DWP to make crucial change to Carer's Allowance after claimants forced to repay £20,000

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is preparing to implement a significant change to the Carer's Allowance. This comes in response to mounting criticism and controversy surrounding a scandal that has seen unpaid carers prosecuted for exceeding the earnings threshold.

Many individuals receiving the benefit have been forced to repay sums as large as £20,000 after inadvertently breaking government rules which stipulate that you cannot claim if your earnings exceed £151 per week. The DWP has unveiled new strategies aimed at preventing claimants from facing prosecution.

The department is considering the use of targeted text messages or emails, sending alerts to claimants when a potential overpayment is detected, in an effort to prompt them to get in touch with the DWP. This approach will minimise the risk of customers being overpaid, according to the DWP.

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Under DWP regulations, if your earnings surpass the limit - even by a mere £1 - you forfeit your entitlement to the Carer's Allowance. The majority of those claiming the Carer's Allowance come from low-income households and are looking after sick or disabled family members.

The Carer's Allowance, worth £81.90 per week, is granted if you provide care for someone for at least 35 hours a week. The individual you are caring for must also be in receipt of certain benefits, such as the Personal Independence Payment, reports Birmingham Live.

Recent reports have highlighted cases such as a woman who was instructed to repay nearly £6,000 to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) after she took on an additional shift at Sainsbury's while caring for her seriously ill partner.

A full-time carer and father of three was compelled to sell his house or risk imprisonment after being prosecuted for receiving excess Carer's Allowance. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) conceded in a letter last month that he likely made an innocent error.