Martin Lewis' MSE issues DWP benefit warning after woman forced to repay £20,000

MSE has issued a warning to those claiming after one woman was forced to repay £20,000.

The Money Saving Expert (MSE) of Heather Aylesbury, 56, in a recent post about the "cliff-edge" nature of the Department for Work and Pensions () Carer's Allowance. The mum of two cared for her 91-year-old mother, who had neuropathy, a condition that causes numbness in her legs. During the seven years Heather looked after her mum, she also worked as a librarian.

Heather claimed Carer's Allowance which gives you £81.90 a week if you provide care for someone at least 35 hours a week. You can work alongside it, but you cannot earn over £151 a week after tax, National Insurance, pension contributions, and allowable expenses. If you earn over this threshold, you lose your entire entitlement to the benefit and have to pay it back - even if it's only £1 - and this is what happened to Heather.

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In 2019, she received a letter from the benefits department informing her that she had been "overpaid" by a staggering" £19,543.95. Heather told MSE that she was "devastated". At the time, Heather said she wasn't earning enough to cover her mortgage and bills and found the ordeal incredibly "traumatic".

Heather added: "I do understand that it was my responsibility to make sure I was under the limit. But it didn't cross my mind." I was in the same role, in the same job, working the same number of hours. I was still caring for mum, more so than I was before. So I never had a reason to question it, nor did I have the time or the energy to."

Heather knew that she had received wage increases at her job. However, she hadn't realised how it would affect her eligibility for the benefit. However, the 56-year-old is not the only person who has experienced this. It was revealed earlier this year that as of May 14 2024, DWP was working to recover money from 134,800 people who had been overpaid their Carer's Allowance.

Campaigners, charities and MPs, including , have called out the "cliff edge" tactic as those who work fluctuating hours could potentially fall foul of the rule without realising it. The MSE founder noted that carers were "unsung heroes" as they saved the economy and the billions of pounds every year due to their actions. He commented: "Yet its structure is broken, old-fashioned, unjust and in need of urgent change."

Martin said the benefit was "perverse" as most benefits including had a taper, so if you went over the threshold the payments are gradually reduced while "Carer's Allowance only has a cliff-edge, leaving many to plummet off." Martin has joined the call for the DWP to the system which he says "seemingly sets people up to slip over the threshold unwittingly".

He added: "I'd ask you to look at ending the cliff-edge going forward, and retrospectively for those carers who are facing requests for crippling back-payments – adding to the burden many are already faced with. The system is fundamentally unjust, and hits many of society's most venerable and vulnerable."

Martin's MSE team has urged carers claiming the benefit to keep an eye on their earnings and take note of their pension contributions to avoid accidentally falling foul of the system. If you find yourself over the limit "even by a penny" then you should contact the DWP immediatly and you can do this by calling the Carere's Allowance Unit on 0800 731 0297.

On the Carer's Allowance overpayments issue, a DWP spokesperson has said: “We are committed to fairness in the welfare system, with safeguards in place for managing repayments, while protecting the public purse. Claimants have a responsibility to inform DWP of any changes in their circumstances that could impact their award, and it is right that we recover taxpayers’ money when this has not occurred.”

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