Carer’s Allowance overpayments: steps towards a successful campaign and justice for carers

Carer’s Allowance is the main benefit paid to carers who are unable to work full time because of their caring responsibilities. There are structural issues with Carer’s Allowance which mean that debts can build up quickly. If carers go even a few pence over the earnings limit of £151 (after deductions) they lose all of their benefit, currently set at £81.90 per week. While the onus is on the carer to notify the Carer’s Allowance Unit at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) of any changes in circumstances, many were not aware of the fact they had gone over the limit.

After a National Audit Office (NAO) report and a Work and Pensions Select Committee Inquiry in 2019, the Government said that a new system of alerts of overpayments in relation to earnings of employees from the HMRC to the DWP would solve this issue for many. However, this information went unacted on in large numbers, leaving thousands of carers to clock up overpayments unwittingly.  

The funding from the Foundation has given us the capacity to increase our work on this issue which has gathered pace extremely quickly. Soon after the grant started in 2023, we met the Work and Pensions Select Committee Chair, Sir Stephen Timms MP, to discuss the issue and provide additional information on overpayments.  Questions were raised by the Opposition at the time, and Margaret Greenwood MP asked Parliamentary Questions for updated data, giving us a renewed evidence base on which to work.

Key facts about Carer's Allowance overpayments

• 134,800 people have an outstanding Carer’s Allowance debt – a total value of £251m (as of May 2024)
• Twice as many women as men have an overpayment debt
• It can take carers several years to repay this debt

Find out more in Carers UK's report into Carer's Allowance overpayments

Reporting by the Guardian on the 'scandal trapping carers', and a pivotal court case, reported on by the Guardian and BBC North West suddenly threw this issue into the spotlight. Having worked on this intensively five years previously, we knew what evidence we needed and we’d gathered examples from carers of issues they had raised with us.  We needed to explain this complex issue simply and effectively, using our welfare rights advisers’ expert input.  We have kept key journalists informed and shared carers’ stories with them.

We started a parliamentary petition, briefed MPs, and asked carers to share their experiences, which has formed the basis of a key report that we have presented to the new Government.  Having set up the Carer Poverty Coalition, now including over 130 organisations, we have helped the sector engage with this issue and have come together to call for change.

Journalists have been staggered by the reaction it had from the general public, but also from carers. Many carers are getting in touch to say that they thought they were the only one, but in fact they were one of thousands of unpaid carers affected by overpayments.

In building our campaign, we had clear goals from the outset, which has also helped our response remain consistent:

• We asked that the previous Government publish the research they promised to deliver as part of the last NAO report and select committee inquiry. This has now been published, providing valuable insight into Carer’s Allowance claimants.
• We asked for carers to be told as soon as possible that an overpayment has been made, as a minimum, so that they can take action. The previous Government announced that they would explore this and the new Government has now committed to it. Our request of the new Government is to see a timetable for this action.
• We set out the need for the modernisation of the processes of applying for carers’ benefits – making it simpler, more efficient and better for carers and DWP staff alike. We’ve called for a review of these processes and a new plan for implementation. The Rt Hon Liz Kendall MP, the new Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, has asked her officials to look at this urgently and has said that plans will be brought forward soon.
• Finally, we’ve called for a review of Carer’s Allowance, raising the earnings limit, introducing a taper, and broader measures to take carers out of poverty.

The previous Work and Pensions Select Committee wrote a letter to the Minister at the time to ask for several steps to be taken to examine the issue.  We also wrote to the National Audit Office who agreed to look into the issue again. We are awaiting responses from both.

Now that the Government has changed, the former Chair of the Select Committee, Sir Stephen Timms MP, is now the Minister with the key responsibility for carers’ benefits.  He has detailed knowledge of the processes, and the problems and challenges. As a previous Minister within DWP, he also has experience of Government. He has now met Carers UK and unpaid carers, at our request, to hear from them first-hand about the impact of overpayments. We have also now published our Carer’s Allowance overpayment report and presented this to the Government with our recommendations for change.

We did not expect to achieve so much so quickly, only seven months into our campaign. We are incredibly grateful to the Lloyds Bank Foundation for seeing the potential in our campaign and making it possible. We still have some way to go before we see concrete changes which will make a difference to carers and their lives, but we are moving forward positively with fantastic support.

Carers UK is currently funded under the Foundation's National Influencing Programme. Find out more about this campaign and their work by visiting their website: www.carersuk.org