Carers UK have published a new report which focusses on the devastating and unfair treatment many carers have experienced by DWP from Carers Allowance overpayments.
The earnings limit for Carer’s Allowance is £151 per week, and going over this limit by just a few pence means carers need to pay back 100% of their Carer’s Allowance for that week - £81.90 at 2024/25 rate.
Large overpayments have a devastating impact on unpaid carers. Most carers in contact with Carers UK said they were unaware that they had gone over the earnings limit until they received notification of the overpayment, or had their benefit suspended – sometimes years later after they had been overpaid.
Fluctuating earnings, working extra on a shift to cover colleagues, receiving a pay rise or a minimum wage increase were all reasons given for overpayments, with many saying that the Carer’s Allowance earnings limit had affected their employment situation – causing them to cut back on hours, turn down pay rises or give up work completely.
63% of carers sharing their experiences said the DWP should make improvements to processes notifying claimants about earnings increases and potential overpayments. 75% said raising the earnings limit to at least 21 hours and pegging it to the National Living Wage would enable them to combine work and care more easily.
The new report is calling for swift action to prevent unpaid carers unwittingly building up huge debts after going over the earnings limit, which is causing financial hardship, anxiety and ill-health for unpaid carers.
Carers UK’s recommendations to the DWP include:
- Sending alerts to carers when their earnings potentially breach the earnings limit
- Improving information sharing and processes within the DWP
- Improving the information available to carers and their interaction with DWP
- Raising the Carer’s Allowance earnings limit to 21 hours per week and pegging it to the National Living Wage
- Taking steps to remove the hard ‘cliff edge’ of the earnings limit and replacing this with a taper to earnings
- Writing off substantial overpayments where carers could have been notified sooner
- Conducting a full review of Carer’s Allowance level and its eligibility criteria
Carers UK are continuing to gather the experiences of carers who have had an overpayment of Carer’s Allowance, experiences can be shared anonymously. If this is you, then please click here.
If you are worried about overpayments and Carer’s Allowance, please look at the advice on Carers UK's website.
