'We might stop taking on new clients' says Kent care company as National Insurance rises
Yesterday, the amount that employers contribute to National Insurance rose from 13.8% to 15%
A Kent based care company has told us they may stop taking on new clients because of the rise to National Insurance.
Yesterday, the amount that employers contribute to National Insurance rose by nearly 2% from 13.8% to 15%.
The level at which employers start paying NICs will also reduce from £9,100 to £5,000 per year.
As a result, businesses pay rolls could increase by two percent, with the care sector being impacted heavily, Paul Harding works for Expertise Homecare, he explains why.
He said: "Any additional cost to us we can't pass onto our customers as we are, by nature of this businesses, funded by different bodies such as the Kent County Council or the NHS.
"Therefore we are bound by their tariffs which means any increase comes out the businesses rather than our funding.
"It means we will have to look at savings, becoming more efficient because we can't keep looking to our staff to make our situation work but it can limit the amount we can do such as taking on new clients.
When asked if the government could have done more to help the care sector, Paul said: "I do believe there were ways that could have helped such as stopping or holding back on the National Increase for care companies because we have such as vital role.
"We help the NHS by taking people out of the end of the system and looking after them at home instead."