Curam is an online platform for people needing care and self-employed carers. We have harnessed technology to give you, as a client, complete choice and control over who your carer is.

Every carer on the platform has been interviewed and fully vetted by our recruitment team - they have had their DBS checked, have the right to work in the UK and any qualifications mentioned on their profile have been backed up with certificates.

The four main types of home care are live-in care, overnight, hourly care and respite care, however each of those care types can then be separated in to more specialist care services eg. Hourly Autism Care or Overnight Dementia Care. You can see what care type each carer is specialised in on their Curam profile. Send them a message if you'd like to find out more.

Creating an account is free to do and easy. Simply click here to sign up or download the Curam app in either the Apple Store or Google Play.

You have two options with Curam: 'Search for carers in your area', message, contact and agree terms or 'Share your care needs' and approved carers that fit your needs will apply to your account for the role.

Carers are self-employed and set their own rates on our platform. The cost of care is often determined by the level of care required. These rates can vary according to the carer’s location, experience and qualifications.

The average hourly rate charged on Curam is £18.83 per hour, with rates starting at £14.06 an hour. The average live-in care rate charged on Curam is £1127 per week, with rates starting at £800 per week. Our 10% client fee + VAT will be added to your invoices and many carers are willing to negotiate.

You pay for 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 2 working days after the end of the shift minus our fee.

Off-platform and cash payments are not accepted and are liable to a placement fee of £2,200+VAT. Please see our terms and conditions for more information, specifically point 9.3.

Yes, you can often get funding to help pay for hourly care. There are three steps that you can follow to ensure that you receive all the money to which you are entitled.

• Check your eligibility for benefits with a benefits calculator
• Check your eligibility for NHS Continuing Healthcare Funding
• Apply for Local Authority Funding

If, after following these steps you still have difficulty funding your own care, you may consider other options such as Equity Release

No, you can hire a Curam carer for as short or as long a period as you require. The length of service is decided between yourself and the carer and clearly stated on the service agreement that you draw up together. A notice period of 48 hours is required from both parties if you wish to cancel the agreement.

There is a minimum shift length of one hour per 24 hours, which may be divided into half-hour shifts with the carer's consent.

Yes, the minimum shift length is one hour per 24 hours, which may be divided into half-hour shifts with the carer's consent.

We believe that short 15-minute visits do not give the carer enough time to properly care for the client. Our minimum shift length ensures a better standard of care and a more meaningful relationship between the carer and person needing care.

People's needs vary, so discuss with your carer which tasks you would like them to do. They will be noted on the service agreement between you and your carer.

Some of the tasks that a Curam carer might carry out are:

• Personal care, including: preparing, serving and feeding food or drink, bathing, dressing, moving and handling
• Prompting clients to take prescribed medicines
• Administering first aid
• General domestic duties including: shopping, basic maintenance and gardening tasks
• Accompanying clients on any social, domestic or recreational trips outside of their home
• Any specialist care that you may require

However, if you would like more information or guidance on some of the tasks a carer might normally carry out, take a look at our care types pages.

To arrange home care on the Curam platform, you can filter by care type, condition experience, languages spoken and more in your search your carer. If you see a particular carer that fits your criteria, send them a message asking their availability and outlining your care needs.

Alternatively, you can tell us your care requirements and carers that fit those needs will apply to your Curam account. We recommend that you call or meet your carer of choice before contracting with them. Click here for some advice on interviewing a carer.

Once you have found the carer with the skill set you require, click the 'message carer' button on their profile to contact them, check availability and discuss your needs. You need to be registered as a client to message a carer, register for free here.

Yes, you can either search and message multiple carers or share your care needs to receive applicants to your account. You can then interview the carers and hire as many as you need.

Certain placements may need more than one carer or multiple carers on a rota. We encourage carers to set up a Curam 'microteam', so that you have the option to message and hire other local carers within their team.

It means you are not the employer of the carer, so you do not have any employer/employee responsibilities. The carer is entirely responsible for paying their own taxes and national insurance.

Curam carers set their own rates, they choose when, where and who they work for. They normally work part time, or if full time have a number of different clients.

Yes. Every self-employed Curam carer is fully insured for the hours that they transact through the platform. The insurance is activated by the approval of a service agreement and accompanying shift invoice provided by your carer. Our insurance provider is Surewise.

A DBS, Disclosure and Barring Service check (previously known as CRB) is a record of any warnings or convictions a person may have acquired. A PVG, Protecting Vulnerable Groups check is the Scottish version of DBS and similarly, the check in Northern Ireland is called an Access NI.

We require a clean DBS certificate (except for a few minor exceptions), dated within the past 3 years. We also encourage carers to join the Update Service, whereby their check is continually updated.

If at any time you are not happy with your care assistant, you can cancel the arrangement. You must give at least 48 hours' notice.

You can cancel your contract with a Curam carer at any time and are only obliged to pay for the care that has already been delivered, outside of the 48-hour notice period.

We expect every self-employed carer using our platform to adhere to the latest government guidelines for PPE.

However, as Curam carers are self-employed it is their responsibility to source and wear the correct PPE. If you believe that your carer’s levels of protection are not sufficient, either discuss it with them in person or let a member of our team know at client@curamcare.com.

Yes, although it is optional, we believe that you should download the Curam app. It allows you to easily search, manage and pay for your care from your mobile device. In the near future there will be some unique attributes to our app including a digital care plan, check in / check out of carers and enhanced accounting features.

Download the “Curam for clients” app from the Apple Store or Google Play.

Regular expenses, such as travel, can be noted by the carer in the free text box in the service agreement.

One-off expenses are best handled directly between you and your carer.

All of the carers on our platform are encouraged to work in a micro-team with other carers. Each carer’s team is formed of other carers that they trust and believe will maintain the same high standards of care that they currently deliver to you.

When you first start receiving care with a Curam carer, your carer will inform you as to who is in their micro-team. You will be able check their profiles and contact them as/when you need cover.

If you do not believe your carer’s micro-team is suitable, you can of course select another carer from the platform instead.

Curam does not provide managed care and there is no guarantee of the provision of care.

Typical care agencies often take up to 50% of their carers’ wages in fees. Since we are a platform for self-employed carers, we have far fewer overheads and are able to pass that saving on to you as clients (paying 10% less than with traditional agencies) and Curam carers (who earn on average 25% more than with an agency).

Our minimal and transparent fee of 12.5%+VAT is included in your carer’s shown rate, which means no unexpected charges and you only pay for the hours of care you receive.

We currently have carers in every postcode in the UK and hundreds of carers and personal assistants are signing up to the platform every month. Please either share your care needs or search and message carers to find the availability of carers in your area.

We are approving carers from across the UK onto our platform on a daily basis if you do not find any carers in your area please tell us your care requirements and suitable carers will apply to your Curam account.

After telling us your care requirements, your job specifications will be sent out not only to our database of approved carers, but also to our database of 25,000 carers who are in the process of getting approved.

If they show interest in your job, unapproved carers can upload the relevant documents and book their interview to be approved and apply for the job.

If your care requirements change, you should discuss this with your carer. They may be able to add or subtract hours from your shift invoice and afford you some flexibility. They would then need to create a new service agreement with the updated requirements.

If you decide that you need another carer, you can hire them through the platform quickly and easily as per your needs.

This is entirely between you and your carer to decide however, many of our self-employed carers charge for trial shifts

It is important to note that in order for our carer insurance to be activated, you must first approve a service agreement and shift invoice created by your carer of choice. If your carer has agreed to an unpaid trial shift, they must still create a 'token' invoice to be covered by the insurance.

Yes. We advise that all clients meet their carers in the care location to discuss the clients care package before approving a service agreement.

If an in-person interview cannot happen, we recommend at the very least you should Skype, WhatsApp or Facetime a carer before hiring them. All carers on this platform have either a Skype, WhatsApp or Facetime account. The carer will create an intro-meeting via the Curam app

Ultimately the relationship between the client and the carer is a working relationship. If the relationship is not functioning, then our advice is for you to replace your current carer with another care worker. Both parties must give 48-hours' notice before cancelling an agreement.

If the dispute is of a serious nature, for example, a criminal act, then you must report it at once to the police and Curam. We will investigate it immediately.

We take all reports of unacceptable behaviour by carers extremely seriously. If we receive a formal complaint against a carer from a client we will immediately inform their other clients and reserve the right to either prevent the care worker from acquiring new clients or in cases of a serious nature remove them from the platform at once.

We believe it is essential that you feel as comfortable as possible with bringing a carer or personal assistant into your home. Interviewing a carer before hiring them is a good way to check that someone is the right person for you.

Before interviewing a potential carer, it is a good idea to prepare your questions to make sure you ask everything you want to and gather all the information you need to make a decision.

Having read the carer’s profile, you will be aware of their experience, hobbies/interests and their personal statement, but an interview will allow you to delve deeper and find out more about a carer, their experience and personality.

Check out our helpdesk for some examples of questions that you can ask.

Before you interview your carer, you can also ask them to provide 2 references. We recommend that you check these before hiring your carer of choice.

No. Carers will only see your personal information if you decide to provide them with it directly via message.

Similar to any standard agency, our Carer Support Team background check and interview all of our carers. This includes Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks in England & Wales, Disclosure Scotland and NI Access in Northern Ireland. We also check identity documents, rights to work in the UK, tax and employment status and, if relevant, driving licence and relevant qualifications.

We also insist that carers provide two independent referees (at least one of them a UK resident) who are willing to vouch for the carer. We do not check these references, seeing as clients' needs differ and we believe that you are the best person to discuss your needs with referees. Feel free to request these from your carer via message.

Yes. We strongly recommend that all clients contact referees directly. All care workers on the platform will have provided two referees (of which one must be a UK resident).

The carer will provide you with their referees' contact details upon request. Please contact us by email at client@curamcare.com if you have any issues with this.

The Curam platform connects clients with self-employed carers, who then contract with each other through the Curam website - therefore our platform is not required to be registered with the Care Quality Commission, the Care Inspectorate or the Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority (RQIA).

However, we at Curam aspire to, and expect the carers on our platform to equally aspire to, the CQC, the Care Inspectorate and the RQIA codes of conduct. If we hear that any of our carers or clients have acted in breach of these codes, we will investigate immediately.

We take all reports of unacceptable behaviour by carers extremely seriously. If we receive a formal complaint against a carer from a client, we will inform their other clients at once and reserve the right to either prevent the care worker from acquiring new clients or in cases of a serious nature remove them from the platform immediately.

Yes, in fact we believe that Curam is safer than the traditional agency model.

You or your family get to choose and interview your own carer, you can check their qualifications and speak to the carers' referees for extra security. Our technology also allows you to be in constant communication with the carer via the Client App.

See our reviews on Trustpilot for more reassurance.

Curam carers are insured with Surewise Limited. The cover includes (with no excess, nor hidden fees):

Public Liability

Up to £1,000,000 covering claims against you if you have accidently damaged someone or their property.

Legal Expenses

If you ever need to go to court Surewise can provide up to £100,000 to help with the cost.

Personal Accident

In the event you suffer an accident at work they provide up to £7,500 to cover the cost.

Personal Possessions

If a personal possession is damaged or lost while working they can provide £250 to cover the cost.

Client Possessions

If a client's personal possession is damaged or lost while at work Surewise can provide £250 to cover the cost.

24/7 Legal & Tax Helpline

Provided by ARAG Support - 0330 303 1449

No Excess

There is no contribution required to make a successful claim.

Please contact one of our team at: accounts@curamcare.com for more information or for the complete terms.

If you are unsatisfied with your carer’s service, we recommend that you give notice to that carer, report the issue to our office at client@curamcare.com and search for a carer more suited to your needs on our website.

The carers set their own rates according to factors such as experience and qualifications. You, as a client, have the possibility to negotiate rates with carers individually if desired.

The average hourly care rate charged by carers on Curam is £18.83 per hour, with rates starting at £14.06 an hour. The average live-in care rate charged on Curam is £1,127 per week, with rates starting at £800 a week. Carer rates include our fee of 12.5% + VAT.

We have set the minimum rate on our platform to be in line with the London Living Wage. The minimum that carers can charge per hour is therefore equal to £14.06 (with our 12.5% fee and VAT taken into account) for 2023/24.

You can contract a Curam carer off-platform, however this incurs a recruitment fee of £2,200+VAT payable by the client. This can be seen in point 9.3 of our terms and conditions. Contact us at accounts@curamcare.com if you have any further questions on this matter.

The carer is paid the rate they have agreed with you minus our 12.5%+VAT fee which covers the platform, insurance and transaction costs.

For example, if you pay the carer £15.00 an hour, the carer will receive £12.75 per hour.

It is Curam’s policy that no carer on the platform charges less than the London Living Wage, currently £10.85 per hour, with the addition of our commission and VAT this rounds up to a minimum rate on the platform of £12.80 per hour.

No, since all the carers on our platform are self-employed, you are not liable to pay Employers’ National Insurance.

Here at Curam, we have transparent minimal fee of 12.5% + VAT on all the care hours transacted on our platform. By using our platform, you are able to able to save 10%* of what one might normally spend when sourcing carers via a traditional agency (*Kings Fund Report 2019).

You can decide to either save that extra 10%, use it to buy more care hours or use it to make your care budget go further.

Another great way to stretch your care budget is to check your eligibility for government benefits, millions of pounds of benefits go unclaimed every year – don't miss out!

Your replacement carer will simply send you a service agreement and shift invoice via the Curam platform whilst your regular carer is away.

Your main carer will have to amend their invoice to ensure you do not pay twice.

You then approve the service agreement and shift agreement as usual and pay through the platform.

Carers payments are released to them 3 working days after a shift ends. If you require a partial or full refund, please contact us as soon as possible. To contact us please open the relevant invoice and click the “contact support” button, please submit your query – this will put the invoice on hold and we can arrange a refund.