Frequently asked questions

Steadlo helps you build a small, familiar team of self-employed care professionals around the person receiving support, so care is more consistent and easier to manage.

You can find and choose verified local care professionals, keep bookings, payments and care notes in one place, and have familiar alternatives ready when your usual care professional is unavailable.

Tell us what support you need and when.

Steadlo recommends care professionals based on their skills, availability, location, your preferences and interests. You can review their profiles, speak to them and choose who you want.

Over time, you can build a small team of people you know and trust.

Enter your postcode to see care professionals near you.

We are live in Norfolk, and we are expanding rapidly into other regions.

In some areas, you may find an available care professional within 30 minutes.

It depends on your location, what support you need and who is available.

Yes.

You see care professionals who match your needs and choose the person you feel is right for you.

Yes, and we recommend it.

You can speak by in-app call or video before deciding. Nothing is booked until you and the care professional agree.

We look at the things that matter for your support, including skills, availability, distance, experience, interests and your preferences.

We also consider compatibility so you can find someone you are comfortable spending your days with regularly.

Yes, we always prioritise your familiar care professional.

You book the care professional you chose rather than being placed on a changing rota.

Yes.

You can build a small team around you, usually your main care professional and up to five others you have already met and chosen.

This gives you familiar alternatives when your usual care professional is unavailable.

Steadlo first looks for someone suitable from your familiar care team.

If nobody in your team is available, we can help you find another care professional who meets your needs and preferences.

Cover depends on availability and cannot always be guaranteed.

Yes, at any time.

Choose someone else from your team or find another suitable care professional through Steadlo.

Yes.

Agree the change with your care professional and update your booking in Steadlo.

Care professionals can help with:

• companionship
• washing and dressing
• preparing meals
• shopping
• support around the home
• getting out and about
• appointments
• mobility support where appropriately trained
• medication reminders

Medication support through Steadlo is limited to prompting except where the family has verified that a care professional has the necessary medication administration or management training. Care professionals do not provide clinical or nursing procedures through the platform.

Yes. The minimum visit is one hour.

Every care professional must complete Steadlo’s verification before they can take bookings.

We check:

• identity
• right to work in the UK
• Enhanced DBS with Adult Barred List
• mandatory training
• references
• relevant experience
• insurance

In many cases, we also speak to care professionals before approving their profile.

We only recommend care professionals whose verified skills and experience fit the support being requested.

Yes.

Every care professional must either have their own:

• Public Liability Insurance
• Professional Indemnity and/or Treatment Liability Insurance

or be covered through Steadlo’s group insurance policy.

Yes.

You can see their experience, skills, rate, availability, reviews and other useful information before deciding.

No.

Steadlo helps you find and engage an independent care professional. You choose the care professional and agree the support directly with them.

Steadlo does not direct or supervise how personal care is provided.

You, or someone authorised to act for you, agree the support directly with your chosen care professional.

Your needs and preferences can be recorded in Steadlo so everyone has a clear understanding of what has been agreed.

Yes.

Your care professional records a care note during each visit.

You can also give trusted family members access so they can stay informed.

Care professionals set their own rates, starting from £15 per hour.

You can see each care professional’s rate before choosing them.

Steadlo costs £19.99 per month for each person receiving care.

Care professionals set their own rates, starting from £15 per hour.

Steadlo charges a flat fee, never a percentage of care, so families and councils save on care.

No.

Steadlo does not charge care professionals a platform fee or take commission from their care rate. Care professionals keep the rate they set.

In many cases, yes.

Councils have different rules, so check with your Direct Payments team to make sure your individual arrangement allows it.

Yes.

Every completed booking creates a digital record showing who provided the support, when it happened, how long it lasted and how much was paid.

This gives you and your council a clear record of how funded support has been used.

Bookings introduced through Steadlo must be paid for through Steadlo.

Keeping bookings on the platform means your payment record, visit history, care notes and applicable insurance remain connected.

If you want to engage a care professional introduced through Steadlo directly, our direct-engagement fee is £750 + VAT where applicable.

Unauthorised off-platform payment arrangements may incur a £1,000 + VAT charge under our terms.

Because everything stays together.

You have one place for your care professionals, bookings, payments, visit history and care notes, with applicable insurance for eligible visits.

Payment is arranged through Steadlo when a booking is confirmed and handled through our payment provider.

You can see your booking and payment records from your account.

Raise the issue through Steadlo as soon as possible.

If the payment has not yet been released, it can be held while the query is reviewed.

Steadlo does not receive or hold the care professional’s payment.

Payments are processed through the payment provider between the family and the care professional. If a refund is agreed or required, it is handled through the payment provider and the care professional’s connected account.

Steadlo can review the booking records and support the dispute process where needed.

If anyone is in immediate danger, call 999.

If you think someone is being abused, neglected or exploited, contact your local council’s adult safeguarding team. Norfolk: 0344 800 8020

If you believe a crime has been committed, contact the police on 101, or 999 in an emergency.

Please also tell Steadlo as soon as possible. We will review the concern and take appropriate action, which may include restricting or suspending the care professional’s account while the concern is investigated.

Tell us through Steadlo.

We can review what happened and take appropriate action. You can also stop booking that care professional and choose someone else.

You choose when you work, who you support and how much you charge.

Families find you based on your experience, availability and fit, and you can build lasting relationships with people who want continuity.

No.

You work independently and decide your availability, rate and which bookings you accept.

Yes.

You choose your own rate, starting from £15 per hour.

No.

Steadlo does not charge care professionals a platform fee or take commission from the rate you set.

Yes.

You decide when you are available and whether a booking is right for you.

We look at your skills, experience, availability, location and the person’s preferences.

Our aim is to make good matches that can develop into consistent working relationships.

Every care professional must complete Steadlo’s verification before taking bookings.

This includes:

• proof of identity
• right to work in the UK
• Enhanced DBS with Adult Barred List
• mandatory trainings
• references
• relevant experience
• insurance

We also speak to you before approving your profile.

Yes.

You must either have your own:

• Public Liability Insurance
• Professional Indemnity and/or Treatment Liability Insurance

or be covered through Steadlo’s group insurance policy.

We arrange a group policy through Mark Bates Ltd, which comes at a discounted cost of £5 for any month in which you work through Steadlo.

It is deducted from your first eligible visit payment that month.

Once an eligible visit is completed and confirmed, payment is processed to your connected payment account. This can be processed instantly subject to payment provider’s processing times and any open dispute.

Tell the family and cancel through Steadlo as soon as you know.

This gives them the best chance of finding suitable cover.

No.

Steadlo can help the person find another suitable care professional, including someone already in their familiar team.

Yes.

You decide when you want to work and keep your availability updated in Steadlo.

Yes, where care notes are required for the booking.

They should give the person and their family a clear, useful record of what happened during the visit.

Yes.

As a self-employed professional, you remain free to work elsewhere.

No.

Clients introduced through Steadlo must remain on the platform unless the direct-engagement process in Steadlo’s terms is followed.

If they are in immediate danger, call 999.

For safeguarding concerns, follow the appropriate safeguarding process and tell Steadlo as soon as possible.

Steadlo turns your area’s independent care professionals into visible, reliable care capacity.

Every care professional is verified. Every visit is recorded. Every Direct Payment is traceable. And every person builds a small, familiar team, so support carries on when one care professional is unavailable instead of landing back on your brokerage team.

Social work, brokerage and Direct Payment or other teams use Steadlo to start care faster, keep packages from breaking down and see exactly what support was delivered.

Yes.

Steadlo can identify suitable available care professionals based on location, skills and the person’s needs, including where support needs to start quickly after hospital discharge.

Availability depends on the local workforce.

Yes, where their Direct Payment arrangements allow them to choose and pay an independent care professional.

Local Council Direct Payment rules may still apply.

Every completed booking creates a digital record showing:

• who provided the support
• the date
• booked and recorded visit times
• duration
• amount paid
• the associated booking

This gives the person and the council a clear audit trail for funded support.

Yes.

People can build a small team of care professionals they already know and have chosen.

When their usual care professional becomes unavailable, Steadlo can prioritise suitable people already in that familiar team before searching more widely.

Steadlo can use the person’s existing requirements and preferences to look for suitable alternatives.

Where possible, familiar care professionals are considered first.

Any replacement remains subject to availability and the person’s choice.

Yes.

Steadlo makes independent care professionals easier to discover by location, availability, skills and suitability.

This can help surface local capacity that may otherwise be difficult for individuals, providers, social workers or brokerage and commissioning teams to find.

The person receiving support, or someone authorised to act for them.

No.

Steadlo operates as an introductory platform. Individuals choose independent care professionals and agree their support directly with them.

Every care professional must complete Steadlo’s verification before taking bookings.

Checks include:

• identity
• right to work in the UK
• Enhanced DBS with Adult Barred List
• mandatory training
• references
• relevant experience
• insurance

Care professionals must also have their own Public Liability and Professional Indemnity and/or Treatment Liability Insurance, or be covered through Steadlo’s group insurance policy.

We then recommend care professionals based on the individual’s needs, interests, preferences and the care professional’s verified capabilities.

Steadlo connects the person, care professional, booking, visit and payment in one digital record.

This gives councils clearer visibility over completed support and Direct Payment spending.

The standard price is £19.99 per month for each person receiving care.

Steadlo charges a flat fee, never a percentage of care, so families and councils save on care.

For larger numbers of people, pilots or council-wide use, contact Steadlo for pricing.

No.

Steadlo does not take a percentage of care professionals’ rates.

Care professionals set their own prices and keep the care rate they charge.

Steadlo handles personal information in line with UK data-protection law and limits access to people who need it for the relevant purpose.

Full details are available in our Privacy Policy.

Yes.

A council can start with a defined group, location or pathway and measure the results before deciding on expansion.

Depending on the pilot, this can include:

• time taken to find support
• continuity of care professional
• completed visits
• Savings on care
• cancellations
• time to find replacement cover
• use of local workforce capacity
• Direct Payment auditability
• repeat use of familiar care professionals

Contact Steadlo to discuss your Direct Payment model, local care needs or a defined pilot.

support@steadlo.com