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DWP Errors Lead to £357m in Carer’s Allowance Overpayments, Prompting Calls for Debt Relief

New data reveals systemic failures in monitoring earnings breaches, leaving carers with significant debts and fueling demands for government accountability.

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Overview

  • Carers UK reports £357m in Carer’s Allowance overpayments over six years due to Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) failures.
  • The Verify Earnings and Pensions (VEP) tool, introduced in 2018, flagged potential breaches but was only used to investigate half of alerts, allowing debts to accumulate unnoticed.
  • Overpayments typically ranged from £1,000 to £5,000, with some carers facing debts as high as £20,000, and 600 individuals prosecuted for breaches.
  • In April 2025, the DWP increased the earnings threshold for Carer’s Allowance to £196 and allocated £800,000 to review 100% of VEP alerts moving forward.
  • Charities, including Carers UK, are advocating for accrued debts to be written off, citing government failures to address the issue sooner despite promises made in 2019.