The government announced today that it will look again at all carer’s allowance overpayments between 2015 and 2025 and reduce debts or refund money where appropriate.
The promise came in the wake of today’s publication of the Sayce review, which began examining the carer’s allowance overpayment scandal in October 2024.
The Sayce review found that many overpayments were caused by unclear and sometimes incorrect guidance issued by the DWP, which meant that carers did not know what they needed to report and when.
The review includes testimony from carers caught up in the DWP overpayment dragnet. A carer who unknowingly accumulated £14k of debt spoke of her experience:
“I was caring for my daughter who’d been excluded from school and was later sectioned. I was made to feel like a thief. We’re not. I claimed what I thought I was entitled to. We need more help, it needs to be caught earlier.”
Some carers who thought they were staying within the rules by averaging their earnings discovered too late that they were not:
“It’s mission impossible. I’m a care worker, I thought I wouldn’t work half term so would work more the week before. I’ve never been over the limit for the year – I checked all my P60s and sent payslips. All of a sudden they’re going back 8 years. I can’t understand their calculation.”
Some carers give up work because of the fear of going over the earnings limit:
“It was such a shock. I thought I was within the limit. So I gave up work – I couldn’t cope with watching every penny. Work was respite for me but I gave it up.”
But others find themselves forced to work to pay off their debt to the DWP:
“My daughter was in and out of hospital over the last year, and whether she’s in hospital or not, I have to work to repay the overpayment. If I don’t work, I can’t repay it……to be honest I’m not coping… I also go to work for my mental health.”
But, whilst the government has now said it will refund some repaid overpayments, it is refusing to pay compensation to carers whose finances and health were wrecked by the overpayments scandal.
