The unnamed 93-year-old, who is in advanced stages of Parkinson’s Disease and dementia, was ordered by the benefits department to repay over £7,000 she received from the severe disability premium of Pension Credit between 2019 and 2022
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has apologised after it ordered a 93-year-old woman to repay more than £7,000 after she failed to notify it about a change in her circumstances five years ago.
The unnamed 93-year-old, who is in advanced stages of Parkinson’s Disease and dementia, was ordered by the benefits department to repay the money she received from the severe disability premium of Pension Credit between 2019 and 2022. The reason was that the woman’s daughter Rose Chitseko began claiming Carer’s Allowance in 2019 when her mum became unable to care for herself.
Under the rules, this meant that Rose’s mum then became ineligible to claim the disability premium. The DWP said Rose’s mum “failed” to report the change in circumstance and fraudulently claimed the benefit. Rose, who is a former adult social care worker, appealed the accusation saying her mother had been too unwell to notify them due to her advanced Parkinson’s however, the DWP rejected this and continued to claw back the money.
The case was first brought to light by the Guardian as part of its investigation into Carer’s Allowance overpayments and today, Rose told the publication that the overpayments had been written off. Rose and her mother also received an apology from the Government department. She told the Guardian: “They apologise, which is something, but they don’t explain why they took the money in the first place. It’s frustrating that they don’t explain. They give me a number to call for information but if they don’t want to say anything they’re not going to say anything.”
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Before the write-off, her mum was paying back hundreds of pounds a month from her pension and life savings, or a third of her life savings. Rose told the Guardian that she was relieved her mum’s ordeal was over but was concerned about the lack of discretion from the DWP around the case. She said: “Here you had an elderly lady whose powers were declining … if that’s not a case for discretion, what is?”
On the case, a DWP spokesperson told the Guardian: “Following a review of the case, we have cancelled the overpayment and apologise [to the claimant] for any distress. We will refund all repayments already made.”
As mentioned earlier, the case came to light during the Guardian’s investigation into Carer’s Allowance overpayments. Last month, the newspaper reported that “ten of thousands” of people most – of which are from low income households and are caring for sick and disabled relatives – are being forced to pay back their benefits after falling foul of the benefit’s working rules.
Carer’s Allowance is worth £81.90 a week and is awarded if you care for someone at least 35 hours a week. You can work whilst claiming but you are not allowed to earn more than £151 a week after tax, National Insurance, pension contributions and allowable expenses. If your earnings vary each week or each month, then your average earnings are used to determine your eligibility for Carer’s Allowance. If your earnings go over the limit – even by just £1 – you lose your entitlement to Carer’s Allowance.
Carers have previously come forward to say the rules for how much you earn can be confusing – particularly if your hours change, or your pay increases. The Guardian reports that “most” of the overpayment cases were “genuine mistakes” by the claimant with the National Audit Office reporting that less than 10% of Carer’s Allowance overpayments were fraudulent.