Registration with CQC

What is CQC and why is it important to know about it?

CQC stands for Care Quality Commission. This organisation is an independent inspector of health and social care in England. There are several advantages and disadvantages of CQC registration.

It is a legal requirement by the government to register with the CQC if you are a registered nurse or fall under any of these categories. Therefore, non-adherence is an active offence that could result in legal action. So, the answer to should a self-employed carer be CQC registered is that you are not legally required to do so unless you or your work fall under the CQC’s definition of personal care or any regulated tasks. It is especially required if you intend to provide care for your client in the form of assisting them with personal hygiene tasks, such as dressing and in the toilet. However, some drawbacks of CQC registration include the arduous registration process itself, preparing for visits from their inspectors, following their action plan on areas of improvement and being accountable for the rating given by the CQC.

In order to become a self-employed carer, there are several things that you must do.

 

How to become a Self-Employed Carer/Private Carer? 

Make your Business Plan and get organised!

To begin, it would be a good idea to look into the requirements to be a carer in your specific town/city. You should then collect all self-employed carer documents needed for the procedure.

If you are serious about being self-employed, you are essentially going into business. Remember that if things do not go well and you cannot find work, you will not be liable to receive benefits, and this could put you in a precarious situation. Therefore, it makes sense to construct a business plan. It makes sense to have clients ready or to at least have a plan put in place regarding your target demographic. You should make a company name and make a plan regarding the number of hours and costs, plus a target salary. Think about how you can make yourself available and known to the community. 

In order for your career to be fruitful and last a long time, you need to pay special attention towards the legal aspects. Which means to choose a legal structure. This entails choosing what your work identifies as, for example, whether you are a sole trader or a limited company.

This will assist you when you are making contracts with your clients. You should also be aware of the general requirements for contract making to protect yourself from any unforeseen harm. It would also be great to sketch up a customisable format so you can just insert the client’s information when dealing with a different client each time. Contracts usually include clauses about work tasks, hourly rate, how long you are expected to work for, responsibilities and how to end the contract if the need arises.

A couple of other plans you should make include a risk assessment, which means to show you how to deal with a risk once it arises. You should also outline a clear process your clients can use when they need to file a complaint. You should also look into the procedure for self-employed carer/client tax. 

What insurance do I need to be a private carer? 

This is a must for self-employed carers who are likely to run into difficulties at some point. Public Liability Insurance is designed specifically for carers. Do your research about the most cost-effective package for you.

Individual carer Insurance for a self-employed carer, private carer, carer in the home, domiciliary carer, disability support worker, personal care assistant can be divided into the following categories:

• In the UK, the cover of public liability insurance is exclusively for a self-employed carer. This should be the main focus when you look into insurance. It applies to you because you are performing your work in either the client’s home or your own. Therefore, it is designed to protect you if your client suffers any injuries or losses as a result of your work on the respective property. 

An example of this would be the case of an electrician who was fixing a switchboard in one house which caused a blackout on the whole street. His actions affected the whole street. The claim was settled for £160,000, of which the electrician only paid £500 because he has Public Liability Insurance. 

• In case you decide to hire staff to assist you in your work, you need to look into employers’ liability insurance for carers. This is a legal requirement in the UK if you have employed one or more people. The consequences include a fine of £2,500 for each day you're not covered. It is designed to protect you if your staff become ill or injured as a result of your business. 

• You will also need Professional Indemnity Insurance for carers which is designed to protect you in case your client decides to take legal actions against you related to an action or decision you made whilst working with them. It is important to note that it is not uncommon for a carer to be held accountable even if there was no negligence involved. Sometimes these situations escalate enough to cause a major loss to you, for example, damage to reputation. Professional Indemnity insurance makes sure that any costs during the legal process of defending your claim will be covered as needed.

• An optional kind of insurance to explore is Business Equipment Insurance. This insurance is designed to protect the equipment or instruments you use at work. For example, specialised medical equipment.

Carers insurance is one of the most important precautions a self-employed carer should take.

Register with the tax office as self-employed

You will need to register your status as self-employed with the HMRC at the following link:  https://www.gov.uk/topic/business-tax/self-employed

This will enable you to pay your own taxes and national insurance contributions to avoid falling foul of the law and is overall a pretty straightforward process.

Draw up contracts which outline your services and remuneration

If possible, enlist the help of a lawyer to oversee a contract that has legal standing. Include things that protect you as a worker, otherwise, you might find yourself sued. As long as it is clear what services will be offered and what compensation you want in return, as long as the client signs you will be protected.

In this contract, you should devise points that cover your hourly rate and also make vacation time flexible but fair.

The contract ought to be drawn up with whoever is paying you, not necessarily the person who you will be caring for.

 

How to decide your rate as a self-employed carer? 

One of the first things you should establish is the amount of income you are expecting to receive from your work. Skilled carers who usually work for agencies make up to earn £17000 to £19000. Therefore, we can deduce that the cost of a private carer is around £18000. But how much does a Self-employed carer earn? A self-employed carer paid privately by a single client can charge hourly rates of around £15 but live-in carers can make up to £500 per week. And if you are specialized, you can charge a surplus. However, a great advantage of being self-employed is that you will be setting your wages. You should start by researching your competition by searching for ‘Self-employed Carer Jobs Near Me’ and the services they provide, specifically in your area. Additionally, try to work out your input into the work before deciding a rate. It can be hourly or weekly, even monthly. The costs that contribute to input include travelling, specialised equipment, training for self-employed carers, sick leaves or holidays, etc.

How to get private care clients? Market yourself!

After you have achieved the above goals, you can start looking for clients. This can only be done if you learned to advertise your service efficiently. Get a professional CV written up. Undertake qualifications and be sure to emphasise your strengths. Why should the client enlist your services? Sell yourself by showing off your skills and experience.

Before embarking on this journey, you should be aware of what private clients are looking for in carers. When doing this you should focus on your assets and keep in mind that marketing to a niche is a lot easier than marketing to everyone. You should use your assets to get to your target clients. You can use search terms like ‘how to find jobs for self-employed carers’ to get a better idea of what your specific niche is looking for. Additionally, you can create a personal network using social networking sites like Facebook and LinkedIn. This is especially effective if your target audience consists of mostly younger people. You need to put in special effort to make yourself easily contactable by increasing your online presence. Make an account on all platforms, provide adequate information like phone numbers and addresses when needed. And most importantly, be quick to respond to any contact made by clients. You can increase traction on your website by getting reviews from other clients. Furthermore, you can go old school and hand out physical copies of your information, for example, leaflets, flyers, brochures etc. Offer some free service or any other attractive sales strategy to attract clients.

Interview Clients

Here are a few questions you should consider before taking on a client.

- Is the client right for you?

- Are they making unreasonable demands?

- Are they willing to pay the agreed rate?

- Is it a good working environment?

 -Do they smoke or have animals that you are unwilling to work alongside?

- Do they have changeling behaviour or are they aggressive?

- Can you manage what they want alone (heavy lifting might not be possible for example)?

The above discussion offers answers to some of the most important questions. However, there is always more to learn and there is a lot you ought to know before taking on a care role.