The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has agreed to write off a carer's allowance overpayment after a former unpaid carer was paid £86.45 a week for six months following his husband's death, despite repeatedly asking for the payments to stop. Chris Farrell, 65, who cared for his late husband full-time for four years, said the ongoing payments caused him significant distress and anxiety.
The Guardian has identified five other cases where carers were unable to stop receiving carer's allowance after informing the DWP they were no longer eligible. In some instances, overpayments exceeded £2,000. Carers who receive overpayments due to official error are not required to repay the money, but those deemed at fault face demands for repayment plus a £50 civil penalty, and in extreme cases, fraud charges.
Farrell urged the DWP to 'get its act together' to ensure that when claimants report changes in circumstances, the information is acted upon efficiently. He plans to donate the written-off money to a food bank. The cases highlight concerns about taxpayer money being misspent and the DWP's failure to routinely act on reported changes.
Helen Walker, chief executive of Carers UK, said: 'Despite doing everything expected of them, carers continue to receive payments they know they are not entitled to... They are left with an ever-growing worry of potential debt hanging over them.' A 2023 official review of carer's allowance found that DWP backlogs and record-keeping issues led to overpayment notices being sent because reported changes were ignored, deleted, or lost.
