General Questions
A.
The site works using a system of
free guest membership and
paid full membership. Au pairs and families register for free as
guest members. Families must upgrade to full membership to allow them to contact the au pairs, whilst au pairs need only upgrade to full membership in order to contact the guest families. Au pairs may contact full family members for free.
Families that are guest members can be contacted by au pairs that are guest members via our private messaging system without contact details. This allows families to gauge interest in them before committing to a paid full membership. Full membership gives families direct access to all au pairs and allows all au pairs (both guest and full members) to contact families directly. Au pairs and families can choose how they would prefer to be contacted, whether by internal messages, phone or email.
A.
Our site is free to register, search our database and to display the profiles of au pairs and families. Guest families must upgrade to paid full membership to contact the au pairs whilst au pairs need only upgrade to full membership in order to contact the guest families.
A.
You do not need to register to search our database of au pairs or families or to view their profiles. You will need to register if you want to contact any of our au pairs/families. Registration is free, however a paid full membership is required if you want to contact the au pairs or allow them to contact you with their contact details.
A.
Yes, registration is free. However a paid full membership is required if you want to contact the applicants or allow them to contact you with their contact details.
A.No. This is reflected in our charges. We believe our families should make their own choice about who would be suitable for their family which is why we make as much information about the au pair available as possible.
A.
No.
Police checks are now known as disclosures. Many people ask us this question without actually understanding what a disclosure is. No-one can actually do a police check (disclosure) on another person in the UK. If you would like more information about disclosures please click on the following links.
A.
Yes, all au pairs have a facility to upload their references, letters and medical certificates. These are viewable by full members only. Sometimes, au pairs do not have the facilities to put their documents on their profile but will provide them when asked to do so.
A.
No, unless in exceptional circumstances. There is a reason for this though! Because full membership is immediate, there have been a few times we have had families upgrade to full membership, find their au pair and then demand their money back. We just cannot afford to do that!
A.
This is not advisable because au pairs are not professional child carers. We think it’s hard enough for a new mum to take care of their new baby, so it would be extremely difficult for a young girl with no experience! However, occasionally we do have au pairs come onto the database who have the necessary experience with small babies and of course only you can make that decision on what is right for you and your family. Please see
What Au Pairs Expect.
A.
Our verification process is in place to protect au pairs from possible fraudulent families who register and pay to have direct contact with au pairs specifically for criminal purposes. Verification normally happens automatically within 12/24 hours of your registration. If you have an urgent need to become verified then please contact
support.
A.
We currently do not provide a service to other au pair agencies. However, this may change in the future. Please contact
support to discuss your requirements.
A.Some families can be lucky and find an au pair within a couple of days, whilst others take their time, speak to alot of candidates, check references and take several weeks. It will also depend on what you are offering your au aupair in terms of pocket money per week; how much free time the au pair will get; the accommodation; where you are located (near a town, or very rural), etc, etc. Like families, au pairs can 'shop' around for the best that's on offer, so it's always a good idea to spend time on getting your profile right.
A.Some au pairs, particularly those from most non EU countries, require a visa. We do not issue visas. The au pair must apply to the embassy/consulate in their own country of the country they are going to. This process usually takes around 2 weeks. Some applications can take longer especially if they are asked to sit a second interview. The family will need to provide any supporting documentation to the au pair before the au pair makes her/his application.
A.
The au pair's/family's account status is shown at the top of their profile page. If the au pair has been placed or is no longer looking their
Status will show
Placed or
Not looking. If the family has found an au pair or is no longer looking their
Status will show
Filled or
Not looking.
Sometimes an au pair or family can forget to update their status. Should you contact an au pair/family and they have already been placed/filled then please contact support so that we can update their status.
The Signed-In, Recent Sign-Ins and Unread Msgs fields of the profile's Status provide a good indication of whether an au pair/family is still looking.
Signed-In shows when the au pair/family last signed into their account, Recent Sign-Ins shows the number of times the au pair/family signed in, in the last 14 days and Unread Msgs shows the number of unread messages in the au pair's/family's Inbox.
A.
To use our site you must have a browser that has cookies and javascript enabled. The site has been tested on Internet Explorer Win 6 and 7, Netscape Win 8.1.2, Firefox Win 1.5.08, Opera Win 9.02, Safari Mac 2.04, Firefox Mac 2.0, Opera Mac 9.01, Netscape Mac 7.2, Mozilla Mac 1.7.13. If you have a browser issue using this site please contact
support.
Membership
A.Families. Full membership costs £25 (GBP), $50 (USD), €40 (Euro) for a term of 1 month and £65 (GBP), $130 (USD), €100 (Euro) for a term of 6 months and £100 (GBP), $200 (USD), €155 (Euro) for a term of 12 months.
Au pairs. Full membership costs £5 (GBP), $10 (USD), €8 (Euro) per week. The minimum term is 1 week.
VAT is applicable to membership fees in the UK and EU member state countries. We do not charge placement fees.
A.
When an au pair or family first registers on the site they become a guest member. Guest families cannot contact au pairs and can only receive messages from guest au pairs that contain no contact details and only express an interest in being their au pair. Guest families can receive messages from au pairs that contain contact details providing the au pair is a full member.
A.
A full member is an au pair or family who has upgraded their guest member account to full membership by paying the membership fee in order to have contact with all the au pairs/families (both guest and full members) in our database.
A.
No, unless your full membership has expired in which case you will have to renew.
A.If you have used a credit card, membership is immediate. (But if it is not showing in your account, just sign out and then sign back in again). However, if you are paying by cheque we do have to wait 3 days for clearance.