The Independent Review of Carer’s Allowance Overpayments (the Sayce review) calls for “concerted, accountable action to resolve the persistent – and repeatedly reported – problem of overpayment of Carer’s Allowance.” In brief, tens of thousands of unpaid carers claiming the benefit were unexpectedly required to repay large sums of money to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) after unknowingly exceeding the earnings threshold of this low-value benefit – just £86.45 per week. The Sayce review was clear: these overpayments were primarily caused by widespread systemic issues, not individual errors or fraud by carers.
New developments
Last week, Minister Stephen Timms gave a long-awaited update on the Government’s progress in addressing the review’s recommendations. This update focused almost exclusively on the DWP’s plans to undertake a ‘reassessment exercise’ of cases involving overpayments caused by ‘faulty guidance on the averaging of irregularly fluctuating earnings’ (in place from 2015 to 2025). This is a significant step forward, and implicitly acknowledges that the system let carers down. However, the focus on unclear guidance risks reducing a profound injustice to a technical problem – one that can be resolved by auditing cases to identify those affected and revising operational guidance. This frames the issue as one of providing clearer, more accurate information about a complex system.
This emphasis obscures the structural failures detailed by the Sayce review, the ways in which the system creates conditions which continue to leave carers vulnerable to harm, and a lack of urgency to right these wrongs.
- The two-year timescale for the reassessment exercise falls far short of the urgent accountability called for by the Sayce review – particularly given the well-documented scale of the financial hardship, emotional distress and trauma caused to carers.
- Many cases remain outside the scope of the reassessment exercise. The DWP estimates that it may reduce, cancel or refund debts for approximately 25,000 carers. Yet the Sayce review found that, as of February 2025, more than 86,000 carers in England and Wales had an outstanding debt due to exceeding the earnings threshold. This leaves a substantial number of carers without a clear route or timescale to seek redress.
- The Government rejected the review’s recommendation to cancel or refund debts relating to ‘allowable expenses’, which are notoriously complex to calculate, particularly for self-employed carers.
- DWP has not yet outlined how it plans to address overpayments which mistakenly arise from the complex interactions between Universal Credit and Carer’s Allowance – another common source of error and confusion. Welfare rights advisers participating in our research highlighted how much effort they have often put into communicating with both DWP departments on behalf of carers to resolve this.
- Timms’ update contained scant information about wider progress made in response to the full set of recommendations in the review. In the meantime, a Freedom of Information request submitted by The Guardian found that carers continue to incur overpayments because DWP’s policies and processes remain fundamentally unchanged; it has not paused recovery of overpayments. Indeed, carers continue to face civil penalties and the stressful prospect of tribunals – the Government must urgently develop an alternative plan for how it deals with overpayments while the reassessment exercise is ongoing and while broader reforms are explored..
Complexity is undoubtedly part of the problem – but the overpayments scandal cannot be understood simply as a matter of poor information and guidance. The Sayce review repeatedly highlights the complexity of the benefits system itself. This complexity is evident in the rules governing eligibility for Carer’s Allowance and adhering to the earnings threshold; the historical guidance and case law underpinning these rules; the language used by DWP online and in correspondence with claimants; the outdated ICT systems administering Carer’s Allowance and its interactions with other benefits; and the tiered decision-making structures at DWP.
New research briefing
Our new research briefing, ‘Experiences of unpaid carers and welfare rights advisers navigating the complexity and inflexibility of the welfare benefits system’, draws the same conclusion and shows that the issue goes far beyond the complexity of averaging earnings. Our qualitative research with 50 unpaid carers and 20 welfare rights advisers across England and Wales finds that complexity is built into the design and delivery of the system itself.
It says something about a system where something is so complex that actually people are happy to rely on an allegedly expert advisor because that’s the easy option … There are some things that are fundamentally wrong if you need to rely on an advisor just to even explain what it is you’re going for and to help fill in the claim pack.
Alan, welfare rights manager in a local authority.
A lot of the complexity is from the system being built in a way that won’t listen, (Laughs) whereas, you know… you can tell them, but they still don’t act on it. We have to put in a lot of time and energy to make the thing that should happen – quite evidently should happen – happen.
Ciara, welfare rights manager in a local authority
Our research finds that this complexity intensifies the vulnerabilities experienced by carers claiming their benefits entitlements. Vulnerability is not simply an individual condition or a matter of insufficient knowledge. It is produced by power dynamics and the institutional arrangements through which welfare entitlements are administered. This is why welfare rights advisers are so crucial. Across the country, they support carers to a system which is often opaque, punitive and draining. Without their expertise and persistence, many carers would simply give up claiming their entitlements and would struggle to challenge DWP decisions. Our research further highlights how overstretched and underfunded this advice sector has become, despite being essential to carers’ ability to access their rights.
We help people complete forms. It’s not because they can’t. It can be because of literacy issues and things like that, but that’s really nothing to do with it. It’s about having the confidence to understand the question and just check with someone that it’s all right because, unless you’re in the position of claiming benefits and interacting with the state in this way, it’s really easy to just miss how stressful that is, how worrying.
Ciara, welfare rights team manager in a local authority
The vulnerability that carers experience is not solely about their lack of knowledge or understanding of a complex system. Interacting with state authority from a position of financial precarity is daunting and often feels emotionally overwhelming. The power imbalance between the claimant and the state is exemplified by the Carer’s Allowance overpayments scandal. There are parallels with the Post Office Horizon scandal and the Dutch childcare benefits scandal where people were wrongly accused of not following the rules; delayed accountability and institutional failure to take action meant that serious harm was suffered by those unable to challenge the system.
The DWP’s stated commitments to recruit more staff, updating its guidance and use clearer language in its communications are all welcome. However, these measures alone will not rebuild trust with carers who feel that their contribution to society is devalued. What is required instead is cultural change at the DWP, with leadership committed to treating claimants with fairness, empathy and respect. Responding to the Sayce review requires more than addressing flawed guidance; DWP must review how its policies and processes unintentionally create vulnerabilities and involve carers in this process. It can learn from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which adopted a much broader and more robust approach to protecting consumers in 2021 and has recently reviewed this to ensure that it is fit for purpose. Finally, the Government should also commit to a comprehensive review of carers’ welfare entitlements, reforming this archaic benefit so that it is fit for purpose in the modern world of work and care.
Our research briefing sets out in more detail how institutional complexity and inflexibility undermine the core aims of Carer’s Allowance and create avoidable harm for carers.
About the author
Becky joined the Centre for Care in June 2022 as a Research Associate. Currently, she is working with Louise Overton, Maxine Watkins and Kate Hamblin on a research project investigating complexity and inflexibility in the welfare benefits system for unpaid carers. She is also involved in the children, young people and families theme, with projects on kinship carers and children’s residential care.
