Campaigners decry slow progress in repaying victims of carer’s allowance crisis
Summary
The UK Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is slowly reviewing cases of unpaid carers who were wrongly charged debts due to changes in benefit rules. So far, only a small number of carers have been repaid, and campaigners are calling for faster action to resolve the issue.Key Facts
- The DWP started a £75 million, three-year plan in April to reassess about 230,900 carers’ allowance cases.
- After five months, only 2,400 cases (1.04%) were reviewed, with 100 carers repaid a total of £40,000.
- The average repayment per carer is £342, much less than originally estimated.
- The issue arose when DWP changed rules in 2020 without notifying carers, leading to wrongful overpayments.
- Campaigners say the reassessment is too slow and could take around 40 years at the current pace.
- The DWP aims to finish the project by March 2029 and plans to increase staff to speed up reviews.
- The problem mainly affected carers with irregular incomes who were denied averaging their earnings over a year.
- The situation was highlighted by an official review and a major investigation revealing the financial harm caused.
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