Officials are aware of the mounting number of instances where UK carers are at risk of racking up overpayments that can in some cases lead to crippling debt, but for five years have chosen not to investigate all cases.
Overpayments happen when someone who claims £81 a week carer's allowance, often for looking after a frail, disabled or ill relative, breaches a strict earnings cap, which means they cannot earn more that £151 a week in a paid job.
If the carer breaches that limit, even by a penny, their whole allowance is deemed to be an overpayment, which the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) forces them to repay. In some cases carers have been taken to court.
The DWP has been accused of "burying its head in the sand" after it emerged ministers put in place only enough staff to check half of the alerts it receives when carers' benefits are deemed "overpayments". The failure to identify and notify carers of breaches for months and sometimes years is at the centre of a scandal, revealed by the Guardian, which has pushed people into debt and ill health, stripped them of savings, and in one case their home.
Denne historien er fra May 10, 2024-utgaven av The Guardian.
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Denne historien er fra May 10, 2024-utgaven av The Guardian.
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Money hacks How to get your finances ready for a new baby
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UK care home chain sold to US investment company
One of Britain's largest care home chains, Care UK, has been sold to a US property investment company, the Guardian can reveal, in a deal that comes as private providers lobby government for a greater role in the NHS.
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In Bolton's town centre, the gap-toothed brutalist facade of Crompton Place shopping centre faces off against its majestic Victorian town hall.
Ex-spy for India charged with masterminding US murder plot
US authorities have charged a former Indian intelligence officer with allegedly masterminding a murder-for-hire plot against a prominent Sikh separatist in New York City last year.
Tomb finds at Petra are thrilling - but what do they really reveal?
For one of the most famous ancient sites on the planet, there is a surprising amount about the city of Petra - and the Nabataean people who built it - that we don't know for sure.
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Mari was just two months into her new job when she decided she had had enough. The position at an online bank in Tokyo, found through a staffing agency, had looked like a perfect fit for the 25-year-old, a member of Japan's legions of temporary workers. But she quickly became despondent.
