70,000 made to pay back carer’s allowance in new benefits fiasco
Grafters hit with bills of up to £48k
ALMOST 70,000 unpaid carers are being forced to repay thousands in benefits after being confused by “complicated” eligibility guidelines.
People have been hit with bills of up to £48,560 and some face prosecution.
Campaigners say many of those affected are being penalised for claiming Carer’s Allowance while having a job.
The £64.60-a-week benefit is paid to those spending 35 hours a week caring unpaid. But people earning more than £120 a week after tax and expenses are not eligible. MPs and charities have said guidance was unclear. Work and Pensions Committee chairman Frank Field has called for the overpayments to be written off and asked the National Audit Office to investigate. He said: “No carer should have to suffer as a result of such shocking ineptitude.”
He spoke after the Department for Work and Pensions said the number of carers it is clawing cash back from has risen due to a new earnings information system.
Outstanding overpayments currently total 69,609 cases and the individual amounts range from £67 to £48,560. The average owed is £1,400.
Emily Holzhausen, of Carers UK, warned that rules are “complicated” and branded the CONCERNS Frank Field William meets Jamie Vardy penalty “the harshest in the benefit system”. Labour MP Ruth George added: “The Government’s treatment of carers is despicable. They are at fault here.” DWP officials said most people repay cash by “small” routine deductions to benefits and only some are probed with a view to prosecution. A spokeswoman added: “We have a duty to recover outstanding money.”