Team Fostering | Pay and Benefits

At Team Fostering we provide foster carers with comprehensive support including a range of fees, allowances and benefits.

Our aim is to support you as much as we can so that you can develop and enhance your role as a foster carer, and as part of this we will always ensure you receive everything that you are entitled to. Our fees and allowances are amongst the most competitive in the fostering sector, alongside a substantial package of support and benefits.

The amount we pay you varies depending on the age of the child. Over two thirds of children placed with us are 11 or over and for this age group we pay you £536.48 per week* which is £27,973.60 per year.

Unlike some agencies we don’t reduce our payment to you per child for any additional children in placement. More than 60% of our carers have more than one placement and if two children aged 12 and 14 were placed with you the payment would increase to £55,947.20 each year.

We pay Foster Carers every 2 weeks by bank transfer. As Foster Carers are treated as being self-employed no tax is deducted from the payment.

Where a child has been assessed as having additional difficulties a higher rate of payment is made. Sometimes there will be a particularly large amount of driving required and in these cases you will be able to claim mileage at 45p per mile. We organise an annual holiday and a program of activities throughout the year which we pay for in addition to your Carer Fees.

*The above fees include 14 nights' unused Short Break Care allowance. For further clarification on payments, speak to our Recruitment Team or visit our FAQs page.

We also offer access to a Start Up Fund which can be used to buy things like beds, wardrobes and decorations if you don't have a fully furnished bedroom, or would just like to make it more homely for a child. Find out more about this here

How does fostering affect my state pension and tax?

You can apply for each year that you foster as a qualifying year for your State Pension which will help increase the amount of pension you receive, up to the maximum possible.

Foster Carers are self-employed for Tax purposes and you are able to claim special tax allowances to reduce the taxable amount of the income paid to you. If you have no other taxable income there is normally no tax to pay if you have either 1 or 2 children placed with you and you receive the basic level of payment stated above.

Don’t worry if this seems a bit daunting as we have a special arrangement with a firm of accountants who will complete your tax return and help you with tax for a specially discounted rate.

Team Fostering Life Insurance Cover for Foster Carers

As an additional benefit, Team Fostering invites registered foster carers to apply for £25,000 of life insurance cover with its preferred provider (currently Aviva) up until their 70th birthday.

If cover is accepted by the preferred provider, Team Fostering will pay the premiums on the policy for as long as the foster carer is registered with the agency (or until the policy expires if the foster carer is still registered on their 70th birthday).

If the foster carer is deregistered before their 70th birthday, they can assume paying the premiums themselves or can allow the policy to lapse. Newly registered carers with Team Fostering can expect a telephone call from our policy broker who will take details for the policy over the phone. Please ask our recruitment team for more information.