How to Choose a Home Care Agency: 20 Questions and a Family Checklist

Choosing a care agency is a decision most families make once, under pressure, with no prior experience — usually while also managing a hospital discharge or a parent who isn’t convinced they need help at all.

Start by checking the agency is registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and reading its latest inspection report. Then shortlist two or three agencies that cover your area and ask each the same questions. The 20 questions below, a comparison table and the red flags to walk away from will help you choose well, wherever your family lives in England.

At a glance

• Any agency providing personal care at home in England must be registered with CQC.
• Check the agency’s CQC rating and the date of its last inspection on the CQC website.
• As of 2026, agencies in England typically charge about £32–£34 an hour for weekday care, and rates vary by region.
• NICE says most home care visits should be at least 30 minutes, and new carers should be introduced before visiting alone.
• Always get the price and terms in writing before care starts.

Where do I start when choosing a home care agency?

Start with your loved one’s needs, not with providers. Write down, honestly, what the week needs to look like. Not “Mum needs care” but:

• Which tasks are difficult — washing, dressing, meals, medication, getting to the toilet at night?
• At what times of day? Mornings and evenings are the pinch points for most people.
• Are there conditions needing specific training — dementia, Parkinson’s, a catheter, a stoma, a hoist?
• What matters to them? A carer who speaks their language, a woman rather than a man, no one before 9am.

This list makes quotes genuinely comparable, and it exposes any provider who nods along without engaging with the detail. If you’re unsure of the level of need, ask your council’s adult social care team for a free care needs assessment. It’s a legal right regardless of savings, and it helps even if you plan to pay privately.

Next, build a shortlist:

• Search the CQC website for home care agencies (listed as “homecare agencies”) near your postcode.
• Ask your local council for a list of agencies it works with.
• Ask people you trust, such as your GP practice, friends or local carers’ groups.
• Check the Homecare Association, whose members sign up to a code of practice (Age UK suggests this route).

Aim for two or three agencies to speak to properly, ideally based near the person’s home: shorter travel between visits often means more reliable timing.

Is the agency properly registered and rated?

1. Are you registered with CQC for personal care?

In England, any organisation providing personal care in people’s homes — help with washing, dressing, toileting, eating and medication — must register with CQC. An unregistered provider cannot legally do these tasks. An agency offering only cleaning, shopping or companionship may not need to register. Check the register yourself on the CQC website.

2. What is your current CQC rating, and when were you last inspected?

Ratings are Outstanding, Good, Requires improvement or Inadequate. Providers must display their latest rating, with its date, on their website and premises (CQC Regulation 20A). But the headline isn’t the useful part:

• Check the date. A “Good” from 2018 may describe a service that has since changed hands, managers and staff.
• Read “Well-led”, “Caring” and “Responsive”. Most home care failures are management failures — rota chaos, late visits, poor supervision — and missed or rushed visits get recorded under Responsive.
• Ask whether the registered manager has changed since the inspection.

Our guides to CQC ratings for home care and reading CQC reports explain each section. Many registered home care services have no current rating, often because they’re new. That isn’t automatically a red flag, but it means more of your own diligence.

3. Are you a managed agency or an introductory agency?

A managed agency employs, trains and supervises its carers and takes responsibility for the care. An introductory agency puts you in touch with self-employed carers, and you take on more of the responsibility yourself.

Introductory agencies can suit organised families who are comfortable being an employer, but the lower price is the transfer of risk and admin to you. See managed care vs introductory care agency.

4. Who is the registered manager, and how can I reach them?

Every CQC-registered home care service should have one. Ask who they are, how long they’ve been in post, whether you’ll meet them, and how to contact the office.

Who will the carers be?

5. How do you recruit and check carers?

Ask whether every carer has an enhanced DBS check with the adults’ barred list, references, and right-to-work checks.

6. What training do carers get, and how are they supervised?

Ask about induction training, how often carers are supervised, and whether they get spot checks in people’s homes.

7. Do your carers have experience with my parent’s condition?

If your relative is living with dementia, Parkinson’s, stroke or another condition, ask what specific training carers have for the one you actually need, including tasks like catheter care or hoisting. NICE says care workers should have the right skills to meet people’s needs, including dementia.

8. How many different carers will visit each week?

This is the single most revealing question. Continuity matters, especially for people with dementia, and NICE says the same workers should visit where possible. A confident answer with a number is a good sign; vagueness is an answer too.

9. Will new carers be introduced before they visit alone?

NICE guidance says they should be. Ask how the agency does this in practice.

10. Do you pay carers for travel time?

Unpaid travel time is the root cause of rushed and late visits across the sector, because carers feel pressure to cut visits short. The Homecare Association’s minimum price for 2026/27 (£34.42 an hour in England) assumes travel time is paid.

How will the care work day to day?

11. Who writes the care plan, and when is it reviewed?

A good agency will visit to assess needs before care starts and write a care plan with you. Ask how often it is reviewed, by whom, and how you can request changes.

12. How long are visits, and what happens if a carer is late or misses one?

NICE says home care visits should be at least 30 minutes, except for short agreed tasks (NICE QS123). Ask what the agency’s minimum visit is, what arrival window it gives, whether you’ll be told if a carer is running late, and whether electronic call monitoring raises an alert when a visit is missed.

13. How do you handle medication?

Care workers should only give the medication support written in the care plan, such as prompting or administering (NICE NG67). Ask how medicines are recorded and how time-critical medicines, such as those for Parkinson’s, are prioritised.

14. How will the family be kept informed?

Ask whether the agency uses daily notes, a family app, a paper log in the house or phone calls, and who you can contact out of hours.

15. What cover do you have for sickness, holidays and emergencies?

Listen for a named backup system, not “we’d sort something out”, and ask whether there’s an on-call manager at evenings and weekends.

What will it cost, and what’s in the contract?

16. What are your hourly rates for weekdays, weekends and bank holidays?

As of 2026, home care in England costs about £32–£34 an hour on weekdays; the Lottie Care Index puts the median at £33.49 for Q3 2026, and many agencies charge £26–£38. Rates vary by region: London agencies, for example, typically charge £30–£40. Weekends are often 10–25% more, bank holidays often time-and-a-half, and Christmas and New Year often double. Ask for a written price list. Our home care cost calculator helps you estimate a weekly budget, and the home care funding guide covers help paying.

17. Are there any other fees?

Ask about assessment fees, mileage or call-out charges, double-up rates if two carers are needed, and cancellation charges. Check the minimum charge too: a 30-minute call billed at 45 minutes changes your real hourly cost substantially. Care from a CQC-registered agency is VAT exempt, but introductory fees may carry VAT (HMRC VAT Notice 701/2).

18. What notice do I need to give, and how do price rises work?

Check the notice period to end care, how much notice you’ll get of price rises, and what happens if the person goes into hospital. Four weeks’ notice is common; longer tie-ins deserve scrutiny. Our guide to home care contracts lists what to check.

19. Can you accept council direct payments or work with the council?

If your relative gets council funding or a direct payment now or later, check the agency can work with that. This avoids changing carers if funding changes.

20. How do you handle complaints, and can I speak to a current client?

CQC-registered providers must have a complaints procedure. Every provider gets complaints; what matters is whether they can describe what changed as a result. Unresolved complaints can go to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, including from people who pay for their own care. A good provider will also arrange for you to speak to a current client or family.

How do I compare agencies side by side?

Put the answers into a simple table so you can compare fairly. Price matters, but it shouldn’t be the only column.

Local practicalities matter too. Ask where the branch office is (nearby usually means carers live locally), how rotas allow travel time between visits, how carers will get in and park if there’s door entry or a controlled parking zone, and whether a carer can speak your parent’s first language or understand their faith or food customs.

Trust the assessment visit

The free assessment is your real test. Watch whether the care manager talks to your relative or about them; whether they ask about preferences and history or only about tasks; whether they say “we can do all of that” to everything, or tell you honestly where they’d struggle.

A provider who says “I don’t think you need three visits a day yet — start with two and call me in a month” is worth considerably more than one who agrees to whatever you suggest.

What are the red flags to watch for?

Be cautious if an agency:

• can’t show its CQC registration or rating, or won’t discuss the report or name the registered manager;
• won’t give prices in writing, or quotes over the phone without an assessment for anything beyond companionship;
• offers no written care plan, or one that reads like a template with a name swapped in;
• is vague about who the carers are or how they’re trained;
• charges well below market with no explanation of how the model works;
• asks for large upfront payments, or has long tie-ins or charges for reducing hours;
• pressures you to sign at the assessment visit — nobody credible needs a decision today;
• has no named point of contact, just an office number and whoever picks up;
• talks about your relative in the third person while they’re in the room. That tells you exactly how care will be delivered.

A highly rated agency that can’t staff your mornings reliably isn’t the best choice for you. Focus on rating, reliability and fit.

What should I do after choosing an agency?

Read the contract and care plan carefully before signing, and keep copies of everything. In the first few weeks, stay in close touch with the office and your relative about how visits are going. Our guide on what to expect in the first week of home care explains what should happen.

Check any shortlisted provider’s full inspection report on the CQC website before you commit. To start your shortlist, see home care in your area or browse home care agencies by county.

Frequently asked questions

How do I check if a home care agency is CQC registered?

Search the provider’s name or your postcode on the CQC website. The listing shows whether the agency is registered, its current rating and its inspection reports. Check the inspection date as well as the rating, and confirm the registered manager named in the report is still in post. If an agency provides personal care and isn’t listed, don’t use it.

What is a good CQC rating for a home care agency?

“Good” and “Outstanding” are the two positive ratings. “Requires improvement” means CQC found areas that need to get better, and “Inadequate” means serious problems. Always check the inspection date and read which of the five key questions (Safe, Effective, Caring, Responsive, Well-led) scored lower.

Will we have the same carer every time?

No agency can promise the same person at every visit, because of holidays and sickness. Ask how many different carers you are likely to see in a typical week and how new carers are introduced. A small regular team of two to four carers is a good sign.

Should I choose the cheapest home care agency?

Not on price alone. Below the Homecare Association’s minimum sustainable price for England of £34.42 an hour for 2026/27, something is usually being cut — typically carer pay, travel time or supervision, which shows up as rushed visits and high turnover. Compare price alongside rating, continuity and communication.

Can I change agency if I’m not happy?

Yes. Check your contract’s notice period, usually two to four weeks. Raise problems with the registered manager first; if things don’t improve, give notice and move. If you’re council funded or hold a direct payment, tell your social worker. Keep records of any problems in case you need to complain.

Sources

• CQC: personal care as a regulated activity
• CQC: Regulation 20A, display of performance assessments
• CQC: introductory agencies and ongoing role
• NICE NG21: familiar home care workers (information for the public)
• NICE QS123: length of home care visits
• NICE NG67: managing medicines for adults receiving social care in the community
• Homecare Association: research and reports
• Age UK: paying for homecare
• HMRC: VAT Notice 701/2
• LGSCO: adult social care complaints
• Lottie: London home care directory

The Care Panel is an independent publication. We are not a care provider and are not regulated by the Care Quality Commission, because we do not deliver care. Always check a provider’s own CQC registration and inspection report before you commit.

Written and fact-checked by The Care Panel. Last updated September 2026. General information only, not financial, legal or medical advice.

See also: Questions to ask an individual carer before you hire them

Reviewed by The Care Panel team on 9 November 2026. This guide is general information about care in England, not legal, medical or financial advice. Rules and rates change; check with your council or an adviser before making decisions.