Go Unlimited with Magzter GOLD
Get unlimited access to 10,000+ magazines, newspapers and Premium stories for just
Try GOLD - Free
At least £357m in carer's allowance paid out in error, charity finds
The Guardian
|May 20, 2025
At least £357m in carer's allowance benefit was paid out in error over the past six years due to official failures, resulting in debt and misery being inflicted on hundreds of thousands of people.
The bulk of the figure relates to minor breaches of earnings rules by carers that the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) was alerted to but did not check, allowing carers to run up huge overpayments over months and years.
Carers UK, which used new official fraud and error data to calculate the £357m figure, described it as an unacceptable failure by the DWP, which years ago had promised new technology would almost entirely eradicate carer's allowance overpayments.
This story is from the May 20, 2025 edition of The Guardian.
Subscribe to Magzter GOLD to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 10,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
MORE STORIES FROM The Guardian
The Guardian
Supermarkets Are you shocked at rising food prices at the tills?
Zoe Wood hears how readers are balancing their family food budgets, from buying own brands to cutting right back on the weekly shop
7 mins
October 25, 2025
The Guardian
Do populist leaders always leave countries worse off?
Politicians from all over the globe watch and wait as Argentina's president takes his economy to the brink
7 mins
October 25, 2025
The Guardian
Argentina goes to polls amid currency crisis, scandal and American threats
Voters in Argentina will deliver their verdict on their radical libertarian president, Javier Milei, tomorrow, in midterm elections informed by political and economic crisis and accusations of foreign meddling levelled by Milei's ally Donald Trump.
3 mins
October 25, 2025
The Guardian
Couples flirt and fight in a knockout production
Edward Albee's 1962 drama of two academic couples boozing and bruising for four hours before dawn rings with boxing imagery.
1 mins
October 25, 2025
The Guardian
'A fantastic victory' Plaid voters celebrate as Reform UK fails to live up to the hype
The skies above Caerphilly may have matched the turquoise of Reform UK, but it was the green and yellow of Plaid Cymru that dominated the valleys town yesterday morning.
2 mins
October 25, 2025
The Guardian
Special offer: enjoy your newspaper for less
Over the past 20 years the Guardian has become a truly global news organisation with millions of readers around the world reading us online. But we are very aware that many of our most longstanding, loyal and generous readers are those who regularly buy the newspaper in Britain. On behalf of everyone at the Guardian, thank you.
1 min
October 25, 2025
The Guardian
How does the prince pay? The mystery of Andrew's income
It is one of the mysteries of the modern monarchy - and it's an issue under more scrutiny than ever before. How on earth does Prince Andrew fund his lifestyle?
6 mins
October 25, 2025
The Guardian
'It doesn't stop' A world of trauma in Ukraine's underground hospital
Scrubby trees hide the entrance. A sloping wooden tunnel descends to a brightly lit reception area. There is a surgery unit, beds, cardiac monitors and ventilators.
3 mins
October 25, 2025
The Guardian
'Where are the fighters?' West Bank fears it will be next in Israel's crosshairs
Shadi Dabaya’s body bears the scars of the Israeli occupation. The 54-year-old proudly stuck out his jaw to show the chunk of his cheek torn away by Israeli fire and traced the zigzag scar on his arm, the pink, raised flesh marking the bullet’s path.
3 mins
October 25, 2025
The Guardian
Stark warning for Starmer after election rout in Wales
Repeat of Caerphilly loss in 2026 elections 'could mean the end for PM'
4 mins
October 25, 2025
Listen
Translate
Change font size