MPs have threatened to launch a fresh inquiry into the handling of the carers allowance scandal, as unpaid carers report being 'stuck in limbo' by the government's response. The warning follows delays in Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) plans to offer redress to tens of thousands of carers who were unfairly issued overpayment bills based on discredited official guidance.
Debbie Abrahams, chair of the Commons work and pensions select committee, said MPs are actively considering opening a new investigation over what she called a 'torrent of missteps' by the DWP. In a letter to social security minister Stephen Timms, she raised concerns about the culture of DWP management and questioned whether senior officials share ministers' commitment to addressing carer benefit injustices.
Last week, the Guardian revealed that hundreds of unpaid carers continue to receive repayment bills even after DWP officials knew the overpayments were based on unlawful internal guidance on averaging earnings. One carer, who wished to remain anonymous, was issued a demand to repay more than £6,000 in December 2025, calculated using the old guidance, despite the government formally accepting in November that its earnings averaging rules were faulty.
Ramzi Suleiman, policy manager at Carers Trust, called the DWP's reliance on old guidance 'alarming,' saying it is difficult to find justifiable reasons for not using the new guidance. The DWP originally promised details of the reassessment exercise in the new year but now says the launch is still weeks away.
Guy Shahar, 53, whose family was hit with a £10,000 fine for accidentally overstepping earnings rules by an average of £1.92 over five years, said they had lost hope after a tribunal postponement in November. 'We're back with that feeling of our whole lives being in limbo,' he said.
