to think the Carer's Allowance scandal shows the uncaringness of the DWP

They don’t care about carers
if was was the only benefit not to get a increase this April every other benefit went up with inflation apart from carers allowance 🙈

they also class it as a taxable income in every way but then have diff rules regarding things like other benefits.
carers has always been dedicated 1.00 for 1.00 of your other benefits but other taxable income your allowed to earn a certain amount before deductions.

from that post what also Is horrible is she wouldn’t have getting full carers allowance anyway as she would have been on some other form of benefits meaning it was already deducted from her overall payment.

Does who work? You or the person you are claiming carer's allowance for? That's a common mistake for example.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/apr/12/carers-allowance-benefit-error-30p-a-week-dwp

Even were it deliberate fraud, it seems extremely punitive compared to the punishments for MP's found to have defrauded the public purse, or the Banks for laundering money etc.

Agree with all this.
Pre dcs i was a home support worker for Age Concern (as it was then). I've seen first hand the significant mental and physical toll taken on women - and in the case of every client i had it was either the daughter, daughter in law and in one case a sister - who took on caring for a relative, in whatever shape or form was needed. They were generally women in their 40s/50s with their own children and work responsibilities - both of which often went on the back burner.

Caring often isn't a nice 9-5, 5 days a week number. It's evenings, weekends, nights, often heavy, dirty work (frequent bed/clothing changes due to incontinence etc) - one lady I knew barely slept as her mum with dementia frequently wandered and securing overnight care support was difficult.

Our social care system is on its knees. Accessing and, crucially, keeping external help is very difficult. So these women plough on, working hours and in conditions that no 'proper' paid employee would tolerate, out of love and necessity, saving the country in social care/NHS costs millions as they do so. And now they're being prosecuted over pennies?

Frankly, fuck that and fuck the DWP.

That may apply to some, but not all. Some are because expenses have been disallowed but only after thousands of pounds worth of overpayments had been made.

This is about right for the dwp. They are abominable.

It's not about are you working yes or no - people have submitted that they are working, believed they are below threshold but DWP accounting has calculated it differently. That's not fraud that's systemic error being allowed to accumulate massive debts leading to prosecution. By no stretch of the imagination is that fair or about "lack of responsibility " on the claimant's part.

The problem isn't DWP staff, the problem is the way it's managed - and that nasty, persecution culture comes from the top. It's Conservative Party policy, not the under paid over stressed benefits staff. And while people continue to vote for them, and the Daily Mail is perceived as representative of popular opinion, they will only get worse.

Again - see my posts.

We are providing the correct information.

The system is poorly designed and poorly implemented.

See my earlier posts - I was earning under the limit , however the DWP made adjustments based on me paying into a pension- which I did not - so their adjustment made me over the earnings limit , even though I was earning under the limit !

But these are not 'honest mistakes' that's the point. The only cases prosecuted are those that have been overpaid over a long period of time, so haven't just failed to declare work once, but over and over again every time there's been a review. The question on the form is bloody clear, do you work yes or no.

Well, @x2boys I am do not like seeing my fellow carers hounded and prosecuted because they have gone a few quid over the earnings limit and DWP have not done anything for years about it.

As pp set out, to be able to properly navigate the system you almost need to be an accountant.

Sorry messed up. Will try again!

@cakeorwine DWP staff have spoken up for years - they are not listened to. Earnings restrictions while claiming benefits are not new, it's out in the public domain and has been for years also. No they're not fair or reasonable but staff have zero power to change it whether they speak up or not. Directing your anger to DWP will change nothing. Your MP might although that's a long shot obviously.

Yanbu. I knew it was bad, but I didn't realise it was this bad.
Caring and supporting an ill family member is all consuming. I'm organised at work but drop many balls at home.

Yes i m well aware being a carer is hard I am also a carer claiming carer,s allowance ,but people need to take responsibility for themselves ,knowingly going over the limit irresponsible.

Nobody bloody cares about us. Some of the attitudes on this thread illustrates that.

Sorry, eta that lots of people on this thread do care, but some have no idea how hard it is. And the government doesn't give a toss about us.

I have been a carer for 16+ years (for dd), the rules around carers allowance have made my life pretty tricky, I am single parent who wants to work self employed but it’s been pretty impossible. For a while I was working 8 hours a week but was over the limit for earnings, though some weeks I would earn nothing and others £10 over the limit, they would not let me average it out over the month as I was getting paid weekly, so if I went over by £10 one week they would stop my carers allowance all together. Eventually I took out a pension as they took half of what I paid in off what I was earning and this took me under the threshold on the weeks I was over. Eventually I had to give up work as I couldn’t afford to live working under the threshold and if I went slightly over I was even more worse off. I want to work, I can’t work many hours as dd is home a lot and needs 24 hour care.I think it’s very unfair that someone is providing such a level of care for someone yet because they work a few hours and are earning over the threshold they don’t get carers, they are still providing the care and at the same level?

It is not always as clear cut as you make out. It is earnings after tax, NI and expenses. That includes 50% of pension contributions, equipment for your job, some travel costs, and some business costs. If you have to pay for someone to care for the person you care for or your DC, certain caring expenses can also be deducted. Some have been caught out because expenses have been disallowed.

Well given I am a carer who receives CA, no I am not saying that.

People make mistakes. People might think that going 30p over the earnings limit now and again is not a big deal and won't result in the loss of hundreds of pounds of benefit.

Also, being a carer is hard and often exhausting. Finding the headspace to keep on top of everything is not easy. Burnout is a real thing.
Eta:
the onus is on them to do something about it

But as DWP have the information too, it should be acted on earlier.

The thing that makes me so cross about this is that as a carer I’ve had to move mountains to find a job that works around my caring responsibilities.
One that’s flexible enough that I can attend hospital appointments, but steady enough I can count on the income.

Those jobs are like hens teeth.

So it’s incredibly difficult to keep on top of the amount you earn to the fucking penny as well.

If it would just taper?

It’s a scandal kicking the people no-one cares about? Who cares about carers?

Unless you are suggesting that carers are not very intelligent ,surely they should be aware of what they earning every month ,if it builds up because they are consistently going over their earnings limit ,than the onus is on them to do something about it.