Is £20 an hour reasonable for privately funded carer cover?

I retired as a private carer just before Covid, I charged £25 per hour and had a waiting list.

That is nothing to do with OP.

Would you do it for £20ph? If so, there's your answer!

Presumably this would be one of several appointments during the day so they have to cover unpaid travel time and travel costs, plus holidays, sick pay, pension, as others have said.

Some of these rates sound like agency rates not self-employed carer rates.

I'm paying £25 ph to our new self-employed carer. We previously paid the agency more but the carer got less.

Family in East Midlands pay around £30 per 45 minute visit, more at weekends and bank holidays.

does he get Attendance Allowance to help fund support?

My mum is paying £34 an hour during the week. I imagine it would be more at weekends or evenings. She is in Shropshire.

OP- has your dad been assessment by adult social services? He 'might' be able to get some support via that route and they can assess if he is getting all the allowances he is entitled to.

I'd also check with local care agencies. They would be able to provide staff with insurance, DBS checks, training etc and also provide a back up for sickness and leave . There was a post last week where a woman employed a team of private carers for her parent and there were absolutely NO checks on the staff at all! i dont know about costings, but get a few quotes from private and agencies to compare.

The on costs in self employment (as opposed to being employed) in the public sector for contractors is 20-25% . Not 75%.

This is really interesting. I have a disabled son and have just joined this topic as my parents are starting to get a bit older. We are paying my sons carer £25 an hour and the social workers are horrified that we are paying so much and will only fund £14 per hour!

We paid 17.50, south coast.

Self employed carer west midlands here I charge £24 an hour flat rate, no change at week-ends or bank holidays and that includes mileage.

Of course, not the whole £24 comes to me. I have to pay for public liability insurance, training, PPE, the upkeep of a vehicle, tax, national insurance, pension contributions, sick pay and annual leave.

I probably net £18 an hour.

We pay £27 per hour in South West London. No nursing needs, just help with washing/dressing and food prep.

When DM looked into it for a few weeks post op earlier this year, she was quoted £45/hr as the care agency had no local people, so they upped their rate to include travel.

E Mids based friend has just got help in for her DM @£35/hr.

Is your father eligible to claim attendance allowance? That will help towards the costs.

We pay £26 per hour for mum's carers and they insist on coming in pairs so obviously that's £52 p/h and 3 visits per day. They are all lovely (team of 6) but do the bare minimum. Mum is mobile with a frame so no hoisting etc.

We are in North Essex and not a particularly affluent area and I have found it hard pushed to find a carer who charges less than £24 ph.

We pay £40 an hour for my DH (also East Midlands/Derbyshire) and the company insisted we needed two of them at a time, so 4 visits a day x .5 hr x 2 carers = £1,120 a week. We got the physio to agree one person at a time was okay and then we cut it down to two visits a day. They are happy to do anything he wants but we primarily need them to supervise him walking between rooms with his rollator. No real knowledge or skills, just follow him with the wheelchair in case he feels unsteady. He never has done so far and when they were sending two carers one would sit in the lounge and do nothing! Apparenly it is a highly respected organisation and the others aren't anywhere near as good!

When my dad needed carers (he died 4 years ago in 2022) we paid private carers as he was self funding and we had 3 of them on a rota as they all went to other people too and these 3 ladies worked together. We paid £20 an hr Monday to Friday and £30 an hr if we ever needed them on weekends
we are in Nottingham
me and my sister and my aunt all helped, as did my cousin and we tried to keep the number of care hours to a minimum he had between 10-2hrs per week padded out with family helping him.

its a lot cheaper than a carehome and I would be reminding him of that

remember too these people are self employed and have to account for holiday time, pensions, time of sick, training courses,
insurances, paying their own tax and NI -
very different from being employed by the NHS.

I paid for a short period of care visits recently for myself after surgery. I had to pay £34 an hour - £38 an hour on Saturday and Sunday

Don’t go into chapter and verse. Just tell them it’s the same price everywhere. Job done.

£36 per hour for my DM

My friend pays £50/hour for her private carers.
Having met 2 of the 3, they are well worth it.

We’re East Mids and paying £35per visit for our mum, not nursing care but similar to you - prompts to take tablets, prepare breakfast/lunch/tea, help wash & dress - the £35 includes petrol/travelling costs for the carers and mum has 3 visits a day. It’s a lot of money and she has to reign in other costs but the security and reassurance of knowing it’s the same people coming and at a regular/suitable time, they have also built up a good relationship, it costs a lot but it means she can stay in her own home and be cared for. We try and cover as many lunches or teas as we can to keep a few costs down!