DWP update as thousands of claimants have been asked to repay their benefits

Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall acknowledged the problem had left many carers “stretched to the breaking point of caring for the people they love” and pledged to learn lessons. to “fix this.”

The problem of people being penalized for exceeding their carer’s allowance earning limit by just a few pence a week has previously been described as a “scandal” by a charity.

Historic overpayments have led to many carers – who must earn £151 a week or less to be eligible for the allowance – inadvertently racking up uncontrollable debts and some have quit their jobs as a result.

(Image: John Stillwell/PA Wire)

Carers UK said some people owed the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) “hundreds, thousands and sometimes tens of thousands of pounds” because they failed to realize they had exceeded the earning limit and failed to comply with their duty to inform the department as a result.

The review, announced by the government on Wednesday, will be led by Liz Sayce, the former chief executive of Disability Rights UK.

Work and Pensions Minister Andrew Western said the government was “committed” to clawing back overpayments to care workers.

While Employment Minister Alison McGovern told the House of Commons the Labor government had “inherited a system in which busy carers, already struggling under a huge burden of responsibility, are forced to pay back large amounts of overpaid carer’s allowance, sometimes amounting to thousands of pounds “Being a safety net designed to catch those in need instead felt like it was designed to catch them.”

However, Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey insisted most cases of overpayments should be “written off immediately”.

He told the House of Commons: “I would like to ask the minister whether she can restructure the review she has announced, as it seems to me self-evident that the vast majority of overpaid care allowances should be written off immediately.”

While he acknowledged there could be some cases of real fraud, he said the DWP “should not be going after tens of thousands of carers whose overpayments were caused by the crazy gap in the current care allowance system and the DWP’s own incompetence in failing.” Report overpayment immediately.”

Organizations representing carers welcomed the review but reiterated calls for a commitment to debt relief and wider reform of the “archaic and unfair” care allowance system overall.

Kirsty McHugh, chief executive of Carers Trust, said: “Too many people have had their lives ruined by being pursued for huge sums of money simply because they made an honest mistake.”

“These fines need to be written off and the systems that enable them to be created need to be overhauled.

“The Government should also use this opportunity to review and reform the outdated and unfair care allowance system as a whole. It was developed in the 1970s and simply no longer serves its purpose today.”

She described the £81.90-a-week grant as “insultingly low” and said the strict eligibility criteria prevented people from “balancing care and work”.