DRIVING IN THE UK

If you need your Au Pair to be able to drive
The host family is responsible for arranging car insurance. Check the age you can afford to insure prior to choosing an Au pair and also check the type of licence – for rules on driving in UK, go to http://www.dvla.gov.uk/

Please note that if you need a driver you need to be aware that an Au Pair's driving ability may be an unknown quantity. Even if the Au Pair says that they have been driving for 5 years, they may have passed their test 5 years ago and not driven a car since; so you need to be sure of their driving ability before accepting them as your Au Pair. We advise that you ask these 3 basic questions to enhance your knowledge of the Au Pairs driving ability:  When did you pass your driving test?  What type of car do you drive - manual or automatic?  (If automatic - did they pass test to drive a manual car? How often do you drive currently and how often have you driven in the last 6 months? What types of roads do you drive on – motorway, town, city, countryside? Have you had any accidents?

Ultimately, the decision to accept an Au Pair as a driver is your responsibility and you need to be sure that the Au pair is capable of driving and that you can insure them – especially if you expect them to drive your children. No matter how good your Au pairs previous driving experience -  We would suggest that once the Aupair arrives you arrange for a 2 hour driving lesson so that a qualified instructor can assess their driving ability. You may need to arrange more lessons!!! MY LAST AU PAIR HAD 6 HOURS OF LESSONS

Once your Au Pair has arrived you must agree in advance what will happen if they have any accident in your car.  You need to consider your insurance excess and decide if they will need to make any contribution in case of accident that you have to claim for.  YOU MUST AGREE THIS IN ADVANCE WITH YOUR AUPAIR AND NOT LEAVE IT UNTIL A PROBLEM OCCURS.

VISAS AND REGULATIONS

For UK Government guidance on Immigration, Click here

DOES MY AU PAIR PAY TAX AND NATIONAL INSURANCE?

An Au Pair is not deemed an employee and as long as their remuneration is below the current UK tax and NI threshold they are not liable to pay tax or National insurance.

We recommend Nanny Tax for all advice and guidance relating to this – please visit their web site 
http://www.nannytax.co.uk

FINANCIAL HELP WITH YOUR CHILDCARE

Your Au Pair could be eligible to register as an Approved Child Carer if they complete basic childcare training and first aid training, and you could then be eligible to claim government funding. For more information please got to:
Click here for information

NANNIES

A2Z Au Pairs does not recruit Nannies but we do have a great partner agency who is extremely reputable and can help you – please do talk to us and we can put you in touch with the best person to advise you.