Low Price Home Care – Is It Worth It?

 The home care sector is like most other services you buy, it has companies who charge high, medium and low prices.  A low hourly price for home care at the time of writing (November 2024) is £17-£22 per hour and there are companies in Central Lancashire who will work for this price.  We all want to save money and get a bargain! However, home care is like other things in life, you often “get what you pay for” and if the price “is too good to be true, it probably is”!

Care companies must pay a care worker at least the National Minimum Wage (NMW) by law, and this also includes paying them to travel to care calls. A care company legally must pay a carer annual leave, possibly a pension contribution, national insurance, and ethically refund petrol mileage.  If a care company is charging you £17 to £22 experience at Independent Living tells us it is difficult to cover the carers hourly cost let alone pay for essentials like Social Care Insurance, the Care Quality Commission Registration, a good rota system, carer training and available office staff when you have a problem.

Care companies charging low hourly rates may not stay the full time, billing you for an hour but perhaps staying 20 minutes is actually poor value for money!  They could be breaking the law by not paying the carer the National Minimum Wage, travel time or being registered with the regulator for social care.  If an accident occurs in your home have they got legally required social care insurance or policies to follow?  Do you want people coming into an elderly person’s home who may not be managing their service correctly, or complying with the law?

Here at Independent Living we charge a little more per hour but we have social care insurance, we are registered with the CQC, we have office staff you can talk to, we meet all the legal pay requirements, we stay the full time at you home, and we invest in our business to use the latest rota software and provide essential items like gloves and hand gel.

We have a great reputation for home care in Chorley and Leyland so if you need support for a loved one please call us in office hours on 01257 696 050.