A former unpaid carer has urged welfare officials to improve their processes after the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) continued paying him carer's benefit for six months following the death of his husband, potentially leaving him with debts exceeding £1,300.
Carer's Ordeal
Chris Farrell, 65, who had claimed carer's allowance for four years while providing full-time care for his late husband, repeatedly tried to stop the DWP from paying him the £86.45 weekly benefit. Farrell said the anxiety caused by the ongoing payments and uncertainty about potential penalties left him distressed and unable to move forward.
The DWP stated on Friday that it would write off Farrell's overpayment, meaning he will not have to repay the carer's allowance income paid due to official error. This decision came after the Guardian contacted officials with details of his case.
Systemic Failures
The Guardian is aware of five other cases where carers reported being unable to stop benefit payments despite informing the DWP that they were no longer caring and were ineligible for the benefit. Carers who receive overpayment demands must repay the amount along with a £50 civil penalty, and in extreme cases, they risk fraud charges.
Farrell described the situation as a constant reminder of his life stopping for four years while he was a full-time unpaid carer. He added that the DWP needs to act efficiently when claimants report changes in circumstances to avoid overpayments and potential penalties.
Wider Impact
These cases raise concerns about taxpayer money being misspent due to DWP's failure to act on reported changes. Cases identified by Carers UK include a carer who accumulated over £2,000 in unwanted carer's allowance since their mother entered a care home 10 months ago, despite contacting the DWP five times to cancel the benefit. Another carer reported being overpaid more than £2,650 after taking on a new work contract over a year ago, yet the DWP continued payments.
Helen Walker, chief executive of Carers UK, said that despite carers doing everything expected of them, they continue to receive payments they know they are not entitled to, creating confusion and making it difficult to budget or plan for the future. She emphasized the growing worry of potential debt hanging over them.
Official Review
A Guardian investigation revealed that hundreds of thousands of unpaid carers were unfairly burdened with hefty debts due to DWP system failures. An official review by disability rights expert Liz Sayce found that backlogs and record-keeping issues led to carers receiving overpayment notices because their reported changes in circumstances were ignored, deleted, or lost. The review recommended refunding carers penalized by record management failures, but the DWP has yet to set out plans or estimate the cost.
The DWP previously blamed the rising number of overpayments on carers who failed to inform them of changes in earnings, but the Sayce review rejected this, attributing the problem to confusing and inefficient DWP systems.
Farrell's Experience
Farrell, a podiatrist from Gloucestershire, called the DWP's bereavement line in December and was assured that his husband's state pension and attendance allowance would be stopped and the carer's allowance unit informed. However, by March, he realized the payments were continuing beyond the eight-week grace period. He contacted the DWP three times through an online form, by phone, and registered letter, but payments continued.
A DWP spokesperson expressed regret over Farrell's situation and said the department intends to make further changes to modernize carer's allowance. They stated that once a claimant correctly reports a change in circumstances, their responsibilities are discharged, and any overpayments made by DWP are written off as official error.
