The Department for Work and Pensions is drafting in more staff to ensure all possible cases of overpayments of Carer’s Allowance are checked promptly.
Some carers have been forced to pay back thousands of pounds after being overpaid for years, despite the government having an internal system that flags potential cases as they arise.
The DWP currently only aims to check half of these alerts on its internal database, but now 20 extra staff will join a team of just over 70 to increase that to 100%.
The charity Carers UK welcomed the move as one that could prevent overpayments running into thousands of pounds.
But its chief executive, Helen Walker, warned clearing the backlog was likely to result in many more carers discovering they have debts.
The latest available figures show there were 32,533 outstanding “alerts” on the DWP’s system as of 14 February.
The department estimated a further 99,000 alerts would be generated in 2025/26.
Recent analysis for the department found that when those alerts were investigated, 28% of cases resulted in no change, while 5% resulted in arrears being paid to carers, and 67% identified overpayments.
If someone spends at least 35 hours a week caring for someone with an illness or disability they may be eligible for the allowance, which is currently £83.30 a week.
They must not earn more than £196 a week – if they earn just a pound more there is no taper rate and they are no longer eligible for any payment.
Claimants are required by law to inform the DWP promptly if their circumstances change.
But some carers have previously told the BBC they were unaware they had exceeded the earnings limit until they were informed years later, when they owed thousands. They described demands for repayments as “wrong” and “unfair”.
The DWP has faced criticism for failing to prevent overpayments, despite its systems flagging when a claimant is earning too much.
Charities have called on the government to write off existing substantial overpayment debts where carers could have been notified sooner.
Sir Ed Davey, who is a carer as well as the leader of the Liberal Democrats, joined those calls, saying it was “totally unacceptable that more and more carers are being caught up in this scandal, so long after it was exposed”.
But in a letter to Carers UK, the Minister for Social Security and Disability Sir Stephen Timms said the department must “carefully balance our duty to the taxpayer to recover overpayments with safeguards in place to manage repayments fairly”.
He said the DWP was carrying out “scoping work” on whether introducing a taper might incentivise unpaid carers to do some paid work.
The government has also launched an independent review of “earnings-related overpayments”, due to report this summer.
It is investigating how overpayments of Carer’s Allowance have occurred, what can be done to support those overpaid, and how to reduce the risk of these problems occurring in future.
A DWP spokesperson said: “Carers are unseen heroes and we have made the biggest ever cash increase in the Carer’s Allowance earnings threshold to make their lives easier.
“We are drafting in extra staff so the backlog of all under- and overpayments are investigated promptly and corrected.
“We will agree affordable repayment plans and when issuing debt management notifications signpost to independent advice services.
“We are also furthering a trial of text message reminders to help carers to fully understand their responsibility to report changes in their circumstances.”
