Tens of thousands of unpaid carers looking after disabled, frail or ill relatives are being forced to repay huge sums to the government and threatened with criminal prosecution after unwittingly breaching earnings rules by just a few pounds a week.
People who claim the £81.90-a-week carer’s allowance for looking after loved ones while working part-time are being forced by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to pay back money that has been erroneously overpaid to them, in some cases running to more than £20,000, or risk going to prison.
We’re interested to hear from carers in the UK who have been affected by this issue. Have you been receiving carer’s allowance and been investigated for benefit fraud, and if so, what was the outcome of this, and how has this affected you and your family?
You can tell us if you have been investigated for benefit fraud by filling in the form below, or messaging us.
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Share your experience
You can tell us if you have been investigated for benefit fraud by filling in the form below, or messaging us.
Your responses, which can be anonymous, are secure as the form is encrypted and only the Guardian has access to your contributions. We will only use the data you provide us for the purpose of the feature and we will delete any personal data when we no longer require it for this purpose. For true anonymity please use our SecureDrop service instead.
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