More than 250 unpaid carers face prosecution over breaking DWP rule

More than 250 UK unpaid carers risk prosecution over benefit overpayments, it has been warned. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is under fire over new figures showing more than 250 unpaid carers risk criminal prosecution after falling foul of rules.

The latest figures suggest as many as 259 carers have come into scope for legal proceedings since April after unwittingly building up large overpayments. In two cases since April, carers have been forced to repay more than £20,000, th Guardian has reported.

Carers are paid a weekly benefit of around £81.90, but if they earn more than £151 per week after tax and expenses, they lose their entitlement to the benefit. This is known as the "cliff edge" because even earning a single penny over the limit results in the loss of the entire benefit.

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Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey, himself a carer for his teenage son, said: “I’m glad we have secured a review, but it can’t be right for the DWP to carry on like business as usual while that review takes place. At the very least, we need to see a halt to repayment demands and threats of prosecution until the review has completed and the system has been reformed.”

“The review is very welcome but these alarming figures show that the root cause of the problem hasn’t gone away,” said Carers Trust director of policy, Dominic Carter. “The flaws with these overpayment demands are well known by now so it is staggering that many carers are still suffering the consequences.”

Helen Walker, the chief executive of Carers UK, said: “The alerts of overpayments don’t seem to be being investigated quickly enough and government needs to invest more resource in ensuring that alerts about overpayments are swiftly looked at. This should be done now – it doesn’t need to wait for the outcome of a review.”

The Department for Work and Pensions was approached for comment.