Samantha Richards, a woman from Malawi, has spoken out about her experience with the UK's Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). While caring for her son who underwent four years of chemotherapy, Richards was informed that she had been overpaid carer's allowance and could face a criminal conviction, potentially leading to imprisonment. This was due to unknowingly earning slightly more than the earnings threshold.
Richards' situation is not an isolated incident. The carer's allowance system had a "cliff-edge" earnings limit, where carers who earned over the entitlement by even 1p a week saw their carer's allowance completely wiped out. This could result in carers owing thousands of pounds in overpayments. A 2019 review of carer's allowance amounts showed that if someone earned £1 over the threshold for 52 weeks, they would have to pay back £3,439.80.
Many overpayments were miscalculated due to confusion over how to average someone's earnings. Some carers faced overpayments using the weekly method, while their earnings over the year, when averaged out, showed they had not breached the earnings threshold. The government review, known as the Sayce Review, concluded that many carers were wrongly identified as being overpaid due to systematic errors in DWP guidelines.
Richards received a threatening letter from the DWP in 2019, warning her that she could receive a criminal conviction and imprisonment. She was working part-time in a supermarket on a ten-hour contract, which was below the earnings threshold. However, during busier times, she worked additional hours, which made her worry about breaching the carer's allowance threshold. She rang the carer's allowance helpline and was advised that if her earnings over the year did not breach the yearly threshold, she was allowed to work.
Despite the helpline's advice, Richards was later told she had breached the earnings threshold and owed around £600 in overpayments. She was advised to use the weekly earnings method, which differed from the helpline's previous advice. Richards felt petrified and desperate, and she handed her notice to her employer with immediate effect, fearing she had unknowingly committed benefit fraud.
The Sayce Review identified 230,000 carers who might have had overpayments applied incorrectly. Richards considers herself fortunate compared to others who have worse overpayment stories. The review has committed to issuing refunds and cancelling incorrectly applied carer's allowance overpayments, aiming to rebuild trust in carers.
While Richards welcomes the new policy announcement regarding carers' allowance earnings taper, she is concerned that it does not come into effect until 2030-2031. This delay risks more carers falling victim to the complex earning rules of carer's allowance. Richards is a participant of Changing Realities, a child poverty action group led by the University of Glasgow.
Key points
- The UK government has announced changes to the carer's allowance system.
- A recent review found that 230,000 carers might have had overpayments applied incorrectly.
- The changes aim to rebuild trust in carers and address the "carer's allowance scandal".
