DWP 'scandal' grows as 156,000 people told to 'pay back' their money

The Department for Work and Pensions Carer Allowance scandal is growing - as tens of thousands are forced to repay cash. Five years ago the DWP said its strategy was to “stop overpayments occurring in the first place”.

But new figures, reported by the Guardian newspaper, shows 156,000 carers are repaying earnings overpayments, with more than 11,600 owing sums greater than £5,000. There were 34,500 earnings overpayments last year alone.

New overpayments have never (apart from the first year of the pandemic) fallen below 30,000 a year for the past half decade. The director of policy and public affairs at the Carers Trust, Dominic Carter, said: “Honest mistakes by unpaid carers are spiralling out of control because the DWP hasn’t provided enough staff to deal with the issue.

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"This is inexcusable.” “Had carer’s allowance been properly staffed, overpayments could have been spotted earlier and this outrage avoided,” said the PCS general secretary, Fran Heathcote. Emily Holzhausen, the director of policy at the charity Carers UK, also spoke out.

She said: “There’s a clear lack of resource, investment and political will to tackle the issue of carer’s allowance overpayments, which is continuing to cause carers huge levels of distress when they unwittingly go over the earnings limit.”

The DWP says overpayments are ultimately the fault of claimants, who must report any changes in income. A DWP spokesperson said: “We ensure all our teams are resourced to deliver key services and support the most vulnerable in our society.

"We have simplified processes and improved communications to help protect claimants from accruing debt or being incorrectly paid and we remind claimants of their responsibility to inform us of any changes in their circumstances.

“DWP recognises the importance of the welfare of those who have incurred debt and remains committed to supporting customers to manage repayments to ensure fairness for both claimants and taxpayers.”