To charge for my time and fuel

[compulsiveliar2019]

Hi all. Just looking for opinions on my business pricing. I am a self employed solo carer. I have been working 7 days a week since the start of lockdown to provide consistency and safety for my clients.
I charge £15 per hour for my time. Recently I took one of my clients to a hospital appointment it took just short of 3hours in total to pick her up and take her, remain with her whilst at the hospital, being her home and prepare her lunch.
I charged her for 2.5hours plus 45p per mile for the fuel and car usage.
It has come to around £50
She is furious that I'm charging her this much. Accusing me of ripping her off and how dare I charge that much.
She has left me really upset.
Aibu?

[quote Chloemol]@WoWsers16

The 45p is the national rate and it’s not just for petrol but also wear and tear on the car,[/quote]
I didn't know this - I was just pointing out it would be expensive if the lady didn't know she was being charged this x

Explain the cost to her again, or alternatively lose the client. If she always complains it would be best.

I think a lot of people in her position understandably feel upset that they are so reliant on other people to do things that they once did so simply on their own. She might be taking her frustration out on you that her needs now cost her that much, rather than that it's you who is providing the necessary asistance, if that makes sense.

In principle, it's not that different from when any of us have to call out an emergency plumber to fix a leak that suddenly springs and pay a lot of money that we would rather not have to. A pipe that worked fine yesterday is now suddenly flooding our kitchen and causing us distress. Assuming the plumber is honest, he isn't ripping you off, but the going rate for his time and work isn't likely to be cheap - and you feel so helpless and frustrated.

The feeling of vulnerability and powerlessness can often manifest itself as anger or mistrust. They may be able to do very little physically, but their mind and verbal skills are still (so they believe - rightly or not) as sharp as ever, so they are able to argue and rail against circumstances like that. It doesn't help when programmes like Watchdog and Rogue Traders make some elderly and/or more vulnerable people think that everybody is looking to rip them off.

Also, some elderly people can lose track of the way things work and what things cost nowadays. Plus, as a PP said, if you're the most constant person in their lives, that can make them consider you a close friend (rather than a friendly professional) and they wonder why a friend would try to make them pay for doing them 'the odd favour' (which is seriously minimising the reality, as you know very well).

My MIL was having some legal work done on her will and some trusts a few years ago and got really agitated on what the lawyer was charging her, which was a bit odd as her late husband was a lawyer and made a very nice living. It was really quite reasonable.

DH and I had a talk with her about lawyers and accountants being expensive because they are highly skilled and educated and that these charges were quite in line with what we would expect to pay. This seemed to resolve it for her. I think that older people sometimes worry that they're being taken advantage of simply because they're older.

OP, I think you should address it with her directly and say that you're just charging what you said you would and that if she doesn't trust that you are dealing with her honestly it would be better for her to find someone else to work with.

That seems fair to me - make sure she has a breakdown of the costs though. If she doesn't want you to do it at that price I am sure you'll find others who want your services.

Thanks OP. My employer is great but I wish I could go it alone!

You sound very professional, your client would be mad to jeopardise your relationship.

As she needs a carer, is she not able to claim back the travel costs from the hospital. I would expect her to be in receipt of PIP/attendance allowance which should mean she can.

@WoWsers16

I agree with the paying per hours - Personally 45p per mile I think Is a bit much and that's quite a good profit- don't believe in that being what the petrol and carbon usage' for that time period warranted. Did she know the price before hand? Did she know you were going to charge her for fuel? X

Know that's standard hmrc petrol rates for the first 10000 miles of expenses. So I don't see it at all as expensive.

@Blondephantom

As she needs a carer, is she not able to claim back the travel costs from the hospital. I would expect her to be in receipt of PIP/attendance allowance which should mean she can.

She could have used hospital transport. The staff would have wheeled to and from etc.

The people questioning 45p/mile need to remember it's not just the petrol used. The op said fuel, but that's more a short hand way of saying various car costs.

She is also

• buying the car (for sole business use)
• maintaining the car
• paying for MOT
• insuring it (costs more for business)
• paying road tax
• spending time cleaning it
• spending time filling it before the journey

What she charges her clients for transport has to cover all of these hidden costs, or she would lose money by offering the service.

Did she know your rates upfront?

£50 is a lot of money so it may have come as a shock but if she knew your daily rates then it shouldn't have.

Maybe she thought she would only have to pay for your petrol for the appointment or something.

Why would she think that? She has hired an independent carer. She knows time costs. OP is her employee, not a friend or charity worker.

Why else would the client be furious that she has been charged that much?

Why else would the client be furious that she has been charged that much?

A lot of people completely fail to appreciate the value of working people's time if it is apparently 'dead' time. They just see it that you didn't do anything. If they called out an emergency electrician who lived 25 minutes away and discovered that they only needed a light bulb replacing, they'd be furious to be charged any significant sum above the cost of the bulb - even though it took him an hour all-in that he could otherwise have been earning money doing something much more complicated - and might have been called away from an evening with his family to come out.

Careful; transporting paying/business passengers might invalidate your car insurance.

If she keeps moaning about your reasonable car charge just say

" If you don't want me to drive you that's fine. Next time we'll use metered taxis, and you can pay the driver. I'll still be charging £15 per hour for my time "

A lot of people completely fail to appreciate the value of working people's time if it is apparently 'dead' time. They just see it that you didn't do anything.

Yes I know what you mean I have heard people like this actually. I just thought it was strange that she knew the hourly rate but then was shocked when OP gave her the bill.

2 excellent posts by WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll

I think it would probably help if you formalised your invoices. If you are employed by her, you can't really involved her adult dc, but if she is moaning to them about you, the charges are all clearly documented, and her ds / dd / dgd or whoever she has, can point out that it is fair.

How much time were you actually with her? i.e. does the time you give above exclude the travel time to pick her up and the travel time to get back to yours after you left her? If it's just literally the time you spent with her then I am not sure what she's cross about. Does she expect you to work voluntarily?