Carer’s allowance must be repaid in full if the limit on earnings from part-time work is exceeded by even a few pence - here's how one mother was left with debt and stressA mother who cares full-time for her daughter with cerebral palsy is one of more than 134,000 unpaid carers across the UK from whom the Government is seeking repayment, after they were unknowingly overpaid
She was only informed she had unwittingly received overpayments in 2012, and said she had no idea she was breaching the cap as the DWP had allowed the debt to stack up for almost a decade. “This is a cloud hanging over my head. I’ve never been in debt, never owed anyone a penny. I don’t even have credit cards or an overdraft,” she said.
The total sum of money the DWP is chasing from hundreds of thousands of unpaid carers amounts to more than £250m. The DWP’s failure to promptly inform those unpaid carers that they were breaching the allowance cap – like Sue, who received a letter two years after her last overpayment – meant thousands of unpaid carers unknowingly accumulated large debts.
But in light of her past experience, she will not apply for the benefit again. “It’s not worth it because of how bad the DWP made me feel,” she said.
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