Clemency Jacques was told to pay an extra £1,300 for an accidental Carer’s Allowance breach - or the DWP would send the case to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).
The unpaid carer described her experience as “like blackmail”.
Jacques was already paying £2,600 in Carer’s Allowance overpayments due to a pre existing agreement, however the DWP explained her case would be referred to the CPS unless she paid a 50 per cent charge on top of this - a total of £3,900.
The 43 year old, who cares for her disabled son, felt "threatened with prosecution" even though the DWP accepted she had made an “unintentional error” when she breached the Carer's Allowance pay threshold.
She failed to inform Carer’s Allowance officials that she had returned to work after maternity leave.
As a result, she had breached the Carer’s Allowance earnings rules and been overpaid £2,600 over 10 months.
Britons looking after family or friends can get £81.90 a week via Carer's AllowanceGETTYDuring the investigation into benefits fraud, Jacques immediately apologised for the error, explaining to investigators it was "unintentional and a complete mistake".
However she said: "The interview process is designed to be as cold and dehumanising as possible, focusing on trying to prove my guilt, trying to catch me out with every statement I made.”
She added: "Agreeing to the administrative penalty feels more like blackmail than an actual choice. It’s like: ‘Say how naughty you have been and pay us a large chunk of money or we will send you to court and punish you for being a stressed-out carer'".
The Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey said: “The fact the Government is forcing carers to chose between an expensive fine or a criminal record, just for making an innocent mistake, is a disgrace.
"This is all part of the legacy left to Labour by the Conservative party, who failed carers again and again and treated them like criminals.”
Last month, it was unveiled that thousands of carers were repaying more than £250million in overpayments after unwittingly falling foul of the DWP Carer’s Allowance system and complicated rules.
Carer's Allowance is currently paid at a weekly rate of £81.90 and anyone on the benefit is allowed to have a second income from a job.
However, claimants can't earn more than £151 a week, or they will lose all of their benefit allowance. But this initial breach may take months or even years to spot, meaning in some cases, these carers are racking up a debt they have no idea is happening.
A carer who earned £1 more than the threshold for 52 weeks would pay back not £52 but £4,258.80. Some are also prosecuted for fraud.
The latest figures show that last year 134,500 unpaid carers were repaying £251million in earnings-related overpayments, 11,500 of whom were deemed to owe £5,000 or more.
The DWP complaints team said it said it was not its intention “to cause claimants any undue distress” but had a “responsibility to protect public funds and preserve public trust”.
They stood by their decision, saying it had followed the correct processes and taken “reasonable, necessary and proportionate” actions.
The DWP states Carer’s Allowance claimants must report changes in circumstances when:
- they change, start or leave a job
- they start earning more than £151 a week
- they stop being a carer
- they stop providing at least 35 hours of care a week
- they take a holiday or go into hospital - even if they arrange care while they’re away
- the person they care for goes into hospital, into a care home or takes a holiday
On their website, the DWP warns: “You could be taken to court or have to pay a penalty if you give wrong information or do not report a change in your circumstances.”
If an individual has been overpaid, they may have to repay the money if they did not report a change straight away, if they gave wrong information or if they were overpaid by mistake.
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.”
