Private-pay policies are the simplest kind of policy in Careswitch — there's no insurance review step, so the policy becomes active immediately. Use this when the client, their family, or any direct (non-insurance) payer is covering the cost of care.
If you're not sure what a policy is or how it fits in, start with What is a Policy? for the concept overview.
Before you start
Make sure you have:
The client (care recipient) already created in Careswitch.
The coverage start date — and (optionally) when it ends.
The services you'll provide (e.g., Personal Care, Companion Care) already set up under Settings → Workspace Services, each with its bill rate. The rate lives on the service — you won't enter one while creating the policy.
If there are agreed-upon limits, the cap (e.g., 20 hours/week, no cap, a fixed monthly amount).
Step-by-step
Go to the client's profile → Policies tab.
Click Create Policy.
Choose Private Pay as the policy type.
Enter the coverage start date. Leave the end date blank if it's open-ended, or set one if there's a defined end.
Add a service group — give it a clear name (e.g., "Personal Care"), select the service(s) it covers, and (if applicable) set a limit. You won't set a rate here — each service already carries its own bill rate.
Add additional service groups if needed (e.g., one for personal care, another for companion care).
Click Save. The policy is now Active — you can start scheduling and billing shifts immediately.
What happens next
Scheduling: when you schedule a shift for this client, Careswitch will automatically use this policy if the service matches.
Billing: completed shifts automatically build into invoices using the service's bill rate — you can adjust the rate on an individual shift if needed.
Usage tracking: if you set a limit, you'll see usage roll up in real time on the policy detail page.
Common tweaks after the fact
Change the rate: update the service's bill rate under Settings → Workspace Services, or adjust the rate on an individual shift. Rates aren't stored on the policy, so there's nothing to change on the policy itself.
Add a new service: add another service group to the same policy rather than creating a whole new policy.
End the policy: set the coverage end date. Existing shifts within the coverage window stay billable.
Turn off without ending: archive the policy to keep it on file but stop it from being used for new shifts.
If your client is paying through an insurance plan, the VA, Medicaid, or another third-party payer, use the third-party authorization how-to instead.