Carers UK has been working in-depth on the issue of Carer's Allowance overpayments since 2018, when the Government at the time said that new systems would be implemented, dealing with the issue of overpayments.   

If an unpaid carer goes even £1 over the earnings limit for Carer's Allowance, the main carer's benefit, they have to pay back 100% of the benefit, £83.30 a week at current rates.  Many carers had gone over the limit unwittingly due to opaque and complex rules, issues beyond their control, because they were busy caring and they simply didn't realise.  

Where carers didn't understand or notice they had breached the earnings threshold, these overpayments started to build up even though the Government already had the information through alerts and could have told carers sooner.  Some of these debts run into several thousands. This has left carers distraught, struggling to pay and in debt, whilst already navigating caring for someone with significant disabilities, ill health or someone needing help because of frailty.  

In July 2025, shortly after the General Election, Carers UK submitted a dossier of carers' experiences to the Department for Work and Pensions, cataloguing a list of widespread system failures and errors and detailing the terrible impact on unpaid carers.  

Thanks to far more public recognition of the issue, in October 2024, Carers UK welcomed the Government’s announcement of an independent review, led by Liz Sayce OBE into Carer’s Allowance overpayments. Carers UK has held several engagement sessions for unpaid carers, carer organisations and welfare benefit advisers to feed into the review, as well as submitting its own detailed evidence of how overpayments have affected carers.

Following an article in the Guardian today, Carers UK is very pleased to hear that the Government is considering compensation for carers as part of this process. 

Helen Walker, Chief Executive at Carers UK, said: 

“This is very good news to hear that the Government is discussing financial redress. The Carer’s Allowance overpayments scandal has had far-reaching consequences for thousands of carers and their families who, for many years, have been the victims of an overly complicated, flawed and unfair system. 

“The eligibility rules for Carer’s Allowance create a ‘cliff-edge’. If you earn just a few pence over the earnings threshold – which is £196 per week - you’re required to repay your entire Carer’s Allowance for that week back. For too long, the DWP has failed to act swiftly on overpayment alerts causing many carers who have unwittingly gone over the earnings limit to build up large debts. It has also not been transparent on how carers with fluctuating earnings can calculate their entitlement to the benefit. 

“Far too many carers are currently repaying debts that could have been avoided much earlier had Government told them earlier or they should not have had in the first place. It's been devastating for carers, many of whom have been badly hit financially and it's taken an enormous toll on their mental health. Some have left employment since, and others have stopped claiming Carer’s Allowance due to the stress and fear of this happening to them again. 

“Unpaid carers, who make a vital contribution to society, who are often living in low-income households and have extra costs to meet because of their caring roles, have been extremely poorly treated. Compensation is the very least that they deserve.”