The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is still allowing unpaid carers to accumulate debts despite being informed about overpayments. A former unpaid carer has urged welfare officials to improve their processes following a costly error.
Chris Farrell's Ordeal
Chris Farrell, aged 65, was penalised six months after the death of his husband, accumulating £1,300 in debts. Farrell had claimed Carer's Allowance from the DWP for four years while providing full-time care for his late husband. He repeatedly attempted to get the DWP to stop paying him the £86.45 weekly benefit.
According to The Guardian, another case cited by Carers UK shows a carer racked up £2,000 in debts over 10 months despite phoning the DWP five times to cancel the benefit.
Emotional and Financial Impact
Chris told the newspaper: "The death of my husband was a hard enough blow to deal with. This was made so much worse by having to repeatedly tell DWP to stop paying the allowance – it was a constant reminder of my life ‘stopping’ for four years while I was a full-time unpaid carer for him."
He added: "The DWP needs to get its act together to ensure when a claimant advises them of a change in circumstances they action the information efficiently so overpayments and potential penalties are not left hanging over someone who tries to do the right thing."
Carers UK Response
Helen Walker, chief executive of Carers UK, said: "Despite doing everything expected of them, carers continue to receive payments they know they are not entitled to with no clear information about when, or if, recovery action will begin or how much they will ultimately owe."
"Carers tell us that receiving money they know is not theirs to keep creates confusion and makes it difficult to budget or plan for the future. They are left with an ever-growing worry of potential debt hanging over them," she added.
DWP Apologises
A DWP spokesperson said it was "very sorry to hear about Mr Farrell’s situation."
"Once a carer’s allowance claimant has correctly reported a change in circumstances, their responsibilities are discharged – with any overpayments made by DWP written off as official error," it said.
"We remain determined to make carer’s allowance fairer and simpler, so that it works for carers like Mr Farrell, who do so much for our society."
