Battling Overpayments: Department for Work and Pensions Boosts Staff to Protect Carers

In response to rising concerns over Carer’s Allowance overpayments, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is increasing its workforce to tackle the backlog of overpayment cases. Many carers have faced devastating financial consequences, being required to repay thousands due to errors that the DWP’s internal system has identified yet not resolved efficiently. Currently, the DWP aims to check only half of these alerts but will add 20 new staff members to ensure 100% verification of flagged cases.

Critics, including Carers UK, have welcomed this initiative as a necessary step towards preventing large-scale overpayments but warn that the backlog’s resolution may lead to more carers discovering existing debts. As of mid-February, over 32,000 alerts were recorded, with projections indicating that an additional 99,000 alerts could appear by the 2025/26 financial year. Recent evaluations indicated that a significant 67% of investigated alerts uncovered overpayments, while 28% resulted in no change.

Carers are eligible for this allowance if they provide at least 35 hours of care per week for someone suffering from an illness or disability, without exceeding an income of £196 weekly. Unfortunately, many carers have been unaware of their ineligibility due to income fluctuations, creating significant financial burdens when they are eventually informed of their overpayments years later.

Charitable organizations are urging the government to forgive substantial overpayment debts, especially for those who were not alerted promptly about their status. The DWP has faced mounting criticism for these lapses. In a recent letter, Minister Sir Stephen Timms highlighted the need for balancing the recovery of overpayments with fair repayment practices, hinting at potential reforms like introducing a taper to encourage unpaid carers to engage in paid work.

As part of the response, the government is conducting an independent review to investigate and address the mechanisms behind these overpayments and plans to propose measures to alleviate the burdens on affected carers. The DWP has expressed its commitment to support caretakers by implementing affordable repayment plans and exploring communication strategies like text message reminders to ensure that responsibilities regarding reporting changes are clearly understood.