Healthcare & Social Care UK-wide

Social care business planning and insurance

Business planning essentials for social care providers. Covers insurance requirements, Care Act 2014 obligations in England, financial viability and fee setting, and a checklist of what you need before applying to register.

Guide summary

Hold minimum £5m employers' liability insurance if you have staff. Get public liability insurance for at least £5m. Build a financial model including local authority fee rates, occupancy targets and all costs before you apply to register.

  • Hold £5m employers' liability insurance if you have any staff
  • Get £5m public liability insurance – CQC expects this
  • Professional indemnity is needed for clinical or nursing services
  • Arrange insurance that starts when you get CQC registration
  • Check local authority fee rates in your area before you start
  • Build a financial model with 70% occupancy and 10% cost buffer
  • Most care homes need 85-90% occupancy to break even
  • Cost of care home insurance: £5,000-£50,000+ per year
  • In England, embed the wellbeing principle in care planning
  • Use CQC pre-registration advice before you apply
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Insurance requirements

Social care providers must hold appropriate insurance. This is both a legal requirement (for employers' liability) and a practical necessity (commissioners and regulators expect to see evidence of adequate cover).

Many insurers require you to be CQC-registered (or equivalent) before they'll provide cover, creating a timing challenge. Discuss with insurance brokers specialising in social care to arrange cover contingent on successful registration.

Employers' liability insurance is a legal requirement if you employ anyone, even one part-time carer. Operating without it can result in fines of £2,500 per day. Public liability protects against claims from service users and visitors. Professional indemnity is essential if you employ nurses or offer clinical services.

Insurance costs vary enormously based on service type, size, and claims history. Expect:

  • Care homes: £5,000-£50,000+ per year depending on size and risk
  • Domiciliary care: £2,000-£10,000+ per year

Shop around using specialist brokers - standard business insurance brokers often don't understand social care risks.

Care Act 2014 obligations (England only)

If you operate in England, the Care Act 2014 shapes the environment you trade in. Most of its core duties fall on local authorities, not providers - but they drive how councils commission care, so they affect your business through contracts and commissioning expectations.

Key Care Act duties shaping commissioning:

  • Wellbeing principle: Local authorities must promote the wellbeing of individuals needing care - considering their views, dignity, physical and mental health, participation in work/education/recreation, social and economic wellbeing, domestic/family relationships, and suitability of accommodation. Commissioners expect providers to support this in care planning and delivery.
  • Prevention duty: Local authorities must prevent, reduce, or delay people's care and support needs developing.
  • Information provision: Local authorities must provide accessible information and advice about care and support available locally.
  • Provider failure obligations: If you're a large provider, you may be subject to CQC market oversight and have obligations to ensure business continuity if you face financial difficulty.

Market oversight applies to "difficult to replace" providers - typically large care home chains, dominant local providers, or specialists. CQC monitors financial sustainability and can intervene if you face failure. This includes submitting regular financial returns and notifying CQC of material changes (like selling the business).

For smaller providers, the practical effect is through commissioning: contracts and CQC's well-led question expect the wellbeing principle embedded in your care planning and service delivery.

Financial viability and fee setting

One of the biggest challenges in social care is financial sustainability. Many providers struggle with the gap between local authority fees (which are often below the cost of care) and the actual cost of delivering quality care.

Local authority commissioned care: If you have contracts with your local authority to provide care for publicly-funded individuals, you'll be paid LA-set rates. These rates are subject to annual negotiations and many providers argue they don't cover the true cost of care, especially given NMW increases, pension auto-enrolment, and CQC fee rises.

Self-funders: Individuals paying for their own care ("self-funders") are charged your private rates, which you set yourself. Many care homes charge self-funders more than LA-funded residents to cross-subsidise. This is legal but controversial and under increasing scrutiny.

Fair Cost of Care: The government's 2022 Fair Cost of Care exercise required local authorities to assess the true cost of care in their area and move towards sustainable fee rates; its impact varied significantly by region. The associated charging reforms were scrapped in July 2024. The independent Casey Commission into adult social care is now under way, with its first report due in 2026.

Before starting your business, thoroughly model your finances:

  • What are LA rates in your area? (Contact commissioning teams directly)
  • What proportion of your occupancy will be LA-funded vs self-funded?
  • Can you achieve 85%+ occupancy? (Most care homes need 85-90% occupancy to break even)
  • What are your staffing costs including oncosts (NI, pension, training, sickness cover)?
  • Have you factored in CQC fees, insurance, maintenance, utilities, and food?

Many new providers underestimate costs and overestimate occupancy. Build a realistic financial model and stress-test it with 70% occupancy and 10% higher costs than planned.

Next steps: Preparing to register

Before you apply to register, you need to have in place:

  • Premises: Secured (owned or leased) and compliant with regulations (fire safety, accessibility, room sizes)
  • Policies and procedures: Safeguarding, medication management, complaints, infection control, health and safety, staff recruitment, etc. Your regulator's website has templates.
  • Registered manager: Identified and willing to register (with appropriate qualifications)
  • DBS checks: Enhanced DBS with barred list checks for registered manager and registered provider
  • Business plan: Demonstrating financial viability, target market, staffing structure, and contingency plans
  • Insurance: Arranged and ready to activate on registration
  • Statement of purpose: Describing your service, aims, facilities, staff structure, and service user needs you'll meet

Most regulators offer pre-registration advice. Use this - it's far better to identify issues before submitting your application than to have registration delayed or refused.

Expect the process to take several months. Don't commit to taking service users until you're registered - operating without registration is a criminal offence carrying an unlimited fine and/or up to 12 months' imprisonment.