Frequently asked questions

When people first come to CarePair, they often want a clearer picture of what the platform does, what to expect, and how it fits into the early stages of finding care or support. This page brings together common questions and straightforward answers in one place. It is designed to help carers, support workers, employers, families, and authorised adults feel more confident about how CarePair works.

CarePair is an online matching and introduction service. It is not an employer, agency, or care provider. Any care, support, work, or payment arrangement is agreed directly between the users involved.

What is CarePair?

CarePair is an online matching and introduction service for people looking for care or support, carers, support workers, employers, and authorised adults acting on someone else’s behalf. It is designed to help people create profiles, view potential matches, start conversations, and share relevant information in a more structured way.

Who can use CarePair?

CarePair is intended for adult users of the platform. That includes adults looking for care or support for themselves, carers and support workers looking for suitable roles, employers arranging support, and authorised adults acting on behalf of someone else where appropriate. In some cases, an adult may use CarePair on behalf of a child or young person, but the person using the platform must still be an adult.

Is CarePair an agency or care provider?

No. CarePair is not an agency, an employer, or a care provider. It does not place workers into roles, supervise support day to day, or manage care arrangements on behalf of users. Its role is to help people find one another, make contact, and share information more easily.

How does matching work?

CarePair uses profile and preference information to help users find relevant matches. This may include details such as location, availability, support needs, care skills, role preferences, and similar information users choose to include. Matching is there to help people find suitable contacts more easily, but it does not amount to a guarantee or recommendation.

Can I message people through CarePair?

Yes. CarePair includes internal messaging so users can start conversations through the platform where contact rules allow it. This gives both sides a clearer place to ask questions, share information, and decide whether they want to take the next step.

Why is it helpful to message through the platform first?

Keeping early conversations on CarePair can make things feel more organised and easier to manage. It can also support moderation, reporting, and clearer records if a concern comes up later. Users may still choose to move conversations elsewhere, but it is usually sensible to take time before sharing personal contact details.

What kinds of roles might be discussed on CarePair?

Roles on CarePair may include personal assistant work, support worker roles, direct payments work, and other one-to-one care and support arrangements. Some may be for a few hours each week, while others may involve regular daytime work, evening support, sleeping night shifts, or waking night shifts.

Can users share documents on CarePair?

Yes. CarePair includes a private document library so users can store and share relevant documents in a more controlled way. Depending on the situation, this might include a CV, care plan, training certificate, DBS-related document, or other role-related paperwork.

Who can see shared documents?

Shared documents are not intended to be open public files. Documents shared through CarePair are designed for in-platform viewing between the intended users, and access can be revoked. Public documents that are deliberately published on visible website pages are different and are public by design.

Does CarePair check every profile or document?

Not everything is reviewed in the same way, but profiles, documents, and some account activity may be reviewed where reasonably necessary. This can happen to help keep the platform accurate, respond to concerns, investigate misuse, or protect users and the service.

What happens if something looks inaccurate, incomplete, or unsafe?

In many cases, CarePair may simply ask for a correction, clarification, or update. If there is a more serious concern, the platform may limit visibility, restrict some features, place an account under review, suspend access while checks are carried out, or remove content where needed.

Does CarePair vet or recommend users?

No. CarePair does not guarantee that a user is suitable, trustworthy, or right for a particular role or arrangement. Users still need to make their own checks and decisions, including thinking about references, DBS checks where relevant, right to work, practical arrangements, and whether the match feels appropriate.

What should I do before agreeing a role or support arrangement?

It is sensible to ask questions, check important details, and make sure both sides understand the arrangement clearly. Depending on the situation, that may include discussing duties, hours, rates, availability, location, references, DBS status where relevant, trial shifts, and how the arrangement would work day to day.

What if I see suspicious activity or unsafe behaviour?

CarePair provides routes for users to report concerns about suspicious profiles, unsafe conduct, misleading information, misuse, harassment, privacy issues, or other platform concerns. Reporting something early helps CarePair review the issue and decide whether any action is needed.

What happens after a report is made?

When a report is received, CarePair may log it, review the information available, preserve relevant records, and assess the seriousness of the issue. Depending on the situation, it may ask for more detail, take temporary protective steps, issue guidance or warnings, restrict features, suspend an account, or take stronger action where risk is higher.

Is CarePair responsible for what happens once people move off-platform?

CarePair can help people make contact and begin conversations, but it is not responsible for off-platform conversations, meetings, arrangements, or outcomes. That is why it is important for users to be cautious, carry out their own checks, and think carefully before sharing personal information or agreeing any arrangement.

Can CarePair be used for direct payments roles?

Yes. CarePair can be particularly useful for direct payments and other self-directed support arrangements, where people are often looking for a more personal, one-to-one match. It can help employers and families find carers or support workers more directly, and it can help carers find roles that feel more flexible and individual than agency-based work.

Does CarePair store messages and account records?

CarePair may keep records relating to accounts, messages, moderation, reports, complaints, and security events for the periods described in its privacy and retention documents. This helps with platform operation, moderation, complaints, security, safeguarding, and legal compliance where needed.

Why does CarePair have rules and moderation at all?

CarePair works best when people can use it with confidence. Rules, checking, and moderation help keep the platform more respectful, accurate, and safer to use. They also give users a route to raise concerns if something feels misleading, abusive, unsafe, or out of place.

Where can I find more detailed information?

If you want more detail, CarePair also provides separate public pages about how the platform works, who it is for, checking and moderation, privacy and document security, reporting a concern, writing a good care plan, creating a strong carer CV, and other practical topics that help users understand the service more clearly.

A simple summary

CarePair is there to help people find each other, start conversations, and share useful information in a more structured way. It supports matching, messaging, and document sharing, but users still need to make their own checks and decisions before agreeing any care, support, or work arrangement.