People who only earned 1p over the £151 weekly limit are being ordered to repay benefits by the DWP (Picture: Getty)
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is facing criticism after ordering more than 34,000 people to repay benefits, with possible fines of up to £20,000.
Ministers have been urged to review how the Carer’s Allowance is handled after it emerged tens of thousands of carers were being overpaid and then later hit with huge repayment demands.
Johnny Timpson, the government’s dementia advisor, has stepped down in protest at what he has called DWP’s ‘beyond the pale’ legal action against carers who exceeded the £151 weekly earnings limit.
Many of these carers don’t earn anything for their caregiving and so they rely on those payments to make ends meet. Now they are facing having to pay back some of this allowance.
Even though the DWP has systems in place to cross-check payments, new data shows that 34,500 people were overpaid last year, an increase from 30,700 the previous year.
More than 1,000 of these cases have seen people slammed with repayment requests of between £5,000 and £20,000.
Carers who earned even 1p more than the £151 weekly threshold are being expected to pay back the Carers Allowance they received that week.
But lots of beneficiaries are now arguing the regulations are not clear enough.
The DWP is facing criticism for the repayment demands and being urged to review its handling of the issues around the Carers Allowance (Picture: Getty Images)
In one case reported by the Express, for example, the DWP contacted a 92-year-old and demanded she pay back £7,000.
Elsewhere in another example, a Lancashire man had to sell his house after the DWP targeted him under the Proceeds of Crime Act, which is law that’s usually reserved for drugs traffickers.
Mr Timpson resigned this week after being shocked at reports by the Guardian of tens of thousands of people being left in a dire financial situation after being hounded for money by the DWP – when they were already struggling.
He said: ‘The fact that we have made absolutely no progress at all on social care [and] we really did not support carers adequately during the pandemic.
‘But this latest thing the approach the DWP are taking to reclaim benefits from carers and people with disabilities, particularly with neurological disabilities is beyond the pale for me really.’
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Former Tory work and pensions secretary Ian Duncan Smith is among those urging the DWP to ‘pause’ the overpayment claim process and review the issue ‘very carefully’.
The former Conservative Party leader told the Guardian: ‘The best thing is for the DWP now to pause any of these demands, review carefully what was behind all of this to make sure this was not mistakes by DWP but is genuinely about individuals failing to notify the department.’
In a statement the DWP said: ‘Carers across the UK are unsung heroes who make a huge difference to someone else’s life and we have increased carer’s allowance by almost £1,500 since 2010.
‘Our most recent statistics show that carer’s allowance overpayments relating to earnings represents 2.1% of the £3.3 billion we spend supporting those who look after loved ones.
‘Claimants have a responsibility to inform DWP of any changes in their circumstances that could impact their award, and with safeguards in place to manage repayments, this ensures fairness in our welfare system.’
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