As you may have seen over recent weeks there has been significant media attention about the issue of Carer’s Allowance overpayments– including from the Guardian, BBC, Daily Mail, the Mirror, and the Big Issue.
It is estimated that Carer’s Allowance overpayments currently affect 145,000 family carers across the UK, with around 12,000 of these cases being for over £5,000.
Despite an investigation in 2019 into Carer’s Allowance overpayments by the National Audit Office, and a commitment by the government to implement a new strategy aimed at “stopping overpayments occurring in the first place”, the number of overpayments over the last 5 years has not reduced.
Carers UK has long called for the way Carer’s Allowance is administered to be reformed, to ensure that fewer cases of overpayment occur and to prevent overpayments from building up to such high levels. This can have devastating consequences for family carers and often occurs without them being aware.
Suffolk Family Carers is now supporting Carers UK in urging the Government to invest more in Carer’s Allowance systems and processing to alleviate acute distress and financial hardship that this issue causes, as well as positively reforming the level and eligibility of Carer’s Allowance.
To ensure there is sufficient evidence to argue this case, and for these changes to be urgently made by the Government, Carers UK are asking family carers to share their experiences of dealing with overpayments so that they can put together a dossier of carers’ experiences. Once they have the evidence they will anonymise it before sharing with the Government and senior parliamentarians to demonstrate the personal cost to many families and individuals who are providing care.
You can share your experiences and help compile this dossier by completing the short survey.
