Care agency fees and agency nurse rates: what drives the cost

What care and nursing agencies charge in 2026

There is no published average for what private agencies charge care homes or other providers: rates are agreed contract by contract. The public figures that exist are for homecare and for the NHS.

How an agency charge rate is built

Whatever the sector, an agency’s hourly charge rate stacks up the same way:

1. The worker’s pay. At least the National Living Wage, £12.71 an hour from 1 April 2026 for workers aged 21 and over.
2. Holiday pay. Almost all workers are entitled to 5.6 weeks’ paid holiday a year.
3. Employer’s National Insurance. 15% of earnings above £5,000 a year in 2026 to 2027. Eligible employers can claim an Employment Allowance of up to £10,500 against it.
4. Pension. At least 3% of an eligible worker’s qualifying earnings.
5. Unpaid time. In homecare, the agency pays for travel and waiting time between visits; in staffing, for gaps and cancellations.
6. Overheads. Recruitment, compliance checks, training, rostering, management, insurance and premises.
7. Margin. The agency’s profit.

The Homecare Association’s 2026–27 Minimum Price shows the split for homecare: £26.17 an hour for care worker costs, including travel and waiting time and the statutory on-costs, and £8.25 for everything else, of which £2.71 is the registered manager, coordinators and supervisors and £1.32 is a 4% surplus.

A worked example: the on-costs on one hour

Everything between that figure and the charge rate you pay is the agency’s unpaid time, overheads and margin.

Agency nurse rates and the NHS rules

NHS England’s agency rules apply to NHS trusts:

• Price caps. Calculated at 55% above basic substantive pay rates in 2016. The cap is a total hourly maximum covering pay, holiday pay, employer’s National Insurance, pension and the agency’s fee. Trusts may exceed it only under a “break glass” patient-safety exception.
• Approved frameworks. Trusts must buy agency staff through NHS England-approved framework agreements.
• Healthcare support workers. NHS England asked trusts to remove agency use for band 2 and 3 roles completely by the end of January 2026, with shifts signed off by the chief executive from 1 July 2025.

Care homes, hospices and other private providers are outside these rules and agree their own rates. Whoever supplies a nurse, check their registration yourself on the NMC register.

Costs that hide in a rate

• Premium rates for nights, weekends, bank holidays and short-notice shifts, sometimes charged as a multiple of the day rate.
• Minimum booking lengths, so a four-hour gap is charged as a longer shift.
• Cancellation charges when you stand a shift down late.
• The 12-week rule. Under the Agency Workers Regulations, after 12 weeks in the same job an agency worker qualifies for equal treatment, including the same pay as a permanent colleague doing the same job. The rate you pay can rise to match.
• Transfer (temp-to-perm) fees. If you hire an agency worker directly, the agency may charge a fee. Regulation 10 of the 2003 Conduct Regulations makes that term unenforceable unless you can choose an extended hire period instead, and stops any fee after the later of 8 weeks from the worker’s last assignment or 14 weeks from their first day.

Ask for the full rate card and terms, not just the headline day rate, before comparing suppliers.

Agency charge rate vs booking directly on VerriPro

On VerriPro, each Professional sets their own hourly rate and VerriPro adds a 13.5% platform fee, plus VAT on the fee where it applies. There is no agency between you and the Professional. Put in your own agency rate to compare one shift:

Booking directly is not the same as using an agency: you choose and book the Professional yourself, and you still decide whether they are right for your service. VerriPro shows the checks behind each Professional before you book. The agency alternative page compares the models in full.