Officials sent out repayment letters to about 1,400 people relying on discredited guidance that had been scrapped
Unpaid carers have been issued with demands to repay thousands of pounds for allegedly breaking benefit rules even though officials knew the decisions were based on unlawful and discredited policy guidance.
About 1,400 carers are understood to have been sent letters by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) in January asking them to repay sums relating to breaches of carer’s allowance earnings rules that had been scrapped four months previously.
Campaigners have demanded to know why the DWP went ahead with issuing the overpayments – causing distress and hardship to carers – rather than waiting and reassessing the decisions under the new guidance.
It is thought some carers may have already repaid the sums, or agreed monthly repayment schedules. Most will have also received a £50 civil penalty imposed for negligence. In theory, an overpayment of more than £5,000 would bring a carer into scope for prosecution on fraud grounds.
