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All carers on Curam are

Personally interviewed

DBS & Biometric ID checked

Fully insured

What is elderly care?

As we age, many of us will need help from others to complete daily activities and stay safe, healthy and happy. Receiving this care at home is often the most convenient option and allows you to remain as independent as possible. Curam’s experienced home carers provide specialist support throughout the UK.

With an in-home carer, you can continue living life in your own space. They can support you in numerous ways:

Enable you to remain living independently in your own home
Provide support with domestic tasks and chores
Aid with mobility and exercise
Provide companionship and security
Help with medication and medical equipment
 

How does elderly care work?

Elderly care at home can take many different forms, depending on your needs. Types of elderly care include:

Share your care needs

Why choose elderly care at home?

Share your care needs

Enable you to remain living independently in your own home

Maintain your privacy and existing schedule

Help you to keep in contact with your family, friends and community

Provide focused one-on-one care

Keep you close to, and help care for, your pets

Elderly home care services

Carers will fulfil the tasks agreed to in their service agreement. These tasks can range from personal care to domestic tasks and chores including shopping, laundry, meal preparation and transport. The focus is on making sure you feel safe, independent and cared for through your regular routines.

Responsibilities, duties and tasks of a home carer

The personal care provided by in-home carers can be tailored to include whatever level of assistance you need. A carer is there to meet your needs, however personal or complex.

Responsibilities of a carer will vary according to your needs but typically will include:

Personal care such as washing, dressing and continence care
Assistance taking prescribed medicines
Help with cooking and meal preparation
Preventing falls and accidents in the home
General care help, including laundry, gardening and admin. tasks
Companionship and help with social interaction

Types of elderly care

Home care is tailored to you. Carers on the Curam platform provide many different kinds of care:

Last-minute live-in care in case of cancellation or sickness
Palliative and any other specialist care type needed, including care for couples, those with progressive disorders, following a hospital discharge or following a stroke
Live in care

Live in-care for 24/7 support

Hourly care

Hourly care according to their schedule

Overnight care

Overnight care, including both sleeping night and waking night care

Respite care

Respite care while your regular carer goes on holiday or suddenly unavailable

How it works?

Hiring a carer through Curam is a 4 step easy process with you having all the control.

1

Search

Filter and search for verified carers near you

2

Message

Message suitable carers - we suggest a minimum of three to give you the best choice

3

Hire

Hire your insured and vetted carer via Curam - you only pay for the care delivered

Or

Share your care needs

Alternatively, in an emergency or if you need care for a specific period of time Share your care needs' with our carers

Take the first step, start your search for carers

Please enter your postcode

Costs of elderly care

Our self-employed carers set their own rates on the Curam platform. The cost of live-in care is often determined by the level of care required and the number of people needing care. These rates can vary according to the carer’s experience and qualifications.

For those who don’t need 24/7 support, hourly care and overnight care at home may suit their needs.

General costs

The average live-in care rate charged on Curam is £1,040 per week, with rates starting at £770 per week. The average hourly care rate charged by carers on Curam is £18.30 per hour, with rates starting at £13 an hour. Rates vary depending on where you live in the UK.

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The highest quality care at the best possible rates

Check rates in your postcode area
Please enter your postcode

Clients on the Curam platform pay on average 22% less than the current suggested UK Home Care Association hourly rate of £25.95

How to pay for elderly care?

You can pay for home care privately, with assistance from the NHS or local authority, or from a combination of different sources.

Most people who pursue care at home will pay for it privately. However, you may be able to get funding to help pay for your care. There are three steps that you can follow to ensure that you receive all the money to which you are entitled:

3 steps to follow

  1. Check your eligibility for benefits with a benefits calculator

    1
  2. Check your eligibility for NHS continuing healthcare funding

    2
  3. Apply for local authority funding

    3

If you still have difficulty funding your own care after checking the above services, you may consider other options such as equity release.

According to the NHS, you might be eligible for local council support towards the cost of your social care if you have less than £23,250 in savings (called the upper capital limit, or UCL). From October 2023 this will rise to £100,000 in savings.

Exactly how much your council will pay depends on what care you need and how much you can afford to pay.

The first step is for your council to do an assessment to check how much help you need. This is called a needs assessment. The needs assessment is free and anyone can ask for one. Find out more about getting a needs assessment.

Some people with long-term complex health needs qualify for free social care arranged and funded solely by the NHS. This is known as NHS continuing healthcare.

To be eligible for NHS continuing healthcare, you must be assessed by a team of healthcare professionals (a multidisciplinary team). The team will look at all your care needs and relate them to:

  • What help you need
  • How complex your needs are
  • How intense your needs can be
  • How unpredictable they are, including any risks to your health if the right care is not provided at the right time

Your eligibility for NHS continuing healthcare depends on your assessed needs, and not on any particular diagnosis or condition. If your needs change then your eligibility for NHS continuing healthcare may change.

With Curam, you pay for live-in care though a secure payment system on our app or website. Your carer of choice will create a service agreement and shift invoice, which will automatically be sent to your Curam account for your approval.

Once you have approved these, you will be taken to the payment portal. Your payment is held securely until the shift is completed and is then released to the carer two working days after the end of the shift, minus the Curam fee. Shift invoices typically cover one to two weeks of care at a time, but specific payment frequency can be agreed with your carer.

Off-platform and cash payments are not accepted. These are liable to a fee of £2,000. Please see our terms and conditions for more information, specifically point 9.3.

Why choose Curam for elderly care?

We know that hiring a carer is an emotionally charged decision, so we’ve done everything we can to make it as safe, seamless and stress-free as possible.

Choice is at the heart of Curam. By connecting carers and those who need care, we enable people to take control of their lives.

We’ve made it possible to hire a carer within a matter of hours. With Curam you can search, interview, message, hire and pay approved and vetted carers throughout the UK.

We are building a care community that allows each of us to live an independent life.

Experts and experience

Curam is a community of experts. Every carer on Curam’s platform has been interviewed and fully vetted by our recruitment team. They have had a DBS check, are legally entitled to work in the UK and any qualifications mentioned on their profile are backed up with certificates.

Self-managed

Curam does things differently. Unlike care agencies, we make sure the choice of care is in your hands. You can interview carers personally before hiring them and have a final say on what their responsibilities will be in your home.

Our carers are self-employed. They don’t pay joining fees and their charge rates include Curam’s fee of 12.5% and VAT, which covers the cost of their insurance, easy-to-use service agreements and a hassle-free payment system. This means that the client pays less than they would with an agency, and the carer in turn receives a higher wage.

Individual support

In-home care with Curam respects independence. It is tailored to each individual while allowing them to live in the comfort of their own home. Receiving care at home can be a safer and more cost-effective alternative to a care home.  

How to find and hire an elderly carer with Curam?

To arrange live-in care on the Curam platform, create an account. If you provide us with your postcode, your care requirements, your gender preference for carers and more detail as needed, carers that fit your demonstrated needs will then apply to your Curam account.

We recommend that you call or meet your carer of choice before contracting with them. Read our advice on interviewing a potential carer.

Alternatively, you can use our search tool to find a carer that suits your needs. You can filter by care type, condition, experience, languages spoken and more in your search. If you see a particular carer that fits your criteria, send them a message outlining your care needs and checking their availability.

All carers can be tried on a trial basis and any specific arrangement can be changed or cancelled with a minimum notice of 48 hours.

Please note that Curam does not provide managed care. It’s critical to our mission that both the client and the carer have choice and control over their care relationship.

Frequently asked questions

Elderly care is not usually tax deductible, so you cannot claim your payments to home carers against your income tax bill. However, depending on your circumstances, local authority funding may cover some of the cost of elderly care for your loved one.

Respite carers allow for anyone in a care role to take essential time for themselves while continuing to provide an exceptional level of care. Whether you’re a professional carer or caring for an elderly parent, taking time out to rest and recharge is important for your own health and wellbeing.

Thousands of happy clients have used Curam,
you can do it too

Full choice over who provides care

Get a carers for your care needs

You can join for free, no tie-in contracts.

Happy Clients Image

We are making sure you get the ideal carer with each passing day

2.95 million+

Hours of high quality
care delivered

8335+

Experienced &
vetted carers

4950+

people hired
carers successfully

10 years

Average experience
of a Curam carer

5

Average number
of applications

<2 hours

Average response
time from carers

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Download the Curam app

Finding and managing your carer is much easier on our Curam client app. Lots of new features including digital health care plans and family sharing apps coming very soon.

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Please rotate your device back to portrait orientation for the optimal experience.

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