Quick summary
Print this and take it to every meeting, including ours. The questions that separate providers are about visit length, travel time and staff turnover rather than about values. Question 14 is the one agencies like least, and the answer tells you more than any brochure will.
How to use this
Ask the same questions of every provider and write the answers down. Comparing three sets of notes is far more useful than comparing three impressions, because the differences between agencies are in the detail.
Watch for hedging as much as content. “We aim to” and “wherever possible” are reasonable phrases, and if they appear on every answer, you are being managed.
Our own answers are below each question, so you can see what a direct answer looks like and hold everyone else to the same standard.
About the visits
1) What is your minimum visit length?
NICE recommends home care visits of at least 30 minutes, with shorter calls only for specific agreed tasks (NICE QS123). Fifteen minutes is not enough to wash, dress, feed and medicate anyone.
Our answer: one hour, always. We do not run 15 or 30 minute calls at all, which rules us out of some council-commissioned work and is not negotiable.
2) Do you work to fixed times or a window?
A two-hour window is fine for companionship and a problem for time-critical medication. For Parkinson’s it is close to decisive, as our guide to Parkinson’s care at home explains.
Our answer: fixed times for time-critical visits such as Parkinson’s medication. For ordinary morning and evening calls we work to a window, like everyone else, because traffic in Cheshire East exists.
3) What happens if a visit needs to run over?
You want to hear that the carer stays and the office reshuffles, not that they have to leave on time.
Our answer: the carer stays. Rounds are built with hour-long visits and paid travel time, which is what creates the slack to absorb it. The office is told so the next client knows.
4) How much notice do you need to change or cancel a visit, and what is charged?
Some providers lock families into long contracts, which is a problem when needs change quickly after a hospital discharge.
Our answer: two weeks’ notice to pause or stop, and within the first 14 days you can cancel at any time with no notice. There is no cancellation charge at any point. We keep the terms simple deliberately.
5) Can we start small and increase later?
Most people should start smaller than they think. It matters enormously for anyone reluctant to accept help at all.
Our answer: yes, and we encourage it. An hour a week for shopping and company is a perfectly good place to begin, and care can build from there. See what to do when a parent refuses care.
About the carers
6) How many different carers will we see in a month?
Ask for a number drawn from current clients, not a reassurance.
Our answer: you choose your caregiver and they are allocated to you long term. For holidays and sickness we introduce up to three in total, so cover is always someone you have already met.
7) Will we meet them before care starts, and can we say no?
NICE says new care workers should be introduced before visiting alone. Whether you get a genuine choice varies a great deal.
Our answer: yes, with every new client. If the match is not right, you say so and we send someone else. No reason needed.
8) What happens when our regular carer is on holiday or off sick?
This is where continuity usually breaks down.
Our answer: cover comes from the small group of up to three caregivers you have already met, so nobody arrives at the door as a stranger.
9) What training do your carers have, and who delivers it?
Ask what is condition-specific rather than general. “All our staff are trained” means nothing on its own.
Our answer: induction, shadowing with an experienced carer, and the Care Certificate’s 15 standards, all paid for by us. Condition-specific training in dementia, Parkinson’s, stroke recovery and complex care is also provided depending on clients’ needs. Medicines competence is assessed before anyone gives medication and reviewed annually, as NICE and CQC expect.
10) Are your carers employed by you or self-employed?
This decides who is responsible if something goes wrong, who arranges cover, and who holds the insurance and training.
Our answer: employed by us. We handle PAYE, insurance, training, supervision and cover. With a self-employed carer, several of those sit with you.
About the money
11) What is your hourly rate, and what changes at evenings, weekends and bank holidays?
Ask the second half of that question carefully. Plenty of providers quote a weekday daytime rate and charge more at evenings, weekends and bank holidays, which are exactly the times many families need cover. For context, home care averages around £35 an hour in Macclesfield and £39 across Cheshire East (Lottie, September 2026).
Our answer: £36 an hour with a one hour minimum visit, correct as at September 2026. The same £36 applies at evenings, weekends and bank holidays. We do not charge a premium rate, which makes the weekly cost easy to work out in advance.
12) Is there a minimum weekly commitment or a joining fee?
A minimum number of hours a week can make a small starting package impossible, and it penalises people whose needs later reduce.
Our answer: no minimum weekly commitment, no joining fee, and the assessment is free. You can start with one visit a week and increase or reduce as things change.
13) How much notice to end the arrangement, and is there a cancellation charge?
Our answer: two weeks’ notice, none at all in the first 14 days, and no cancellation charge.
14) What do you pay your carers, and do you pay for travel time between visits?
This is the one. Travel between appointments counts as working time for National Minimum Wage purposes, and it is still where many agencies quietly save money. The Homecare Association puts the minimum sustainable price of an hour of home care in England at £34.42 for 2026/27, while councils pay an average of £24.39. An agency charging well below the sustainable figure is funding that gap somewhere, and it is usually carer pay, travel time or visit length. Our piece on 15-minute visits sets out the arithmetic.
Our answer: £15.70 an hour after a three month probation, £14.70 during it, plus 35p a mile, and travel time between visits is paid. The sector median was £12.60 an hour in December 2025 (Skills for Care).
15) What is your carer turnover?
A provider who does not know their own number is telling you something too.
Our answer: 12 per cent, against a sector figure of 23.7 per cent (Skills for Care, 2025). The terms above are why.
About how it is run
16) Who do we ring out of hours, and does a person answer?
Crises happen at night and at weekends. An answerphone is not an out of hours service.
Our answer: a person, any hour of the day or night, on 01625 720157.
17) What is in your care plan, and do we get a copy?
NICE expects a care diary kept in the home and a copy offered to the person. A plan listing only tasks is not good enough.
Our answer: a written plan covering routine, preferences, risks, medication, time-critical visits and what happens if a visit is missed. You get a copy, the daily record stays in the home, and you can ask for changes at any time. See what should be in a care plan.
18) How do you know if a carer has not arrived, and what happens then?
NICE expects providers to have a plan for missed visits and to put it into action.
Our answer: the office knows before you do due to alerts from our electronic monitoring system. We’ll ring you with a new time, and send a replacement. Time-critical visits are covered first. More in our guide to missed care visits.
19) How do you handle medication, and how is it recorded?
There are three levels of medicines support: prompting, assisting and administering. Carers should only do what the care plan says.
Our answer: the level is assessed at the start and written into the plan. Every dose is recorded on a medicines administration record at the visit. Refusals and missed doses are reported, not left. We do not give injections or manage syringe drivers, which are district nursing tasks.
20) How do we complain, and what happens if we are not satisfied?
Every registered provider must have a complaints procedure. Ask for a copy.
Our answer: raise it with the office, by phone or in writing, and we respond within the timescales in our written procedure, which we give you before care starts. If you are not satisfied, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman can investigate privately arranged care as well as council-funded care, free and independently. The CQC does not investigate individual complaints, though you can share your experience with it.
Four more if funding is involved
Do you accept direct payments, and can we top up privately if your rate is above the council’s?
Yes. A direct payment lets you choose us and pay the difference between the council’s rate and ours. Our comparison of live-in and hourly care covers the arithmetic once hours climb.
Do you work with council-funded clients, and does the service differ?
Our rate and hour-long minimum do not fit every commissioned framework, so a direct payment is usually the route. The service itself is identical however it is paid for.
Will you help us identify benefits such as Attendance Allowance?
Yes, as part of the free assessment. We will point you to Attendance Allowance, the Council Tax disregard, Pension Credit and free advice services. We are not regulated financial advisers and we do not charge for this.
What happens if funding changes, for example after an NHS Continuing Healthcare decision?
Care continues and the invoicing changes. We work with Fast Track packages too. See our guide to Continuing Healthcare.
Answers that should give you pause
If they say | What to do |
|---|---|
“We don’t track carer turnover” | Ask how long the current carers in your area have been there |
“Travel time is built into the rate” | Ask whether carers are paid separately for it, which is a different question |
“You’ll get whoever is available” | Ask how many that is likely to be in a month |
“We can’t give a price until after the assessment” | Reasonable for a package, less so for a standard hourly rate |
“We do 15 minute calls for personal care” | Ask them to talk you through what fits in fifteen minutes |
“Our carers are self-employed” | Ask who arranges cover, insurance and training |
“There’s a minimum of 10 hours a week” | Ask what happens if needs reduce after a recovery |
“Weekends are charged at time and a half” | Work out the real weekly cost, not the weekday rate |
Before you decide
- Speak to at least three providers.
- Include the person receiving care if they want to be there. The match matters more than the paperwork.
- Check the CQC report for the right registered location, reading the five key questions separately rather than only the headline.
- Get the hourly rate in writing, including evening, weekend and bank holiday rates.
- Ask for the contract before you sign, and read the notice period.
- Ask the council for a care needs assessment too. Free, a legal right, and an independent view of what is needed. See what happens in an assessment, and which council to ring if you are near the Derbyshire or Staffordshire border.
Frequently asked questions
What should I ask a home care agency?
Start with minimum visit length, how many different carers you will see in a month, what they pay their carers, whether travel time is paid, and what their turnover is. Those five separate providers faster than anything else.
How do I compare quotes fairly?
Compare cost per week for the same pattern of visits, not the headline hourly rate, and check evening and weekend rates. A cheaper weekday rate with weekend premiums and shorter minimum visits can cost more for the same care.
Do care agencies charge more at weekends?
Many do, often at evenings and bank holidays too. Ask for every rate in writing. Ours is £36 an hour whenever the visit happens.
Is the cheapest agency a bad sign?
Not automatically, and a rate well below the £34.42 sustainable minimum should prompt questions about pay, travel time and visit length.
Should the person needing care be in the meeting?
Where possible, yes. It is their home and their decision, and a provider who talks only to you is showing you how they will behave later.
What if we agree to care and then change our minds?
Check the notice period before signing. With us it is two weeks, nothing at all in the first 14 days, and no cancellation charge.
About Visiting Angels Cheshire East
Visiting Angels Cheshire East provides care at home across Macclesfield, Wilmslow, Knutsford, Congleton, Alsager and the surrounding villages of East Cheshire, along with Buxton, Whaley Bridge and the Staffordshire Moorlands towns.
- You choose your caregiver. You meet them before care starts, and if it is not right you say so and we send someone else.
- No visit is ever shorter than an hour.
- £36 an hour, whenever the visit happens. No evening, weekend or bank holiday premium, no minimum weekly hours and no joining fee.
- You see the same faces. Our carer turnover is 12 per cent, against a sector figure of 23.7 per cent (Skills for Care, 2025).
- Carers trained in dementia, Parkinson’s, stroke recovery and complex care.
Alan’s wife is supported at home, and this is what he wrote:
“Excellent in every respect. Staff are caring, friendly and helpful. [Our carers] do everything they can to make my wife’s life easier. Management and staff are flexible in their approach and do the unpleasant jobs with a smile and willingness which is commendable. They are always willing to ‘go the extra mile.'”
Alan Hallett, Google review
Not sure what you need yet? Start with a free assessment
Our free home care assessment is a visit at a time that suits you, with no obligation afterwards. In it we will:
- Answer all twenty questions without you having to chase the awkward ones.
- Work out what is actually difficult, and which times of day.
- Put the cost in writing, with no joining fee and no minimum weekly hours.
- Tell you honestly if you do not need us yet, or if someone else is a better fit.
Bring the list and use it on us. Call 01625 720157, or send an enquiry. You can also see what our services cover.
Authored by Kim Blissett, Registered Manager, Visiting Angels Cheshire East.
Published 27 September 2026. Last updated 29 September 2026.
This article is general information about choosing a care provider, not legal or financial advice. We are a care provider and so have an interest in how these comparisons are framed; please use the list on us as well as on others. Our own terms are correct at the date of publication and the contract issued at the start of care takes precedence. Market rates and sector figures change. To the fullest extent permitted by law, GB Care at Home Ltd accepts no liability for any loss arising from reliance on this article.
