No, there is no charge for either a carer or client to join the AtHome portal.

There is a small percentage charge taken off the carers pay when an assignmentis agreed and accepted by both a carer and a client.

The cost of care is often determined by the level of care required. It may vary depending on the carers location, skills and experience and length of time they are required. Hourly care rates can cost anywhere between £18-£29 and live-in care can cost upwards of £850.

Our business model enables both client and client’s family to be firmly in control of organising and overseeing care. This allows us to keep overheads to a minimum and pass this saving on. For the use of our system, we charge a flat percentage fee of the carers pay rate (plus applicable taxes). The rate depends on the type of care you are looking for and ranges from 15% to 20 % - one of the lowest among our peers for the servcie we offer. It covers among other things the following:

• System maintenance

• Software costs

• The cost of advertising your care requirements

• The cost of undertaking all the required checks and references

• Agreement templates for the client and carer as well as other useful documents

• Access to our secure payment function on the portal and management of your payments and invoices ongoing

• Scheduling and roster software

• Carer insurance

The carers rate will be agreed upon before you engage them, and an invoice for the placement fee will be set before care starts. To give both the client and carer confidence that the role is secure we request the invoice is settled before care starts. The carer will then invoice their client for the care they have performed weekly, after-care provision.

Our carers generally set their own rates, so short notice assignments may incur a slightly higher fee, but it really depends on the nature of the care and the carer you choose.

We recommend paying the carer a fair wage to get the most motivated and engaged carers who will stay in the position and not look to move for a higher rate of pay. However, you can advertise a role at the rate you wish.

It is completely free to sign up to our service and look for a carer or companion. This is the first saving.

Additional savings can be found on care spend. On a weekly care spend of £900, an average saving would be approximately compared to domiciliary agencies, £90+ per week and vastly more compared to a care home setting. This means that you can share these savings with the carer, giving them a fairer wage, so they’re more likely to be a long-term placement giving you consistency and reliability. T

No, when a carer sets their prices they factor in the time they expect to spend unable to work or taking as holiday. This makes hiring a self-employed carer much simpler as you can have an agreement that covers this.

Carers will charge for the equivalent of a second-class train ticket to and from a placement or a mileage rate of .45p a mile if they drive. They will also charge £40 weekly for food or the client can include the food for the carer in their usual food shop. The carer will invoice the client directly for additional expenses.

You can set up a direct debit to your carer if you have regular un-changing care requirements, or you can pay by bank transfer when the carer invoices you. You are also able to pay by credit/debit card through STRIPE or by bank transfer for our fees.

Please note, some payment options may incur additional transaction fees.

Yes, we can arrange either a video call so that you can see the carer, or a telephone call, once you are happy with their profile. We ask that you agree to our terms of service before we put you in touch,

Handover arrangements should be agreed directly between clients and carers. We would recommend that handovers take place where possible at 12 midday so carers can be paid a half day for both the day they commence an assignment and the day they finish an assignment. If a carer is traveling to their assignment, a client may wish to allow travel time - this is at the discretion of the client

Yes, we only allow with self employed carers and companions to register on the AtHome portal.

AtHome is classified as an ‘introductory agency’ we do not manage any aspect of an agreed assignment.

We provide all of the tools and agreements and forms you are likely to need to engage a carer via our client portal.

This means you can search, vet and engage new carers 24/7. Y

Along with your family and other care professionals, we recognise that you know what is best for your loved one. This is one of the reasons we are able to offer our service with such competitive fees.

YES!

Our mission is to ensure carers receive fair pay and clients are satisfied and receive good care at a fair price.

We charge one of the lowest fees in the sector and offer real value for money.

For full transparency, clients pay their carers directly so they can be sure their carers are getting a fair wage for the work they do

We invoice our fees separately, so you can clearly see the charges for our services.

We do not try to ‘‘hide’’ an inflated fee like many agencies often do, charging 60% fees in one lump sum to the client and only paying the carer minimum wage - that is not right, ethical, or fair.

Carers are required to provide a variety of information, including, proof of enhanced DBS check, right to right-to-work in the UK, ID CHECK, and certification among other certificates. They will be available for your perusal and accessible via the portal. Please ensure you check the carer’s status and that you are happy you have chosen the right carer for your requirements.

Yes, we are able to register carer and companions in all areas of the United Kingdom, although, the ability to supply care in these areas depends on the availability of carers to travel to specific areas.

As we are an introductory agency, we are not permitted to train our carers, however, we only work with carers who have had at least 6 months of experience, preferably in a regulated setting such as a care home. All carers go through a robust onboarding process.

This will depend on your care needs and the agreement with the carer. For live in care, generally, carers will work a 10 hour day, with a 2 hour break. For hourly care anything from an hour can be requested.

The terms and hours of work will be agreed between you and your carer before care commences. This will be noted in the contract you sign with the carer.

When a carer is working for one of our clients, booked through AtHome, and the hours registered with AtHome they are covered by Carer insurance. It is worth noting that some home insurance policies can cover you for public liability so we recommend you look into this.

See terms and conditions for full information, but in summary, for live in care you must give 7 days notice to cancel the contract. For hourly care, then you must give 48 hrs notice to cancel the contract. This applies to both carers and clients and varies for hourly care and live-in care and what you have agreed directly between the carer and client may differ.

For live-in care, carers can work on a variety of shift patterns. It varies from carer to carer and role to role. Some carers prefer to work a few days at a time, or a few days a week, whereas some carers like to work for 5 or 8 weeks concurrently before taking a break in their rota. During the carer’s break, another carer will need to be selected to cover until the original carer returns.

All we ask is that our carers have a clean and prepared separate bedroom, suitable bathing and toilet facilities, clean bedding, and provision of ample food. Most carers are happy to eat with the client and prepre and eat the same food and most carers are happy to share a bathroom.