The problems caused by attempts to reclaim benefit payments to carers, on the basis that they are ineligible due to increased earnings, are not new. Between 19,000 and 39,000 overpayments have been logged in each of the last five years. But this only makes the latest details of the heavy-handed manner in which these situations are being dealt with all the more dismaying. It is past time that the Department for Work and Pensions’ flawed protocol was changed.
This is what was promised five years ago, when MPs issued a report on the hardship caused by overpayments. A new digital tool was supposed to detect rule breaches at an earlier stage to avoid a situation in which carers on low incomes were being landed with huge bills. Yet, far from improving a failing system, the DWP appears to have doubled down on its punitive approach. Vivienne Groom’s prosecution under the Proceeds of Crime Act is a particularly distressing case.
The inflexible design of carer’s allowance is part of the problem. Unlike child benefit and universal credit, carer’s allowance does not taper as earnings increase. Carers are entitled to the full amount (currently £81.90 per week) or nothing if they earn more than the maximum allowed (£151). The all-or-nothing nature of carer’s allowance means that the financial risks for carers, if they breach the earnings limit and lose their entitlement, is high. Debts mount up quickly.
Yet early warnings have not materialised, and penalties continue to be charged in addition to repayments. Despite MPs having concluded that most overpayments were the result of “honest mistakes”, those who claim incorrectly continue to be treated as though they have done something wrong. Women including Ms Groom, who worked part-time in a Co-op store while caring for her mother, have been treated as though they are fraudsters.
There are around 5.7 million unpaid carers in the UK, two-fifths of whom live in poverty and one-fifth of whom claim carer’s allowance. Furthermore, 72% of claimants are women who are eligible only if the person they are caring for receives benefits and has been assessed as needing at least 35 hours of care per week. In light of other recent scandals involving systems that appear to have had human sympathy designed out of them – Windrush being one example – it is arguably naive to profess surprise. But given the consensus surrounding the wider challenges of social care, the poor treatment of the unpaid carers who take on this crucial task is shocking.
As recent evidence to the Commons work and pensions committee made clear, the £151 weekly earnings limit is an international anomaly and must be replaced either with a higher limit on earnings or a limit on hours instead. The DWP should publish its research on the human impact of overpayment errors. Given the amounts involved and the length of time taken to address systemic issues, outstanding debts should be wiped and clearer advice supplied so that future mistakes are avoided.
As experts as well as claimants have noted, carer’s allowance often seems to be an afterthought for policymakers. This is symptomatic of unpaid care’s low status and part of the wider impasse in the UK regarding social care policy. Sorting out the longstanding problems with carer’s allowance will not resolve all the issues. But it would be a good start.
