DWP (Department of Work and Pensions minister Paul Maynard has reluctantly admitted that they will be taking back a staggering quarter of a million pounds from claimants who were overpaid carers allowance.

In total of £251 million is being recovered from 134,800 carers which ultimately averages out at almost £1,900 per claimant although some owe a great deal more.


It is hard to overstate the distress that this level of debt is likely to be inflicting on people who had very little income in the first place.

Taking money from carers that have saved the government thousands, possibly millions is obscene. These debts were completely avoidable if the DWP and HMRC had done their jobs properly in detecting overpayments as soon as they occurred.

Elsewhere Benefits And Work have revealed that the DWP have finally been forced to publish a report that contains details of people’s experience of claiming and receiving Carer’s Allowance.

But in true DWP and Tory government style the report was given to ministers in 2021 which was which they fought hard to keep secret until now.

In the report only 3% of the people interviewed  had been subject to overpayment recovery which is much lower than the real total.

The report reveals that it’s clear to see that many of those interviewed had no knowledge how their overpayments occurred or what would happen as a result.


Indeed one of the claimants that were found to have been overpaid were understandably angry and frustrated at being treated like a fraudster, when in reality they had honestly misunderstood the complex rules around earnings:

“I fought hammer and nail on it. I felt it was a real victimisation. They don’t think… It’s like you’re dealing with a computer not a person. I ended up with a big overpayment, but it totally wasn’t my fault. It’s like they don’t believe you.”

The government and future administrations are facing increasing pressure to address the scandal and prevent similar instances of overpayments in the future.