Self-employed carer contracts: what yours must include

Why you need one, every time

Working without a written agreement leaves you exposed: families can dispute your rate, cancel visits without paying, or expect tasks you never agreed to. A signed contract fixes the terms before work starts — and councils paying through direct payments will usually insist on seeing one.

What your contract must cover

At minimum, your agreement should spell out:

• The services you will provide — and just as importantly, what you won't do
• Days, times and length of visits, and how changes are agreed
• Your hourly rate, mileage charges and any extras such as shopping
• Payment terms: how families pay you and how many days they have to pay
• What happens with late payment, including interest if you charge it
• Cancellation rules — how much notice each side gives, and whether short-notice cancellations are charged
• Holidays and sickness: what happens when either of you is away
• Notice periods for ending the arrangement
• What happens in an emergency, and who your emergency contact is

Make your self-employed status clear

Your contract should state that you are self-employed and responsible for your own tax and National Insurance. This matters: if a family treats you like an employee — controlling your hours, providing equipment, stopping you working for others — HMRC could decide you're actually employed, which creates tax problems for everyone.

Both of you sign it

A contract only protects you if it's signed. Ideally both you and the client (or their family) sign before the first visit, and you each keep a copy. Carer Hub lets both of you sign on your phone, saves the signed copy to the client's file, and emails a copy to each of you.

The mistakes that cost carers money

The problems we see most often:

• No cancellation clause — families cancel on the day and the carer loses the income
• No payment terms — invoices drift for weeks with no agreed deadline
• Vague service lists — 'general help' grows into tasks you never priced for
• Verbal rate rises — agree increases in writing, even by email
• No notice period — the arrangement ends overnight with no warning

Where to start

Carer Hub includes a plain-English Self-Employed Carer Service Agreement, personalised with your name, trading name and town, with [brackets] where you fill in your own rates and terms. It's built to protect both you and the client — but it's a template, not legal advice, so adjust it to your situation.