Carers at Home · Maintaining your independence

No. We are registered and insured to provide care at home for any adult over 18. Alongside older clients we support adults with physical disabilities and sensory disabilities — including hidden disabilities such as severe epilepsy or anxiety that make it harder to get out into the community confidently.

Tell us — we genuinely want to know, and acting on feedback is how we've stayed good at this since 2007. Every client receives a copy of our complaints procedure when care starts: raise anything with your care worker, the office or a manager, and it will be taken seriously, investigated and responded to properly. If you're ever unsatisfied with our response, you can escalate to the relevant ombudsman, and you can contact the CQC at any time.Compliments are welcome too — they reach the care workers concerned, and they matter to them. You can read some on our testimonials page.

Your care records, health information and personal details are held securely and handled in line with UK data protection law (UK GDPR). Information is shared only with the people who need it to care for you safely — your care team, and where appropriate health professionals such as your GP — and with anyone else only with your consent.

Care workers record notes at every visit, so there is always an up-to-date picture of how things are going, and with the client's consent we keep nominated family members informed — especially if anything changes or concerns us. Many of our clients' families live at a distance or overseas; knowing that regular visits are happening, monitored and documented is precisely the reassurance they come to us for. And you can always simply ring the office and ask.

Access arrangements are agreed with you at the assessment and recorded in your care plan. Most clients who can't answer the door use a key safe — a small combination box fixed by the door — and we treat the code with strict confidentiality, sharing it only with the care workers who visit you. We never label keys or codes with your name or address.

Our care workers are trained to respond to emergencies — summoning medical help first, then contacting family and our office. Outside office hours there is an on-call member of the management team, so clients, families and care workers always have someone senior to reach. If a care worker ever finds a client unwell or cannot get an answer at the door, there is a clear procedure they follow immediately.

All care workers are trained in infection prevention and control as part of induction and refresher training, and use appropriate protective equipment such as gloves and aprons for personal care tasks. Good hand hygiene and safe food handling are standard practice on every visit, and our IPC procedures follow current national guidance for care at home.

We cover it — that's a core benefit of using a managed agency rather than employing someone privately. Cover comes from your existing small team wherever possible, so it's a familiar face, briefed from your care plan. You don't have to find anyone, and your visits carry on as normal.

Your care is overseen by our office-based care management team, who you can call whenever you need — you're never just left to it. Quality is checked continuously: electronic visit monitoring, regular care plan reviews, spot checks and supervisions of care workers, and client feedback surveys. Our management team is hands-on and local, and you can read what clients say on our testimonials page and on homecare.co.uk.

Employed by us — and this is one of the most important questions you can ask any care provider. Because our care workers are our employees, we are responsible for their training, supervision, insurance, sick and holiday cover, and the quality of their work, all under CQC regulation. Introduction websites and some agencies simply match you with self-employed carers, leaving you as, in effect, the employer — with the legal responsibilities and the risk if things go wrong. With a fully managed service, none of that falls on your family.

Every care worker completes our in-house induction programme leading to the Care Certificate — the national standard developed by Skills for Care, Health Education England and Skills for Health — before working with clients. Training continues throughout their career with us and covers areas including moving and handling, safe medication, dementia awareness, infection prevention and safeguarding. Where a client has specific needs, we train for those specifically.Our standards for managers and staff are based on the National Occupational Standards for the care industry.

Thoroughly, because they'll be trusted in your home. Every care worker completes an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check, provides references which we verify, and proves their right to work in the UK before they ever visit a client. Just as importantly, we recruit for character: kindness, patience and reliability can't be trained in, so we interview for values as well as experience.Meet some of the team on our care workers page.

Yes. Carers at Home is registered with the Care Quality Commission, the independent regulator of health and social care in England, and has been since we were established. CQC registration means we are inspected against national standards for safety, effectiveness, leadership and care — something a privately hired carer or an introduction website is not.At our most recent inspection our Godalming service was rated Good overall, with Outstanding for Caring. You can read our inspection reports in full on the CQC website and see our profile on the NHS website.

No — and this matters more than it sounds. Our care workers are fully employed by Carers at Home: we handle their pay, tax, National Insurance, pension, holiday and sick cover, training and insurance, and you receive a single clear invoice from us. With a privately hired carer or an introduction website, those legal responsibilities of being an employer can quietly land on you. With us, they never do.

Yes. We support privately funded clients and clients whose care is funded through their local authority, including those using direct payments to choose their own provider. We have worked on behalf of Surrey Social Services since our early years, so we're very used to the paperwork and will handle it with you. See paying for care for how the funding routes work.

More than most families realise. The main routes in England are:Attendance Allowance — a tax-free, non-means-tested benefit for people over State Pension age who need help or supervision. For 2026/27 it pays £76.70 or £114.60 a week, and your savings and income make no difference to eligibility. Local authority funding — if your savings and assets are below £23,250 (2026/27, England) the council may contribute to your care following a care needs and financial assessment; below £14,250 your capital is disregarded entirely. Direct payments — council funding paid to you, so you choose your own care provider. NHS Continuing Healthcare — full NHS funding, not means-tested, for people whose needs are primarily health-based. Our paying for care page explains each route, and we're happy to point you in the right direction when we assess your needs.

Our pricing is deliberately transparent: everything you'll pay is set out in writing before care begins. Where a care worker drives you in their own car, mileage is charged at 45p per mile. Any enhanced rates — for example on bank holidays — are shown on our fees page and in your care agreement, so nothing appears on an invoice that you haven't already seen.

Live-in care is charged at a weekly rate that depends on the level of support needed — one person or a couple, and the complexity of care. Current rates are on our live-in care fees page. For couples especially, live-in care frequently compares favourably with the combined cost of two care home places, and the fee covers a fully managed, regulated service — not just an introduction.

Home care visits are charged by the length of the visit, so you only pay for the time you need — our current rates are published openly on our fees page. After your free care needs assessment we'll give you a clear written cost for your exact package before anything starts, with no hidden charges.

Yes — and it's often the most compelling case for live-in care. One live-in carer (or more where needs are higher) supports both of you at home together, even when your needs are quite different. Compared with two care home places, the financial case usually speaks for itself, and you stay together in the home you've shared. See live-in care fees for how couples' packages are priced.

Live-in carers work in planned rotation — typically a small team of two carers who alternate, so time off is built into the rota rather than being a crisis. Your second carer is someone you know, working from the same care plan, with a proper handover between them. You are never left without cover.

Matching is done with you, not to you. We propose carers based on your care needs, personality, interests and household — including any preferences you have — and you can see their profile and speak with or meet them before care begins. If the match ever doesn't feel right, tell us and we'll change it. The relationship between client and carer is the heart of live-in care, so we take real trouble over it.

Yes — a daily break is part of every live-in arrangement, and it's agreed with you in advance so it falls at a time that suits your routine. If you need support during the carer's break, we can arrange a visiting care worker to cover it. Well-rested carers give better care, so we plan this properly rather than leaving it to chance.

A private bedroom of their own, access to bathroom and washing facilities, and meals — most clients simply share food shopping with their carer, and we'll agree the arrangement that suits you at the assessment. Wi-Fi is appreciated so carers can keep in touch with their own family in their downtime. That's essentially it: no special adaptations are needed for the carer themselves.

Whatever your day needs: help getting up, washed and dressed; breakfast and other meals cooked to your taste; medication; housework and laundry; shopping and errands; trips out and hobbies; company over a cup of tea; and help getting comfortably to bed. The carer fits around your routine — not the other way round.We've written up a typical day with a live-in carer and the most common live-in services so you can picture how it works.

With live-in care you keep your home, your routines, your neighbours, your garden and your pets — and you receive one-to-one attention, rather than sharing carers with a whole home of residents. Couples stay together. Family can visit whenever they like, with no visiting hours.Financially it often compares well with a good care home, particularly for couples, where one live-in carer replaces two sets of care home fees. See our live-in care comparison and live-in care fees pages.

Live-in care means a dedicated, trained carer comes to live with you in your own home, providing support throughout the day shaped entirely around your routine — from personal care and medication to cooking, housekeeping, companionship and getting out and about. It's a genuine one-to-one alternative to moving into a care home.A full care needs assessment happens before care begins, and every client has their own bespoke care plan. Our live-in care page explains the service, the types of live-in care available, and what a typical day looks like.

Yes. When someone wishes to spend their final months, weeks or days in their own home, our care workers provide sensitive, dignified support for them and for their family — working alongside district nurses, GPs and hospice teams. Many families tell us afterwards that being cared for at home, surrounded by familiar things and the people they love, meant everything. Read more about our palliative care.

Yes. Short-term support works well in lots of situations: giving a family carer a proper break, extra help while recovering after an operation or illness, or a trial of live-in care before committing long term. Short-term packages run from our minimum initial period of six weeks, which suits most recovery and respite situations well. Our reablement care service is designed specifically to help someone regain independence at home after a hospital stay.

Yes. Getting out and about is often the part of the week clients look forward to most — medical appointments, the shops, the hairdresser, a garden centre, lunch with a friend. Where it's agreed in your care plan and the right insurance is in place, a care worker can drive your own car; otherwise they can accompany you in theirs, with mileage charged at 45p per mile. See our social visits page.

Yes, and it's one of the great advantages of care at home: couples stay together, in their own home, even when their needs differ. One care package can support both people — whether that's daily visits or a live-in carer — which usually costs considerably less than two places in a care home, and avoids the heartbreak of separation.

Yes — dementia care is one of our core services. All our care workers are trained to understand the different stages of living with dementia as part of their induction and ongoing training, and familiar routines in a familiar home are one of the most powerful ways to support someone living with dementia. We support people with Alzheimer's disease, vascular dementia, Lewy body dementia, frontotemporal dementia and mixed dementia.Visit our dementia care page to learn more, including our dementia workshop.

Every visit is electronically monitored. Our care workers tap in on arrival and tap out on departure using a secure NFC tag in your home, so the office can see in real time that visits have happened, started on time and lasted their full length. If a care worker is running late or a visit is missed, our system flags it and the office acts immediately.This isn't just reassurance for families — it's part of how we evidence safe care to the CQC.

Every visit is electronically monitored. Our care workers tap in on arrival and tap out on departure using a secure NFC tag in your home, so the office can see in real time that visits have happened, started on time and lasted their full length. If a care worker is running late or a visit is missed, our system flags it and the office acts immediately.This isn't just reassurance for families — it's part of how we evidence safe care to the CQC.

Continuity matters enormously — to you and to us. We introduce a small, consistent team of care workers matched to you, so visits are made by people you know and who know your routine, rather than a stream of strangers. Where a regular care worker is away, cover comes from within your known team wherever possible, with a proper handover of your care plan.You can read about how we choose and train our team on our care workers page.

Yes. For many clients we prompt or administer prescribed medication as part of their visits. Our care workers are trained in safe medication handling, everything given or prompted is recorded, and the arrangements are agreed in your care plan — including liaising with your GP or pharmacist where helpful.

Most things that keep daily life running comfortably and safely: help getting up and going to bed, washing, bathing and dressing (personal care), preparing meals and keeping an eye on diet, prompting or giving medication, light housework, laundry, shopping and errands.Just as importantly, our care workers provide companionship and human interaction — for many clients the friendly face is as valuable as the practical help. See the full range on our home care page.

Carers at Home is a family-run care agency established in 2007. From our office in Godalming, Surrey, we provide home care visits and live-in care, and we have delivered around one million care visits since we began. We are registered with and inspected by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), the independent regulator of care in England.You can read more about us, meet our management team and see our values.

We provide home care visits across Surrey, Berkshire and East Hampshire from our Godalming office. Our live-in care service covers the south of England — including Surrey, Hampshire, Sussex, Kent, Berkshire, Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Wiltshire.See the full list on our where we cover page — and if you're just outside these areas, call us anyway, as we can often still help.

It starts with a conversation. Call 01483 899 350 for home care or 0330 633 4455 for live-in care, or use our contact page, and we'll talk through what's happening and what kind of help might suit. There's no obligation and no charge for this.If you'd like to go ahead, one of our senior care team visits you at home for a free, confidential care needs assessment. From that we build a personalised care plan, agree the visits or live-in arrangement, and match you with the right care worker. Our arranging care page walks through the whole process.

Often within a few days of your first call, and faster when it's urgent — for example when someone is being discharged from hospital. We prioritise urgent situations: where needed, a member of our senior care team can visit the hospital before discharge to prepare the care plan, so support is in place from the moment your relative arrives home. This is how our reablement care service works.For live-in care, matching the right carer usually takes a little longer than arranging visits, but we can often put temporary support in place while that happens.

A senior member of our care team — not a salesperson — visits you at home, usually with family present if you'd like. We talk through daily routines, health conditions, medication, mobility, what you enjoy, and what you want to stay independent with. We'll also look at practical things like access to the property and any equipment in use.From this we write your personal care plan and give you a clear picture of the costs before anything starts. Read more about the care needs assessment.

All new care packages — home care visits and live-in care alike — begin with a minimum initial period of six weeks. Setting care up properly takes real time and effort — the home assessment, writing your care plan, and carefully matching and introducing your care team — and the six-week minimum reflects that investment while giving the arrangement a fair chance to settle in.Beyond that there's no long-term tie-in: care continues for as long as you want it, and you can end it with a short notice period set out plainly in your care agreement before anything begins, so there are no surprises. Care can also be paused, for example during a hospital stay or a family holiday.

Yes — flexibility is one of the main reasons families choose care at home. Visits can be added, lengthened, shortened or moved as needs change, and home care can step up to overnight care or live-in care if the time comes. Your care plan is reviewed regularly with you, and you can request a review at any point by calling the office.

We tailor visit lengths to what you actually need — from short calls to check you're safe and comfortable, up to several visits a day, full days, overnight care and live-in care. There's no requirement to book a large weekly package: some clients see us once a week for a social visit, others several times a day.We'll agree the right pattern at your assessment, and our fees page shows how visits are priced by length.