Chamberlain urges Government to fix errors causing carer’s allowances to be lost

Full-time carers can claim £81.90 a week, but they become ineligible for the whole amount if they earn just a pound over £151 a week, after tax and expenses. Many carers were unaware they had exceeded the threshold until several years later when they were told they suddenly owed thousands of pounds.

Speaking in the Chamber, Chamberlain said: “I want to highlight innocent errors where Government Systems are failing to pick up overpayments and, as a result, people are chased.

“I’m thinking particularly of unpaid carers, where earning just a few extra pounds means the DWP is now clawing back thousands from them in carer’s allowance.

“That’s because HMRC Systems failed to alert the DWP when earnings increased.

“What is the Cabinet Office doing to ensure Government systems work to stop these kinds of things from happening in the future?”

Chamberlain later added: “We have seen time and time again that system errors cause people to be caught out, finding themselves suddenly owing thousands of pounds that they do not have.

“Carers are absolutely vital in our society and being hit with this financial burden in addition to balancing their caring responsibilities and employment is unacceptable.

“The Government must ensure that these completely avoidable system errors are fixed to make sure this stops happening in the future.”